Education Unites Families, Education Unites the World

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on the International Day of Families (15 May)

There is nothing more important than family. Family is the tie that bonds us. Family is the heart of our humanity. Family is our hope for the future. This International Day of Families, we must remember the power of education to unite people, families and communities to build a better world.

Unfortunately, conflict, climate change and forced displacement are ripping families apart and derailing efforts to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG4: inclusive, equitable, quality education for all.

Children are seeing their parents murdered in inter-ethnic violence, homes and schools are being burnt to the ground in wars in places like Sudan and Ukraine, vast swaths of the population are being forced from their homes by droughts, floods and other climate emergencies, girls are being forced into child marriage and boys are being recruited by armed groups. In short, the seismic forces of poverty, hunger, conflict and chaos are pulling our families apart.

As we come together to celebrate the power of families to unite us, it’s important to recognize the power of education to keep families together, to support sustainable social and economic development, to provide girls with new opportunities, and to create more social cohesion across the world.

Education Cannot Wait, along with our strategic donors and partners worldwide, place families at the heart of everything we do. Whether it’s providing continued education for young mothers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or making sure refugee girls like Bchiote are able to access quality education in Ethiopia, we are working tirelessly to keep families together, to provide children and adolescents with the quality educational opportunities they deserve.

In 2022, we reached a historic milestone, with the world’s population topping 8 billion people. Of those 8 billion, 222 million are children and adolescents caught in armed conflict, displaced by climate change and living on the frontlines of some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. We must work together to ensure each of these children is able to access 12 years of quality education. It’s our investment in the future of our planet and the future of our human family.