A/HRC/8/10 page 10 32. Learning encompasses our past and future at once; it is an aspect of life that comprehends everything that makes development possible. To learn is to adapt, to cooperate, and to transform our environment. It is the process by which people communicate, put forward ideas and bring them to fruition; learning is the organizing principle of every society. 33. Nearly all communities affected by emergencies organize themselves rapidly: they identify representative leaders, provide assistance to their people and determine priorities and needs:18 these include education, which is always demanded by populations affected by emergencies. 34. Although the Special Rapporteur is opposed to the tendency to treat education as no more than a tool, he recognizes that, beyond the human rights imperative, education also provides physical, psychosocial and cognitive protection that can be both lifesaving and life-sustaining. Education offers safe spaces for learning, as well as the ability to identify and provide support for affected individuals, particularly children and adolescents. Education mitigates the psychosocial impact of conflict and disasters by giving a sense of normality, stability, structure and hope during a time of crisis, and provides essential building blocks for social reconstruction and future economic stability. 35. Education can also save lives by protecting against exploitation and harm, including abduction, recruitment of children into armed groups and sexual and gender-based violence. Lastly, education provides the knowledge and skills to survive in a crisis through the dissemination of lifesaving information about landmine and cluster bomb safety, HIV/AIDS prevention, conflict resolution mechanisms and peacebuilding.19 II. INTERNATIONAL LEGAL AND POLITICAL FRAMEWORK 36. The international legal and political framework of education in emergencies is the product of several global developments - the ever-increasing number of natural disasters, the changing nature of conflict and the fight against terrorism - and an unwavering perception of what education should be and the quality and kinds of education that should be available. 37. As parties to human rights treaties, States have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the right to education, whether or not an emergency situation prevails. In addition, the right to education inheres in each person regardless of legal status, whether refugee, child soldier or internally displaced person. 38. However, this introduces a complexity that the Special Rapporteur anticipated in his previous report:20 although each person has the same right to education, few individuals have the same educational needs. 18 Martone, G., Educating Children in Emergency Settings: An Unexpected Lifeline, 2007. 19 Normas Mínimas para la educación en situaciones de emergencia, crisis crónicas y reconstrucción temprana. En: www.ineesite.org. 20 A/HRC/4/29.