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

20 December 2020
Videos

ECW Mission to Lebanon

ECW Director Yasmine Sherif visits with leaders, students and other stakeholders impacted by the multiplying crises in Lebanon.
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They Deserve No Less in Central Sahel
16 November 2020
Op-Eds

They Deserve No Less in Central Sahel

“I am so happy. This is my success!” says 13-year old Cynthia , beaming proudly as she shows her Primary School Certificate with an average mark of 120 out of 150. Thanks to the Radio Education Programme, she will now graduate on to Grade 6! Cynthia’s sense of pride, joy...
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Statements of ECW director Yasmin
20 October 2020
Statements

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...
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Scaling up SDG4 in Crises
15 October 2020
Op-Eds

Scaling Up SDG4 in Crises

Out of global crises spring opportunities for change. In crisis, change is not an option. It is a necessity. And, as Plato famously noted: “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is an invention that sprang out of crisis and was borne of necessity. Education Cannot Wait...
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Teachers Shoulder the Burden
02 October 2020
Op-Eds

Teachers Shoulder the Burden: Improving Support in Crisis Contexts

By Yasmine Sherif, Dean Brooks and Mary Mendenhall Teachers are at the heart of children and young peoples’ educational experiences. Teachers play multiple roles in their students’ lives by supporting their learning, providing them with inclusive and safe environments to grow and develop, and helping them become more confident as...
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PR
25 September 2020
Videos

Al Arabiya ‘Diplomatic Avenue’ Interview With Yasmine Sherif

Al Arabiya ‘Diplomatic Avenue’ Interview With Yasmine Sherif
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Working Together to Build Back Better Through Education
09 July 2020
Op-Eds

Working Together to Build Back Better Through Education

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread around the world, jeopardizing the education of 1.18 billion learners in 191 countries, some are even more severely affected than others. These are the 75 million children and young people, including 39 million girls, already marginalized by armed conflict, forced displacement and natural...
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In the Arab Region, Education Cannot Wait.
03 December 2019
Op-Eds

In the Arab Region, Education Cannot Wait

View the original article on the global media platform openDemocracy . New Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report published by UNESCO shows forced displacement holding back a generation of learners across the Arab region. Hassan is 16 years old. He fled Syria five years ago with nothing but a school bag...
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Opinion World leaders can and must do more for girls
03 July 2019
Op-Eds

Opinion: World Leaders Can and Must Do More for Girls’ Education in Emergencies

By Yasmine Sherif and Stephen Twigg Originally published on Devex 16-year-old Kwanye’s education came to an end after militants started kidnapping girls from her school. She lives in the Lake Chad Basin, where one of the world’s most severe and underreported humanitarian crises has left 2.2 million people displaced, half...
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HEALING AND RECOVERY THROUGH EDUCATION IN EMERGENCIES
20 May 2019
Op-Eds

Healing and Recovery Through Education in Emergencies

CRITICAL IMPACT OF CONFLICT ON CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOSOCIAL WELLBEING By Yasmine Sherif, Director, Education Cannot Wait, and Leslie Snider, Director MHPSS Collaborative for Children and Families ‘Suicide bombs, landmines, unexploded ordinance, air strikes and other forms of explosives account for three quarters of child deaths and injuries across...
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Delivering Education In Crises
03 May 2019
Statements

Delivering Education in Crises

Yasmine Sherif, director of Education Cannot Wait, contends that for children and youth in crises, genuine survival depends not only on meeting basic physical needs, but also on ensuring access to quality education and the opportunity for a productive future. Special contribution by Yasmine Sherif, Director Education Cannot Wait to...
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PR
21 February 2019
Op-Eds

Education Is an Essential Building Block for Peace in Afghanistan

Why is education important for Afghanistan? While Afghanistan is making progress in improving access to education, approximately 3.7 million children remain out of school. 2017 saw nearly half a million newly displaced people in Afghanistan, as well as an influx of over 600,000 Afghans returning from Iran and Pakistan. Droughts...
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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