In the News

En un movimiento transformador para promover la inclusión a través del deporte para niños con discapacidades intelectuales, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) y Special Olympics internacional (SOI) anunciaron hoy una asociación estratégica que coincide con el Día Internacional de las Personas con Discapacidad. 

A través de su Centro de Aceleración, ECW apoyará a SOI para expandir el programa Special Olympics United Champion Schools, promoviendo una inclusión social significativa al reunir a estudiantes con y sin discapacidades intelectuales para crear entornos escolares aceptantes, utilizando tres componentes interconectados: Special Olympics Unified Sports, liderazgo juvenil inclusivo y participación de toda la esclusa.

Como fondo mundial para la educación en situaciones de emergencia y crisis prolongadas de la Naciones Unidas, ECW se ha comprometido a llegar al 10% de los niños con discapacidad a través de su cartera de inversiones programáticas, reuniendo a una amplia gama de socios estratégicos (gobiernos, agencias de la Naciones Unidas, sociedad civil y donantes del sector público y privado) para abordar esta crisis apremiante.

In a transformative move to advance inclusion through sports for children with intellectual disabilities,  Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and Special Olympics International (SOI) announced today a strategic partnership coinciding with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Through its Acceleration Facility, ECW will support SOI to expand the Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools® programme, promoting meaningful social inclusion by bringing together students with and without intellectual disabilities to create accepting school environments, utilizing three interconnected components: Special Olympics Unified Sports®, inclusive youth leadership, and whole school engagement.

As the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, ECW has committed to reaching 10% of children with disabilities across its programmatic investment portfolio, bringing together a wide range of strategic partners – governments, United Nations agencies, civil society, and public and private sector donors – to address this pressing crisis.

In November 2024, Finn Church Aid Ukraine concluded a series of two-day training sessions for vocational education teachers from the Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. These sessions were part of the “Multi-Year Resilience Programme” (MYRP), funded by the global organisation Education Cannot Wait.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, announces two new grants, totalling $1.9 million. The grants will be delivered in partnership with the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) and Plan International Canada to propel efforts in transforming gender norms and supporting women and girls in crisis settings.

These new ECW partnerships with UNGEI and Plan International Canada will further strengthen our collective efforts to empower girls to reclaim their rights," said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, announces two new grants, totalling $1.9 million. The grants will be delivered in partnership with the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) and Plan International Canada to propel efforts in transforming gender norms and supporting women and girls in crisis settings.

"These new ECW partnerships with UNGEI and Plan International Canada will further strengthen our collective efforts to empower girls to reclaim their rights," said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait.

Education Cannot Wait( ECW), el fondo mundial para la educación en situaciones de emergencia y crisis prolongadas de las Naciones Unidas anuncia dos nuevas subvenciones por un total de 1,9 millones de dólares. Las subvenciones se otorgarán en colaboración con la iniciativa de las Naciones Unidas par la Educación de la Niñas (UNGEI) y Plan International Canada para impulsar los esfuerzos destinados a transformar las normas de género y apoyar a las mujeres y niñas en situaciones de crisis.

Estas nuevas alianzas de ECW con UNGEI y Plan International Canadá fortalecerán aún más nuestro esfuerzos colectivos para empoderar a las niñas para que reclamen sus derechos" dijo Yasmine Sherif, directora ejecutiva de Education Cannot Wait 

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, announces two new grants, totalling $1.9 million. The grants will be delivered in partnership with the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) and Plan International Canada to propel efforts in transforming gender norms and supporting women and girls in crisis settings.

"These new ECW partnerships with UNGEI and Plan International Canada will further strengthen our collective efforts to empower girls to reclaim their rights," said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, announces two new grants, totalling $1.9 million. The grants will be delivered in partnership with the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) and Plan International Canada to propel efforts in transforming gender norms and supporting women and girls in crisis settings.

These new ECW partnerships with UNGEI and Plan International Canada will further strengthen our collective efforts to empower girls to reclaim their rights," said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait.

"Four of the five countries with the largest gender gaps in education are conflict-affected. This grant enables the UNGEI partnership to step into this gap and work with our partners on the ground to close it. We look forward to working with ECW to support girls in emergencies and protracted crises to learn, grow and thrive. Investing in girls' education is the most powerful way to build resilient communities and a more peaceful and just world," said Antara Ganguli, Director of UNGEI.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, announces two new grants, totalling $1.9 million. The grants will be delivered in partnership with the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) and Plan International Canada to propel efforts in transforming gender norms and supporting women and girls in crisis settings.

"These new ECW partnerships with UNGEI and Plan International Canada will further strengthen our collective efforts to empower girls to reclaim their rights," said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, announces two new grants, totalling $1.9 million. The grants will be delivered in partnership with the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) and Plan International Canada to propel efforts in transforming gender norms and supporting women and girls in crisis settings.

These new ECW partnerships with UNGEI and Plan International Canada will further strengthen our collective efforts to empower girls to reclaim their rights," said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait.

"Four of the five countries with the largest gender gaps in education are conflict-affected. This grant enables the UNGEI partnership to step into this gap and work with our partners on the ground to close it. We look forward to working with ECW to support girls in emergencies and protracted crises to learn, grow and thrive. Investing in girls' education is the most powerful way to build resilient communities and a more peaceful and just world," said Antara Ganguli, Director of UNGEI.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, announces two new grants, totalling $1.9 million. The grants will be delivered in partnership with the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) and Plan International Canada to propel efforts in transforming gender norms and supporting women and girls in crisis settings.

These new ECW partnerships with UNGEI and Plan International Canada will further strengthen our collective efforts to empower girls to reclaim their rights," said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait.

We look forward to working with ECW to support girls in emergencies and protracted crises to learn, grow and thrive. Investing in girls' education is the most powerful way to build resilient communities and a more peaceful and just world," said Antara Ganguli, Director of UNGEI.

“Together with our partners, we have launched a pilot program in Somalia and Afghanistan, working with communities to identify early action activities or anticipatory action to act against the impacts of climate and minimize its disruption on children’s lives and education in those countries,” says Dianah Nelson, Chief of Education, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations.

Towards embedding education into the climate finance debate, ECW held a series of COP29 side events on such issues as unlocking the potential of anticipatory action through multi-stakeholder collaboration; meeting the challenge of conflict, climate and education; climate change-resilient education systems in the most vulnerable nations; and protecting children’s futures: why loss and damage must prioritise education in emergencies.

At COP29, ECW reiterated the power of education to unite communities, build consensus, and transform entire societies.

ECW says the connection between climate action and education is also noticeably underrepresented in NDCs, or national commitments to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

"ECW’s disaster-resilient classrooms, for instance, boosted enrollment rates in Chad.”

Amid Chad’s multidimensional challenges compounded by climate change, climate-resilient classrooms whose construction was funded by ECW and completed in March 2022 meant that classrooms were more durable and accessible for children and adolescents with disabilities.

Accordingly, ECW says a key step is increasing access to the main climate funds—including the Global Environment Facility and Green Climate Fund—and activating new innovative financing modalities to deliver with speed, depth, and impact, and that the funding needs to be faster, transparent, and fully coordinated across both humanitarian and development sectors.

Looking forward to COP30 in Brazil, ECW stressed that education must play an integral role in the new Loss and Damage Fund.