Statement of the ECW Director, Yasmine Sherif, at the Ministerial Roundtable for the Central Sahel

20 October 2020 – as prepared for delivery

Education Cannot Wait is the first and only global fund dedicated to supporting the education of children and youth in emergencies and protracted crises, including armed conflict.  Following the escalation of the crises in Central Sahel in 2019, particularly in Burkina Faso, ECW has been engaging with the governments and education partners in all three countries, including UN agencies and civil society organizations.  ECW sees education as a central, key component of any sustainable solution to crises, not only ensuring that children and youths’ right to education is fulfilled but also in contributing to peace, tolerance and understanding as a basis for long-lasting stability.  Since July 2019, ECW has approved $30 million in grants to the three countries in four funding phases to over 20 different grantees – thanks to generous support from our diverse donor base, including the governments of the United Kingdom, United States and Denmark.  We would like to take the opportunity today to say two things:  First, ECW, working across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, is now committing an additional $33 million to the three countries over the next three years in support of multi-year resilience programme funding. This will support existing education in emergencies strategies and help them to bridge longer-term development interventions outlined in the respective sector plans.  Secondly, we appeal to other donors to join ECW in recognising the central role of education in tackling the crises in Central Sahel by swiftly increasing their financing to eliminate the $94 million gap which ECW is urgently needed for education in the crises affected zones across all three countries.

Thank-you.

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