Effects of conflict and displacement on learning outcomes in the horn of Africa a systematic review

The Horn of Africa is one of the world’s most protracted crisis regions, where recurrent armed conflict, climate shocks, and large-scale displacement converge to disrupt education systems. This systematic review examines at how armed conflict and forced displacement affect student’s learning outcomes in the Horn of Africa. It also identifies psychosocial, pedagogical, and systemic resilience measures that promote educational continuity and recovery. The review synthesizes evidence from 31 peer-reviewed publications and relevant grey literature published between 2000 and May 2025, as discovered by searches of five multidisciplinary databases (Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, PubMed, and JSTOR) and institutional repositories. The findings were synthesized narratively, with a focus on educational access, learning outcomes, psychosocial impacts, teacher capacity, and system-level policy responses in Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, and Djibouti. The findings show that Conflict and displacement consistently lower school enrollment, attendance, grade progression, and academic performance. Chronic teacher shortages and a lack of trauma-sensitive training limit the quality of education, while exposure to violence and forced relocation impairs focus and learning through psychosocial trauma. In the Horn of Africa, conflict and displacement worsen already-existing disparities by having a significant and long-lasting impact on learning outcomes. Building resilient education systems requires bolstering trauma-informed pedagogy, funding teacher development and retention, and integrating adaptable, inclusive policies into national education systems. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 16 and promoting Sustainable Development Goal 4 in the region are strongly related.