Education Cannot Wait Announces US$20 Million Multi-Year Resilience Programme Catalytic Grant in Syria, Total ECW Funding Tops US$77 Million

Over the course of 13 years of conflict and crisis, Syria has faced multiple challenges, including earthquakes, economic instability, forced displacement, climate hazards, and a variety of other difficulties making this one of the world’s most complex humanitarian crises. The impact on education is unprecedented. In all, some 2.4 million girls and boys are out of school, and 6.9 million children and youth are in need of urgent education support. Only 1 out of 3 schools nationwide remain fully functional.

To provide children and adolescents impacted by these vast and interconnected challenges with the safety and opportunity of a quality education, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations, announced today a significant new US$20 million Multi-Year Resilience Programme grant to scale-up investments in Syria, crowd-in resources from partners including the Global Partnership for Education, and deliver on the promise of education for all.

The grant builds on ECW’s US$57 million in investments in Syria to date, which have already reached over 610,000 children with quality, holistic education supports, built and rehabilitated approximately 2,600 classrooms, and reached more than 900,000 children through dedicated COVID-19 investments. The grant will be delivered by Save the Children in coordination with local and international partners. Fully funded, the grant will reach 80,000 children and adolescents with quality, holistic education.

“The children and adolescents of Syria have suffered a disruption of their education amidst destruction for far too long. By scaling up our investments in Syria along with our strategic global partners, we continue to our goal of reaching an entire generation that has been pushed to the shadows by the tides of war and oppression. Bearing in mind that Syria once had universal education, this is our investment in the young people and their teachers, rebuilding their country,” said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait.

“If we do not provide children the chance of a quality education, we deny them life chances again and again as they grow up. Too many children in Syria today are out of school or learning in damaged, dilapidated or overcrowded school buildings, without access to the bare minimum of resources. We are delighted to be working with Education Cannot Wait and with partners across Syria to ensure that more children can achieve their full potential in life. School is an essential component in nurturing that potential,” said Rasha Muhrez, Syria Response Director for Save the Children.

In all, there are more than 16 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria – almost half of them (45%) are children and 6.9 million internally displaced people. The economic crisis has severally impacted lives and livelihoods. Before the crisis, just 25% of people lived below the poverty line. This number has skyrocketed to 97% today.

The war has also taken a severe toll on mental health. Studies indicate that 1 in 8 children in school in Syria has poor mental health and needs specialized psychosocial support.

The programme seeks to improve learning outcomes and promote the protection and wellbeing of crisis-affected girls and boys through equitable access to inclusive education. In ensuring no child is left behind, the programme provides a strong emphasis on the inclusion of girls and children with disabilities. Holistic education support includes teacher trainings, mental health and psychosocial support, and improved mechanisms to strengthen and streamline the delivery of education investments.