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

Girl stands in displacement camp.
04 June 2023
Statements

We Must Stop Attacks on Children Immediately

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression 4 June 2023, New York – Children are not targets. Children are not soldiers. Children are not weapons. As we commemorate the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression , we call on leaders...
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Girl attending class
17 May 2023
Statements

Education Must Be Put Front and Centre on the G7 Agenda

Read Japanese ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement in advance of the G7 Hiroshima Summit At this year’s G7 Hiroshima Summit in Japan, world leaders will have a chance to “uphold the international order based on the rule of law and extend outreach to the Global South.” Education, as a...
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People holding hands
15 May 2023
Statements

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...
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Girl attending class
11 May 2023
Op-Eds

Mental Health is Key to Sustainable Development: It Starts with Quality Education

Read original via Modern Diplomacy On Mental Health Awareness month, the Executive Director of the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies, Education Cannot Wait, calls for expanded support for crisis-impacted children worldwide. Millions of children and adolescents witness family members attacked and killed. They see their homes burnt to...
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Girls at school
05 May 2023
Director's Corner

The Privilege of Making a Choice

A civilian student named Saber was caught in the crossfire in Khartoum. He had two choices: either flee and lose everything; or die. But within a moment his option to choose was violently denied: he died. As a result of the brutal internal armed conflict in Sudan right now, UNHCR...
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Family walking in Sudan
20 April 2023
Statements

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on the Outbreak of Fighting in Sudan

As the fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues to spread and the death toll amongst civilians continues to rise, I, on behalf of Education Cannot Wait, am profoundly concerned by the situation in Khartoum and Darfur and condemn this latest eruption of...
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Yasmine Sherif sits with young girl in Colombia
19 April 2023
Director's Corner

Make a Mark

Looking back on the past year and taking stock of opportunities this year, we have a chance to make a mark together. By connecting dots, seizing opportunities and overcoming challenges, we can move forward, deepen, expand and solidify. Just like thousands of generations before us. The advent of the written...
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YS at HLFC Geneva
16 March 2023
Director's Corner

Keep Moving …

Only forty-five days into our new Strategic Plan 2023-2026, Education Cannot Wait secured 55 percent of its total requirement for the coming four years, reaching $826 million at #HLFC2023. This is a significant milestone for education in emergencies and protracted crises and ECW will continue to pursue fund-raising year-round in...
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International Women's Day
08 March 2023
Statements

EMPOWER HER: Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on International Women’s Day

On International Women’s Day, let us remind ourselves of the power of education. We have all benefited from an education that less than a century ago was not a given for a girl and which still remains a distant utopia for millions of young girls. I know from my own...
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Ukraine
24 February 2023
Statements

The Brutal War on Ukraine Must End

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement Marking 365 Days of War in Ukraine Today with heavy hearts we mark 365 days of a brutal war against Ukraine. Through this illegal act of aggression, over 450 children have been killed and another 900 injured. The shelling and bombing has damaged 3,000...
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It's the Final Countdown
08 February 2023
Director's Corner

It’s The Final Countdown

In one week, on 16-17 February, the world will converge in Geneva – the United Nations humanitarian capital – for the first Education Cannot Wait High-Level Financing Conference (HLFC). From near and afar, ECW stakeholders around the globe will travel to Switzerland to represent our shared determination in delivering on...
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Photo © Modern Diplomacy
06 February 2023
Op-Eds

Education For All – Our Investment in Humanity

Originally published on Modern Diplomacy . Authors: Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown and Yasmine Sherif Millions of children are experiencing a world being ripped apart. Armed conflicts, climate change, forced displacement and other massive shocks are depriving them of their inherent human right to go to school and dream of a...
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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