How Many Wake-Up Calls Does It Take to Prioritize Funding Education in Emergencies

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Yasmine Sherif interacting with a child in Ethiopia

International Day of Education Statement by Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif

To mark the International Day of Education, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and our strategic partners urgently call on world leaders to accelerate funding for education in emergencies and protracted crises, as we race to deliver on the promise of Education for All as outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
 
The analysis from ECW’s new Global Estimates Report offers a daunting portrait of the world today. It’s a world of haves and have nots, a world where conflicts and climate-induced disasters are on the rise, a world with no future for a large part of the young generation.
 
The new report is yet another wake-up call. We must stop and listen: there are now 234 million crisis-impacted school-aged children deprived of a quality education. That is nearly a quarter of a billion children and adolescents without a quality education, while also enduring wars, refuge and climate disasters. According to ECW’s refined analysis, this number has grown by an unconscionable 35 million over the past three years.
 
Without an education, they are at extreme risk of being subjected to grave violations of their human rights including child marriage, gender-based violence, forced recruitment into armed groups, killings and maiming. Unless we wake up, as a global community, we will fail with certainty in our responsibilities towards the present generation of young people, and all those generations yet to come.
 
While the needs continue to rise, humanitarian and development funding for education must significantly increase, too. Alternatively, we can reduce financing for wars and redirect those trillions towards education. While over US$2 trillion are spent annually towards military expenditures, there is a US$100 billion annual financing gap to achieve the education targets in low- and lower-middle income countries outlined in the SDGs, according to the United Nations. What do we choose: destruction or development? The clear advantage of opting for education, instead of wars, is that the odds of winning are far greater. These are two clear value propositions, and the investment in education is definitely far more cost-effective, accountable and honorable.
 
As we mark the International Day of Education 2025, we have no choice but to choose wisely.

About our Director

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif
Yasmine Sherif
Director

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