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

International Women's Day
07 March 2022
Director's Corner

Girls’ Education Must Come First

The International Women’s Day is not a celebration – it is a reminder that we have yet to empower young girls in crisis to access their inherent right to a quality education. Republished with permission from Modern Diplomacy . On the International Women’s Day, ECW celebrates the role of education...
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Girl sitting in a classroom in Ukraine.
24 February 2022
Statements

Statement: Education Cannot Wait Director Yasmine Sherif Calls for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, Schools and School Personnel in the Face of the Escalating Crisis in Ukraine

The escalating conflict and ongoing military actions in Ukraine are putting children and adolescents at grave risk. The crisis is threatening the lives and wellbeing of an estimated 7.5 million girls and boys across the country, including potential profound disruptions to their education. We call for a strict adherence to...
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ECW Director Yasmine Sherif
19 February 2022
Director's Corner

Dream. Dare. Do.

Conflict, forced displacement, climate change and COVID-19 are disrupting the education of millions of crisis-affected children and adolescents around the world.
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Director's Corner
16 February 2022
Director's Corner

When all Truly Means Everyone: Fulfilling the Right to Education of Children with Disabilities in Our Global Education Crisis Response

By Yasmine Sherif When she was just 16, Nujeen Mustafa made a 3,500-mile journey from Syria to Germany in a steel wheelchair. Nujeen didn’t attend school in Syria like the other girls and boys – even before the war broke out. She was one of the millions of children denied...
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Awareness Must Rise_Action Cannot Wait
15 February 2022
Director's Corner

Awareness Must Rise: Action Cannot Wait

Just weeks ago, the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies was inaugurated. Thanks to the Government of Switzerland, Education Cannot Wait and key partners have taken a major leap forward in strengthening collaboration to accelerate crucial education in emergencies and protracted crises response. Extending the global reach of our...
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Yasmine Sherif in the field.
10 February 2022
Director's Corner

Vision Requires Action

This year’s International Day of Education marked an important milestone for Education Cannot Wait, with Germany announcing a ground-breaking new, additional €200 million contribution to ECW, making it the billion-dollar global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, hosted by the United Nations.
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Education in Emergencies
27 December 2021
Director's Corner

The Future of an Entire Generation Hangs in the Balance

View original on the World Education Blog . By Yasmine Sherif, Director, Education Cannot Wait, and Joseph Nhan-O’Reilly, Director, International Parliamentary Network for Education COVID-19 has upended our world, threatening our health, destroying economies and livelihoods, and deepening poverty and inequalities. It also created the single largest disruption to education...
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ECW Director Yasmine Sherif
08 December 2021
Op-Eds

Modern Diplomacy: Education Must Come First in Cameroon: Yasmine Sherif calls for an end to attacks on schools

Article re-posted with permission from Modern Diplomacy. The future of humanity hangs in the balance. Acute threats of conflict, COVID-19, climate change, poverty, displacement, hunger and other factors are pushing millions more people – with children the most vulnerable and hardest hit – to the edge in humanitarian crises around...
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We Must Rise to the Occasion, Now.
22 November 2021
Director's Corner

We Must Rise to the Occasion, Now.

In 2021, COVID-19 continued to plague the world – a world already burdened by armed conflicts, climate-induced disasters and forced displacement. Communities, nations and people struggled to maintain normalcy in the midst of the abnormal. This was especially notable in the education sector – a sector that is the very...
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afg-photo-essay_eie-2017_8.jpg
14 November 2021
Op-Eds

Afghanistan: The Humanitarian Imperative Must Come First to Avoid Catastrophe

The international community must urgently step-up direct funding through United Nations agencies and NGOs to provide Afghan girls & boys with the life-saving support they need now Article reposted with permission from Modern Diplomacy . By Yasmine Sherif, Director, Education Cannot Wait A harsh winter is coming. The people of...
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05 November 2021
Videos

The Climate Crisis is an Education Crisis : ECW Director's Message on #COP26

ECW Director Yasmine Sherif addresses the interconnected crises of COVID-19, climate change and conflict in this inspiring address to the UN's Climate Talks.
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ECW DIRECTOR YASMINE SHERIF COMMEMORATES UN DAY
25 October 2021
Director's Corner

ECW Director Yasmine Sherif Commemorates UN Day

As prepared for delivery. In 1945, 76 years ago, in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, with fresh and raw wounds still open the founders of the United Nations brought purpose and hope to the world. One delegate who was present in San Francisco remembered: “We had...
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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