In the News

Since its formation in 1945, the United Nations has stood as a universal symbol of hope and humanity. The UN Charter encompasses our vision for sustainable development, respect for human rights, and maintenance of peace and security.

It all starts with education. Education is the very foundation. Without education – especially for those suffering in wars, climate disasters and as forcibly displaced – how can we ever achieve the vision of the United Nations?

Thousands of women and girls have taken to the streets of Afghanistan’s cities to protest the repeated violation of their right to an education. While the Education Cannot Wait fund and its partners, including UNICEF, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Save the Children, continue to try to reach these girls, the Taliban ban has undoubtedly forced many more girls out of school.

 Leaders from across the world came together last month at the UN Secretary-General’s Transforming Education Summit to address a global education crisis that threatens to derail decades of development gains and is depriving millions of girls across the world of their inherent human right to access a quality education. Education Cannot Wait, as the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, champions these transformational approaches designed to be responsive in the midst of brutal crises by delivering with humanitarian speed and developmental depth to ensure no child or adolescent is left behind.

While intense fighting continues in eastern Ukraine, some areas are now accessible to humanitarian agencies that are quickly reaching affected families and children with lifesaving supplies. Generous contributions have come from the people and Governments of multiple countries, the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), Education Cannot Wait, the European Commission, OCHA-Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPF) and the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). 

A year of regressive Taliban policies and a spate of terrorist attacks targeting female students have sparked protests across Afghanistan. The international community must stand with Afghan women demanding their fundamental right to receive an education and ensure that Afghan girls are allowed to return safely to secondary schools.

Accelerated learning programs delivered by UNICEF with funding from Education Cannot Wait are helping students like 13-year-old Emyte realize their dreams.

According to Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait, “The education of girls, particularly those left behind in crises, is critical to the COVID-19 recovery plan, halting climate change and ensuring equal and prosperous societies”.

To support efforts to improve the state of education in Iraq, People in Need (PIN), as a part of the consortium funded by the UNICEF fund Education Cannot Wait (ECW), and in partnership with Save the Children, INTERSOS and RWANGA; started remedial and catch up classes in four schools in northern Iraq including recreational and PSS activities.

L'Unicef a appuyé les partenaires techniques dans les régions à mobiliser 4.000 enfants ambassadeurs à parité filles et garçons- et 1.000 jeunes de la deuxième décennie pour accompagner cet effort de retour à l'école de tous les enfants et à l'inscription massives des enfants en âge scolaire, notamment les plus vulnérables. Ce déploiement a été possible avec l'appui des partenaires techniques et financiers notamment l'Allemagne l'Autriche, le Canada, le Danemark, Education Cannot Wait, le Fonds de consolidation pour la paix, La Norvège, le Partenariat mondial pour l'éducation (GPE), Unicef Espagne et l'Union européenne.

Donors and the international community need to act too. An early opportunity is Education Cannot Wait’s (ECW) High-Level Financing Conference in February 2023, where we are calling on bilateral donors and foundations to provide at least $1.5 billion to ECW.

UN's 'Education Cannot Wait', is the world’s first fund dedicated to promoting safe learning environments and supporting gender-responsive education programs and we need to work on similar lines to increase female literacy in India. As Michelle Obama put it, "No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens."

Le ministère de l’Education nationale et de la Formation professionnelle (MENFP) et le Fonds des nations unies pour l’enfance (UNICEF) sont heureux d’annoncer l’octroi d’un montant de 11,8 millions de dollars par le Fonds mondial pour l’éducation en situation d’urgence « Education Cannot Wait », en appui au secteur de l’éducation, pour la mise en œuvre d’un programme pluriannuel de résilience.