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In 2022, global crises continued to escalate, affecting more children and persisting for extended periods. The United Nations reported a record 362 million people needing humanitarian assistance and protection globally as of June 2023. They include 62.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 35.3 million refugees at the end of 2022.

The number of internal displacements due to conflict and violence nearly doubled from the previous year, to 28.3 million. New and ongoing conflicts in 2022 contributed to displacements in Ukraine (16.9 million), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (4 million), Ethiopia (2 million), and Myanmar (1 million). Half of all refugees in 2022 originated from just three countries: the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) (6.5 million), Afghanistan (5.7 million), and Ukraine (5.7 million). An estimated 8.7 million people fled their homes because of natural disasters, including floods, storms, drought, and wildfires, which are increasingly the source of prolonged internal displacement. Many of these crises are related to climate change. The weather phenomenon known as La Niña triggered floods and drought, including the worst drought on record, which displaced 2.1 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.

© UNICEF/Dejongh

Students by the window of their school in Niger. ECW support is increasing school enrollment for children and youth impacted by conflict and climate change in the country.

In June 2023, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) issued its second global estimates study on the number of school-aged children affected by conflict or crisis in need of education support. These new figures, and the broader trends behind them, are alarming. The study estimated that about 224 million school-aged children globally were affected by crises and in need of education support. Among them, only 25 million (11 per cent) were in school and achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and/or mathematics. The majority – 127 million (57 per cent) – were in school but not achieving minimum proficiency levels, and 72 million (32 per cent) were out of school. Reversing these trends is essential to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4, focusing on quality education for all.

© UNICEF Ecuador

Students in Ecuador smile over a note from a classmate. ECW support in the country is improving access to inclusive and equitable quality education for refugee and migrant Venezuelan children and youth.

ECW supports the millions of children affected by conflict, climate-induced disasters, and protracted crises to realize their right to a quality education. ECW was established at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 and is now in its sixth year of operation. It launched its second Strategic Plan, for the period 2023–2026, during the United Nations General Assembly in September 2022.

Over the initial Strategic Plan period (2018–2022), ECW’s overarching goal was to ensure quality education for 8.9 million conflict- and disaster-affected children aged 3 to 18 years (50 per cent girls). By the end of 2022, ECW had supported over 8.8 million children and adolescents across 44 countries. Of these, 49.2 per cent were girls, 1.2 per cent were children with disabilities, 28 per cent were refugees, 13 per cent were IDPs, and 59 per cent were children living in host communities and other crisis-affected children.

Moreover, ECW supported 32.2 million children and adolescents (51 per cent girls) with targeted interventions to continue their learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022 alone, ECW reached nearly 4.2 million children and adolescents (50 per cent girls) in 30 countries through 85 programmes: 26 Multi-Year Resilience Programmes (MYRPs), 26 First Emergency Responses (FERs), and 33 Acceleration Facility programmes.

This Annual Results Report describes the accomplishments of 2022 and the first Strategic Plan period (2018–2022). The year 2022 represents a transition for ECW, an opportunity to reflect on past achievements and lessons learned, and to build on this experience to inform the second Strategic Plan, which is now under way. The report outlines main global outcomes aligned with ECW’s objectives in Part 1, and beneficiary results – in terms of education access, equity, gender equality, holistic learning, and safe and protective learning environments – in Part 2.