Annual Report 2023 | Education Cannot Wait

Results Against All Odds: 2023 Annual Results Report

The Annual Results Report presents the progress made in 2023 by Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and its strategic partners to achieve the Fund’s strategic objectives and support crisis-affected children and adolescents in accessing quality education and achieving better learning outcomes. The report emphasizes ECW's progress and strengthened focus on the world’s most vulnerable and at-risk children in the first year of the Fund’s 2023-2026 Strategic Plan. It also features an analysis of global trends, including a concerning decrease in overall humanitarian funding to education - the first in a decade - against a backdrop of the growing needs of over 224 million crisis-affected children in urgent need of quality education.

Download the Executive Summary in English, Arabic, French and Spanish.

Download the full report

Overview

Education Cannot Wait (ECW) made great strides in achieving its goals in 2023, and it continued to accelerate progress in delivering inclusive and equitable quality education to girls and boys caught up in emergencies and protracted crises all over the world.

In 2023, ECW reached 5.6 million children through its First Emergency Responses (FERs) and Multi-Year Resilience Programmes (MYRPs). This brings the total number of children reached to over 11 million since ECW started operations in 2017.

Children reached by education level and population group

Reaching a diversity of children

One year into its Strategic Plan (2023–2026), ECW has already reached 5.6 million children (51% girls). This represents 29% of its cumulative target of reaching close to 20 million children by the end of this four-year period.

Compared to the previous year, ECW is reaching more displaced learners and a greater diversity of children across the educational continuum.

2023 Results Highlights

The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown

"Education Cannot Wait has shown us that the seemingly ‘impossible’ is indeed possible – provided that the funding is made available. Multilateral aid funding must immediately be increased to reverse the current downward trend.”

UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Chair of ECW’s High-Level Steering Group

Yasmine Sherif

"Our new report proves that despite these challenges, it is possible to provide them with the protection, hope and life-changing opportunity of a quality holistic education. To do this, we urgently call for US$600 million to meet our strategic plan targets and ensure a better future for 20 million girls and boys by the end of 2026."

Executive Director, Education Cannot Wait

ECW is dedicated to ensuring that all crisis-affected children and adolescents receive a quality education and are actively learning. In 2023, ECW made significant progress towards education participation, continuity and learning, responding to children’s needs in both emergencies and protracted crisis contexts.

Working with strategic partners, ECW made noteworthy achievements in strengthening capacities and systems to drive better results for children, with a focus on coordination at the humanitarian-development nexus, localization and community engagement, and data and evidence systems.

ECW made important strides as a global fund in relation to mobilizing funding for the ECW Trust Fund, allocating funds to those most in need, and advocating for more funding for EiEPC at both the country level and the global level. Despite a global context of aid cuts, ECW mobilized $900 million in 2023 – 60% of its $1.5 billion funding target for 2023-2026.

Funding gap

ECW calls for an additional $600 million in donor contributions to reach its $1.5 billion target during the 2023–2026 Strategic Plan period and support a total of 20 million crisis-affected girls and boys.

Without these additional resources, millions of children will remain unreached!