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

Their Boundless Hope Breaks All Boundaries
14 May 2021
Director's Corner

Their Boundless Hope Breaks All Boundaries

Those left furthest behind are the ones with no legal, nor physical protection. They are the ones not accessing their right to an inclusive and continued quality education. They are hidden in the margins of the society - far away from official registers and development plans. They are hiding in...
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05 May 2021
Videos

Calling for Increased Funding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

After her misison to DRC, ECW Director Yasmine Sherif calls for increased funding to this forgotten crisis.
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Invest in the Humanity of Those Left Furthest Behind
15 April 2021
Op-Eds

Invest in the Humanity of Those Left Furthest Behind

Today, the humanity of 128 million children and adolescents living in countries is impacted by armed conflicts, forced displacement and climate-induced disasters, where virtually every single one of their human rights are being challenged. The most central one, and in all too many cases, their only hope - their inherent...
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Yasmine IWD 2021
21 March 2021
Op-Eds

International Women’s Day, 2021 Every Girl Has a Right to an Education

The following opinion piece is part of series to mark the upcoming International Women’s Day, March 8. Access to an inclusive quality education is a universal human right. When the inherent right to a good education is ignored or denied, the consequences are severe. For a girl in country of...
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We, The People
19 March 2021
Director's Corner

We, The Peoples

Education Cannot Wait follows people or populations. We reach those left furthest behind: the refugees, the internally displaced and the crisis-affected children and youth, their teachers and communities, who are all struggling to hold on to hope in refugee camps and war-torn communities. This is our added value. A few...
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11 March 2021
Videos

Launch of the EiE-GenKit

Yasmine Sherif, ECW Director, helps launch the EiE-GenKit. Director Sherif explains why this toolkit, which promotes gender-responsive and inclusive education interventions in emergency & protracted crises settings, is critical in improving gender and education outcomes of learners living in crises and addressing the realities on the ground.
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We Must Make It Happen_Together
10 February 2021
Director's Corner

We Must Make It Happen - Together

“As we enter 2021, education must be at the core of pandemic response and recovery efforts,” says António Gutteres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in his interview with Education Cannot Wait (ECW), reminding us that “upholding our pledge to leave no one behind starts with education.” Indeed, without making inclusive...
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13 January 2021
Videos

Burkina Faso Field Mission

The Director of Education Cannot Wait – the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises – Ms. Yasmine Sherif, visits Burkina Faso from 13-15 January, 2021 to see first-hand the education needs of children and youth caught in the multiple crises affecting the country and announce new funding...
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Hope Thrives on Action
08 January 2021
Director's Corner

Hope Thrives on Action

As 2020 comes to a close and we reflect on Education Cannot Wait’s mission this past year, two things stand out: hope and action. Amidst multiple crises around the globe, exacerbated by the COVID-19 global pandemic, hope has been the fuel driving us all forward to take action to deliver...
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The Climate Education Crisis
21 December 2020
Op-Eds

The Climate Education Crisis

Climate change threatens the very future of humanity. Entire villages are already being washed to sea, and conflicts over scarce resources are intensifying around the world. Each year, more and more families are forcibly displaced by extreme weather events, creating a vicious cycle of extreme poverty, acute hunger, and insecurity...
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Education is a Fundamental Human Right and the Priority of the 21st Century
21 December 2020
Statements

Education is a Fundamental Human Right and the Priority of the 21st Century

On Human Rights Day, Education Cannot Wait Director Yasmine Sherif explains how education is the key to unlocking all other human rights
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Education is a Fundamental Human Right and the Priority of the 21st Century
21 December 2020
Op-Eds

Education Is a Fundamental Human Right and the Priority of the 21st Century

Education is not a privilege. It is a fundamental human right. Yet, education is undervalued even at the best of times. We often fail to connect the dots between the right to education and the realization of all human rights. As noted by the Nobel-winning economist Amartya Sen, we have...
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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