In the News

Al Jazeera interviews the ECW Executive Director, Yasmine Sherif, on the pressing needs of the millions of crisis-affected children and youth around the world who urgently require quality education. Sherif highlights ECW’s ongoing work together with strategic partners to ensure that girls and boys affected by armed conflicts, climate-induced disasters, forced displacement and other crises can access inclusive quality education.  

The fights for gender equality and access to education need immediate support; right now that support looks like a big step up in funding from world leaders. As part of this year’s Global Citizen Festival campaign, we are calling on leaders in Japan, France, Germany, Australia, Norway, Denmark, and the UK to help get us back on track to achieving gender equality and eradicating poverty. 

We’re urging them to increase funding for Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Menstrual Health Accelerator — entities that are working tirelessly on the ground to ensure that women and girls’ rights are put first. 

In 1990, according to the World Bank, 2 billion people were living in extreme poverty. Years of unified action on a global scale saw that number reduced to less than 650 million by 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, for the first time in a generation, extreme poverty is on the rise, threatening to undermine decades of progress. 

This year's Global Citizen Festival campaign is laser-focused on urging governments to take action and address the systemic issues perpetuating extreme poverty. 

In 1990, according to the World Bank, 2 billion people were living in extreme poverty. Years of unified action on a global scale saw that number reduced to less than 650 million by 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, for the first time in a generation, extreme poverty is on the rise, threatening to undermine decades of progress.

This year's Global Citizen Festival campaign is laser-focused on urging governments to take action and address the systemic issues perpetuating extreme poverty. 

Yasmine Sherif has worked at the UN for several decades. She is passionate about humanitarian work and the world's vulnerable. Ahead of the autumn's UN summits, she is now starting a campaign for Afghan girls' right to education. The Swedish UN Association has met Yasmine, who was named UN Friend of the Year in 2017.

La ville de Douala abrite depuis hier, 17 août 2023, un atelier d’élaboration d’une feuille de route pour la mise en œuvre de la Déclaration sur la sécurité dans les écoles au Cameroun. Un engagement signé par le gouvernement camerounais le 10 septembre 2018. La rencontre prévue jusqu’à demain, 19 août, est organisée dans le cadre des activités du consortium « Education cannot wait », qui est le Fonds mondial des Nations unies pour l’éducation dans les situations d’urgence et les crises prolongées. Un consortium dont font partie le gouvernement camerounais et ses partenaires comme Plan International, l’Unicef ou encore le ministère norvégien des Affaires étrangères qui a mobilisé les ressources pour l’atelier.

On January 1, 2023, Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) introduced H.Res 54 to the House of Representatives to affirm the United States’ commitment to increasing access to quality education for young people, particularly girls, worldwide. The resolution stresses that, in the past two years, Covid-19-related closures have disrupted classroom education for some 147 million students globally, which could equate to a total loss of $17 trillion in lifetime earnings. Furthermore, it underscores that around 129 million girls remain unenrolled in school due to barriers hindering their access to education. Noting that education is critical for poverty reduction and global economic growth, here’s how H.Res 54 addresses women’s education and its effects on poverty.

Un atelier d'elaboration de la feuille de route d'implémentation d'une stratégie nationale s'est ouvert ce 17 août 2023 à Douala. 

À l’occasion du 2^e anniversaire de la prise du pouvoir des autorités de facto en Afghanistan, le Directeur adjoint d'Éducation sans délai (Education Cannot Wait), Graham Lang, s’entretient avec Radio-Canada au sujet du lancement de la campagne #AfghanGirlsVoices qui met en lumière la situation des filles et jeunes femmes afghanes privées de leur droit fondamental à l’éducation en élevant les #VoixDesFillesAfghanes sur la scène mondiale.

Time is quickly ticking towards 2030 — the deadline set by world leaders to achieve the UN’s Global Goals — and we haven’t yet done enough to reach gender equality by that year. In fact, we're still about 300 years away. 

Engineering student Somaya Faruqi had to flee Afghanistan to continue her studies after the Taliban government returned to power two years ago and banned more than 1.1 million girls and women from schools and universities.

The 21-year-old, now living in the United States, is the face of a campaign launched Tuesday by the UN's Education Cannot Wait global fund to combat the crisis, marking the two-year anniversary of the fall of the internationally recognized government in Kabul.

UNITED STATES - Engineering student Somaya Faruqi had to flee Afghanistan to continue her studies after the Taliban government returned to power two years ago and banned more than 1.1 million girls and women from schools and universities.

The 21-year-old, now living in the United States, is the face of a campaign launched Tuesday by the UN's Education Cannot Wait global fund to combat the crisis, marking the two-year anniversary of the fall of the internationally recognized government in Kabul.