In the News

Adnan Ameen, Chief Executive Officer of COP28, said: “Education is a critical driver to build the skills needed for the future climate economy. In this context, we are delighted to be working with Dubai Cares to bring the second edition of the RewirEd Summit to COP28. This will be a key opportunity to rally the solutions that can empower today’s learners and accelerate actions that will determine our planet’s future.”

Ministers and high-level dignitaries to join the discussions along with a diverse line-up of speakers from other sectors 

Some of the key speakers include: Hon. Philip J. Pierre, Prime Minister of St. Lucia; H.E. Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Labor and Employment, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India; H.E. Cheikh Oumar Anne, Minister of National Education, Senegal; H.E. João Marques da Costa, Minister of Education, Portugal; Hon. Awut Deng Achuil, Minister of General Education and Instruction, South Sudan; H.E. Pohamba Penomwenyo Shifeta, Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director, Education Cannot Wait

We must take stronger action to end violence against girls and women through the UN 16 Days of Activism campaign – running from the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls (25 November) until Human Rights Day (10 December). We urge leaders everywhere to take firm, concrete action to put all the human rights of girls and women – especially their right to 12 years of safe, quality education – at the forefront of the international agenda.

This year's theme is 'Invest to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls.' By investing in safe schools, protective learning environments, and mental health and psychosocial support – through holistic, quality education that empowers girls to be confident of their rights and have the power to claim them – we can truly empower an entire generation of future women leaders.

Every child needs encouragement and support to develop and be proud of their own identity. Every human being has a story to tell. Those who were not emotionally equipped to tell their story, I believe, are the most likely to resort to violence, to lack empathy or to commit acts of inhumanity. As Carl Jung said: “The reason for evil in this world is that people are not able to tell their stories.” A similar conclusion was made by Erich Fromm, who stated that “Destructiveness is the outcome of an unlived life.”

This is the untold story. Now it shapes a world divided.

The highest price is being paid by innocent children and adolescents. Instead of learning safely in school, telling their story and developing their potentials in preparation for life – millions are living in an inferno of inhumanity, where one of the most realistic options is simply to prepare for death.

This is indeed a crisis of humanity.

Yasmine Sherif is Executive Director Education Cannot Wait (ECW)

La presentación de resultados realizada en la Biblioteca Pública, Julio Pérez Ferrero, el pasado 22 de noviembre, en el marco del programa “La educación no puede esperar”, que desde hace tres años viene apoyando los esfuerzos del Ministerio de Educación Nacional, para llegar a más niñas, niños y jóvenes que no asistían a la escuela, fue todo un éxito y llamó la atención de la población cucuteña.

Dentro de su ejecución, tiene como prioridad a personas migrantes y refugiadas provenientes de Venezuela, al igual que el apoyo a la niñez más vulnerable de la comunidad de acogida, con un enfoque especial a personas en condición de discapacidad.

Organizaciones como el Comité Permanente para la Defensa de Derechos Humanos (CDH), el Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados (ACNUR) y Education Cannot Wait (ECW)  han ayudado a financiar el proyecto de capacitación a madres voluntarias para refuerzo escolar por dos años. También entregaron kits escolares e insumos educativos y trabajaron juntos en iniciativas de asistencia a personas con casos de vulnerabilidad médica, psicológica, alimenticia. También colaboraron con quienes les faltaba dinero para pagar el alquiler, entre otras causas que Santos ha encontrado en el barrio.

WeWorld si impegna a promuovere e proteggere il diritto all’Educazione di bambine e ragazze in tutto il mondo, soprattutto nei contesti più fragili: facciamo parte della rete ChildFund Alliance, che supporta bambini, bambine e le loro famiglie a contrastare la povertà e a poter sviluppare tutto il proprio potenziale; della coalizione Campagna Globale per l’Educazione, con la quale abbiamo chiesto all’Italia di difendere e promuovere il diritto all’Educazione anche in contesti di emergenza e crisi protratte, attraverso un primo contributo di almeno 15 milioni di euro (3,75 l’anno) totali per i prossimi 4 anni a Education Cannot Wait, il fondo globale delle Nazioni Unite per l’istruzione nelle emergenze e nelle crisi protratte. Solo nel 2021, Education Cannot Wait ha raggiunto 3,7 milioni di bambini, bambine e adolescenti in 32 Paesi colpiti da crisi (di cui il 48,9% ragazze).

After opening messages from Ambassador Thöni, and Armando Soto Boutin, Head of Cooperation and International Affairs, Ministry of Education, Colombia, the audience heard a video message from Ibrahim, Deputy Speaker of National Children Parliament, Nigeria.

Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director, Education Cannot Wait, also delivered a video message.

“It is high time to see the interrelation between the climate crisis and the education crisis,” she said. “They’re not separate, they are one – and if you are going to invest in climate change you have to invest part of that in education.”

“Under international humanitarian laws and the Safe Schools Declaration, civilians — in particular children, schools, and school personnel — must be protected. What we are seeing in this conflict are bombs pounding the most densely populated area on earth, schools and other civilian infrastructures being attacked, and an entire population being trapped in the most dire conditions, with no safe place to flee to. Surviving children are maimed, orphaned, or have lost close and extended family. Horrors of unimaginable proportion are unfolding before our eyes,” Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, the UN global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, tells IPS.

In Gaza, with all UNRWA schools now serving as shelters for displaced persons and with schoolyards becoming graveyards after being hit directly or indirectly by airstrikes, learning has stopped for 300,228 UNRWA students throughout the past month. Children and teachers have been killed and children are experiencing traumatic events on a daily basis. In October alone, UNRWA reported that 91% of children demonstrated effects of trauma, a number that most likely has increased since then. It is safe to say that no child in Gaza is unaffected. With their education entirely disrupted, Education Cannot Wait recently announced an initial US$10 Million First Emergency Response grant to UNRWA and UNICEF to urgently support mental health and psychosocial services, and protective learning opportunities. We look to all our strategic donors and partners to help us do more.

As the global community marks World Children’s Day, every child should be guaranteed their rights, including those in the Gaza Strip, where heavy bombardment and military operations by Israel have killed more than 11,000 people, 40 percent of them children.

“Under international humanitarian laws and the Safe Schools Declaration, civilians—in particular children, schools, and school personnel—must be protected. What we are seeing in this conflict are bombs pounding the most densely populated area on earth, schools and other civilian infrastructures being attacked, and an entire population being trapped in the most dire conditions, with no safe place to flee to. Surviving children are maimed, orphaned, or have lost close and extended family. Horrors of unimaginable proportion are unfolding before our eyes,” Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, the UN global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, tells IPS.

“En las mejores circunstancias, ser profesor es un reto. Ahora imagine lo que es para los maestros en una zona en crisis o afectada por un conflicto en Afganistán, Colombia, Siria o Uganda. Imagine lo que es enseñar siendo uno de los millones de personas que huyen de guerras, conflictos y catástrofes sin ningún apoyo”, observó la directora ejecutiva de la organización la Educación no puede esperar con ocasión del Día Mundial.

Según Yasmine Sherif, esa la realidad a la que se enfrentan millones de profesores en las peores crisis humanitarias del mundo”, por lo que la Educación no puede esperar ha ofrecido servicios de formación a más de 145.000 maestros que se encuentran en esas circunstancias.

Somaya Faruqi, 21, is a Global Champion for Education Cannot Wait and the former captain of the Afghan Girl Robotics Team. Now pursuing her engineering degree in the United States, Somaya emphasized, “Education is a human right that can’t be negotiated.” She urged the audience to contribute to efforts to fund girls’ education, especially for refugees and emphasized the importance of including women in the decision-making process. Somaya feels a deep sense of responsibility to shine a light on the harsh realities faced by 222 million children worldwide, especially for the more than one million girls in Afghanistan who currently do not have access to education at all.

“We must work together, not just stand in solidarity, because solidarity without action means nothing,” Somaya said.