In the News

As the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises hosted within the United Nations, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and our global strategic partners have responded with speed, agility and coordination to provide girls and boys impacted by this complex conflict with the safety, hope and opportunity of a quality education.

ECW has provided US$10 million to date in response to the regional refugee education needs, with First Emergency Response grants announced in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan. In Sudan, we have provided US$28 million in funding, including a US$5 million grant announced in August 2023 that will reach over 86,000 girls and boys with access to an inclusive, quality education.

And in a warning that the whole country could be engulfed in fighting that has left half of Sudan’s population in need of humanitarian relief, the global fund for education in emergencies, Education Cannot Wait, underscored that four of the eight million people uprooted by the violence are children.

The conflict “continues to take innocent lives, with over 14,000 children, women and men reportedly killed already,” said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait. 

Ms. Sherif echoed deep concerns that Sudan now has one of the worst education crises in the world, with more than 90 per cent of the country's 19 million school-age children unable to access formal education. 

Pour Educo, l’ESU est un secteur clé, urgent et prioritaire. C’est pourquoi nous travaillons avec les principaux donateurs internationaux tels que ECHO (Union européenne), Education Cannot Wait, INEE, The Resilience Collective, Unicef, et nationaux tels que l’AECID. Nous menons également des actions avec nos partenaires de l’Alliance ChildFund et continuons de rechercher des fonds pour que l’éducation pour toutes et tous soit une réalité

Para Educo la EeE es clave, urgente y prioritaria y por ello trabajamos con los principales donantes internacionales como ECHO (Unión Europea), Education Cannot Wait, INEE, The Resilience Collective, Unicef; y nacionales como la AECID. Además, generamos actuaciones con nuestros socios en la Alianza ChildFund y seguimos buscando fondos para hacer realidad la educación para todas y todos.

For Educo, EiE is key, urgent and a priority, and for this reason we work with the main international donors such as ECHO (European Union), Education Cannot Wait, INEE, The Resilience Collective, UNICEF; and national donors such as AECID. In addition, we engage in actions with our partners in the ChildFund Alliance and continue to seek funding to make education for all a reality.

“Children and adolescents in emergency contexts are living at the frontline of the climate crisis,” said Raakhi Williams, Chief, Strategy and Planning, Education Cannot Wait (ECW). “And yet, available funding is vastly outstripped by growing needs. This excellent report provides us with hope – it sets out concrete, innovative and emerging solutions. At ECW we are excited to play our part by launching two new anticipatory action pilots this year to support education actors ‘get ahead’ of climate-related disasters, and to share their learning with the sector.”

Nadejda, 16, fled to Moldova two years ago with her mother and sisters - Varvara, 10, and Anastasia, 21.

At her current high school, Nadejda and her classmates spend a lot of time in the EDUTech lab, where most lessons are held.

EDUTech lab are learning spaces that provide non-formal and formal education activities, recreational activities such as music, drawing, sports games, chess competitions, Romanian, English, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) lessons, as well as support for student who connect to the Ukrainian Ministry of Education platforms developed for children who are learning remotely due to the war.

Santina started studying four years ago in a primary school 2 km from her home. She is now in the fourth year of primary school and loves going to school. "I like writing and reading the most. I also like to play football with my friends, and my friends at school are all girls," she says. However, there are activities that she found difficult, especially those that require the use of both hands, such as manipulating a ruler.

Santina was identified by HI at school through the Education Cannot Wait - First Emergency Response project. Following an assessment, HI provided her with learning materials including books, pens, crayons, puzzles and games to improve her learning skills. She is supported by HI occupational therapists and physiotherapists who guide her in specific exercises to strengthen her limbs and work on supporting bilateral hand use. She will receive a slanting board to help her write at school.

"I am happy because my left hand was weak, but now I can use it," says Santina.

Education cannot wait - First Emergency Response (FER) est mis en œuvre par un consortium d'organisations locales et internationales dans les camps de réfugiés en Ouganda (Nakivale Settlement, Rhino Settlement, Palabek Settlement). Il est financé par Education Cannot Wait, un fonds mondial des Nations Unies pour l'éducation dans les situations d'urgence. HI apporte un soutien technique aux partenaires du consortium en matière d'éducation inclusive, de services de réadaptation physique et fonctionnelle pour les personnes handicapées et de séances de sensibilisation au soutien psychosocial dans les campements et les communautés d'accueil.

The devastating August 2022 flood severely impacted education in Pakistan, leading to the destruction of 30,389 schools, with many serving as shelters. The First Emergency Response (FER) 2022 Project, funded by Education Cannot Wait aims to support 82,480 children in some of the worst flood affected districts of Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

As the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), is determined to work with all partners – UN agencies, civil society, Member States, Education Ministries, local communities, teachers, parents and school-aged children – to jointly turn this global education nightmare and its related crises of humanity around.

We are committed to the UN Secretary-General’s new system-wide United Nations Agenda for Protection. We continue to uphold the UN Charter and to defend the Sustainable Development Goals through SDG4 to ensure an inclusive, equitable and continued quality education for all children and adolescents left furthest behind in the darkest corners of the world.

Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), highlighted the worsening trend of attacks on education globally, recalling that schools should be safe places. She shared examples of recent attacks on students and schools in Myanmar, Gaza and North-East Nigeria. “We cannot live in an international world order where attacking a school or abducting girl students have become the new norm,” she said. “I am hopeful that with political pressure we can reverse this trend.”

She also announced a US$500,000 grant to the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA), to strengthen systems to better protect education from attack globally.