Education Cannot Wait Announces Uٍ$1.7 Million Grant for First Emergency Response in Yemen

10 January 2022, New York – Education Cannot Wait (ECW) announced today a new US$1.7 million First Emergency Response grant in Yemen.

The 18-month grant will be delivered by the Norwegian Refugee Council, reaching approximately 5,500 girls and boys impacted by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

“Yemen remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. The brutal armed conflict has left approximately 8.1 million school-aged girls and boys in need of education in emergencies support,” said Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait, the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. “For the children and adolescents of Yemen, access to safe learning spaces can save lives and sow the seeds for a more peaceful future.”

The ongoing conflict in Yemen, coupled with the impacts of COVID-19 and climate change are putting children and adolescents at severe risks. Of the 8.1 million in need of immediate education support, 1.65 million are internally displaced children and 1.5 million are living with a disability.

Education infrastructure in Yemen is in complete and total disrepair. More than 2,500 schools are reported destroyed, damaged, and/or utilized for non-educational purposes. Conflict and continued disruption of schooling across the country and the fragmentation of the education systems have had a profound impact on the learning and overall cognitive and emotional development of nearly all the 10.1 million school-age girls and boys in Yemen.

To make matters worse, two-thirds of teachers in Yemen – over 170,000 teachers– have not received a regular salary for more than four years because of the crisis. 

“Our teams on the ground meet daily with girls and boys that can’t go to school because an airstrike has destroyed it or because they had to flee their village. We must protect children from the devastating consequences of the war and provide them with education opportunities so they can build their own, and be part of Yemen’s, future,” said Norwegian Refugee Council’s Country Director in Yemen, Erin Hutchinson.

The ECW First Emergency Response funds support the reconstruction and repair of learning centres and water and sanitation facilities in locations in Ma’rib and the West coast areas of Yemen. The funds also provide immediate and sustained psycho-social support for children, ensure children have quality education materials, and enhance coordination to respond to this ongoing crisis. The funding builds on the impact of a previous US$3 million ECW First Emergency Response grant delivered in partnership with NRC, which renovated approximately 95 schools and reached over 9,000 children.