Executive Director's Corner

Yasmine Sherif speaking with a kid from Lebanon
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ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif

Yasmine Sherif is the Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW). A lawyer specialized in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law (LL.M), she has over 30 years of experience with the United Nations and international NGOs. 

Ms. Sherif has served in some of the most crisis-affected areas of the world, including Afghanistan, the Middle East, the Balkans, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan as well as in New York and Geneva. She has led high-level missions to numerous conflict and crisis-affected countries. Her expertise spans across the education, humanitarian, development, human rights, gender and peacekeeping spectrum.

She is the author of the book, The Case for Humanity: An Extraordinary Session, and a Champion for ‘No Lost Generation.’ In 2017, she received the annual award Sweden’s UN Friend of the Year, in 2020 she was awarded the Global Educator Award in the United States, and in 2022 she received on behalf of Education Cannot Wait, the prestigious Mother Teresa Award.

Ms. Sherif also received an award from the United Nations Association-USA Brooklyn Chapter in 2023, and was recently honored as a Listee in Marquis Who's Who for her dedication to the field of international affairs and law, and leadership of ECW. 

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All Statements and Updates

Young girl in Gaza.
22 November 2023
Director's Corner

A Crisis of Humanity

The UN Secretary-General has defined the crisis in Gaza not just as a humanitarian crisis, but rather as a crisis of humanity. According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres : “Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children. Hundreds of girls and boys are reportedly being killed or injured every day.” This...
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Children at a school used as a shelter in Gaza
19 November 2023
Statements

Every Child, Every Right

World Children’s Day Statement by ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif On World Children’s Day , I think many of us feel a need to bow to the 224 million crisis-impacted children and adolescents who are suffering unspeakable violations of international humanitarian and human rights law right now. Born of innocence...
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Children holding hands.
15 November 2023
Statements

The Full Force of Tolerance

International Day of Tolerance Statement by Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif  16 November 2023, New York –  Despite all our progress in many aspects of human life on earth, we still fall behind on universal ethics, empathy and moral courage – three key components essential to create a world of tolerance. Today...
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Palestinian child in the street amidst the wreckage of homes destroyed by airstrikes in the Gaza Strip
24 October 2023
Statements

The Power of Humanity

United Nations Day Statement by Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Today, as we commemorate United Nations Day, more than 224 million children and adolescents are in need of quality education, and the hope, protection and opportunity it provides. Their numbers are increasing by the day. From Afghanistan and Sudan to...
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Group of girls in Niger look out a window and smile.
11 October 2023
Statements

Empower Her

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on International Day of the Girl Child 11 October 2023, New York – Girls are the future. They are agents of positive change and potential in a world torn apart by conflicts and chaos. On this International Day of the Girl Child , Education...
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Group of children hold hula hoops to the sky.
10 October 2023
Statements

Mental Health is the Foundation for Learning

Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on World Mental Health Day 10 October 2023, New York – Millions of school-aged children, adolescents and their teachers in countries of brutal conflicts, devastating climate disasters and refuge are calling out for our action today. Their mental health cannot wait. They...
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Teacher in Bangladesh works with a student on reading.
05 October 2023
Statements

Our Teachers, Our Heroes

Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Statement on World Teachers’ Day 5 October 2023, New York – We are in a race to deliver on our global promise of Education for All by 2030 – especially for the 224 million girls and boys impacted by armed conflict, climate change, forced displacement...
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An African girl holding a sign "Who will make peace with"
21 September 2023
Statements

Without Education, There is No Peace

Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on the International Day of Peace 21 September 2023, New York – The International Day of Peace provides a clarion call to us all to redouble efforts to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals, and place education at the center of our...
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Annual results report
18 September 2023
Director's Corner

With Hope and Courage, They Inspire Us

“My dream is to become a teacher,” says 13-year-old Alia. A small glimmer of hope can be traced in her beautiful, almond-shaped, brown eyes. Together with her mother, siblings and aunt, Alia has fled the conflict in Sudan to Chad. With extraordinary courage to survive, she made the harrowing journey...
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AfghanGirlsVoices illustration
18 September 2023
Statements

The Taliban Can Reverse the Unacceptable Ban on Girls’ Education

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on the Second Anniversary of the Ban on Secondary School Girls Education in Afghanistan Today, we mark the second anniversary of the ban on secondary school girls’ education in Afghanistan and join the world in calling for it to be lifted now. Denying education...
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Students in a classroom in Nigeria hold up an umbrella.
09 September 2023
Statements

End to Impunity for Violations of International Law: Stop Attacks on Education

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on the International Day to Protect Education from Attack 9 September 2023, New York – No child or adolescent, nor teacher, should have to live in fear for their lives by going to school. It is an absurd thought. Yet, it is more than...
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Yasmine_Sherif_UNchronicle
08 September 2023
Op-Eds

Unleashing Our Ability to Build a Better World: The Transformational Power of Education to Deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals

This article originally appeared in the UN Chronicle . Education is a liberating force for every child and a building block for a better world. It is the foundation for every young person’s future, as well as the foundation upon which peaceful and prosperous societies are built. As the world...
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Latest Photos

Access Photos of ECW Director Yasmine Sherif
ECW Director Yasmine Sherif at UN's Transforming Education Summit
ECW Director Yasmine Sherif at UN's Transforming Education Summit
ECW Director Yasmine Sherif at UN's Transforming Education Summit
The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, ECW Director Yasmine Sherif and ECW staff at UN's Transforming Education Summit
ECW Director Yasmine Sherif at UN's Transforming Education Summit
ECW Director Yasmine Sherif at UN's Transforming Education Summit
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Director Yasmine Sherif speaks with students during a school visit on her all-women mission to Afghanistan.
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Leading an all-women mission to Afghanistan, Director Yasmine Sherif arrives at a local school, hand-in-hand with female teachers and staff.
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Director Yasmine Sherif and actress and education champion Rachel Brosnahan take the stage at Global Citizen Live 2021 in NYC.
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Director Yasmine Sherif meets children with disabilities during ECW’s Lebanon Mission.
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Director Yasmine Sherif and Nasser Faqih, ECW Chief of Partnerships, visit a refugee camp with partners during a mission to Lebanon.
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Director Yasmine Sherif speaks with on-the-ground partners during ECW’s mission to Lebanon.

Latest Videos

Al Arabiya with Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait

قناة العربية: الشارع الدبلوماسي مع طلال الحاج يستضيف ياسمين شريف حول وضع التعليم في افغانستان

Diplomatic Avenue : Al Arabiya Exclusive with Yasmine Sherif, Director of UN Global Fund ECW

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Celebrates the Fifth Anniversary of Education Cannot Wait

[FR] ECW Director Yasmine Sherif mission in DRC - part 1

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Resolutions are just tiny steps. To make them a reality requires Action. Until it becomes action on the ground, those words mean very little. Not until you help that child to access a safe, quality education have you actually achieved the result.

Yasmine Sherif, ECW Executive Director