Germany Joins the ‘Education Cannot Wait’ Movement With a €16 Million Investment

Germany has announced €16 Million for the Education Cannot Wait fund (ECW), becoming one of the largest donors to the world’s first dedicated fund for education in emergencies.

Expanding on Germany’s commitment to education in crisis and conflict situations, German Development Minister Gerd Müller said, “Education is the key to the development of each person. We must prevent a situation in which generations of children in crisis countries grow up without education, traumatized by violence and without opportunities for a better future. Education creates opportunities and gives people hope – and every child has a right to education.

Renowned for its comprehensive approach in education, Germany’s programs are focused on the provision of quality basic education, higher education and technical and vocational skills. The country has put a spotlight on education for refugees in recent years with a view to preventing a “lost generation”.

‘Education is the cornerstone of development, gender-equality, peace and security. The return on investment is unrivalled in terms of human capital, stability and prosperity for societies affected by conflict and disasters,’ said Ms Yasmine Sherif, the Director of Education Cannot Wait. ‘Germany’s generous support will help us to deliver safe, free and quality learning in some of the most complex environments. No matter what the circumstances – children’s education is a basic human right and simply cannot wait.’

Germany’s decision to invest in ECW was based on the fund’s innovative approaches. ECW’s pooled fund offers clear advantages in terms of catalytic effect, fast disbursement, flexibility, localization and capacity building. The fund is focused on bridging the divide between acute emergency response and longer-term education system strengthening, which Germany and other donors acknowledge as a crucial factor for stabilization and peace-building. Most importantly, by delivering education interventions that go beyond a short-term focus in crisis settings, ECW and its partners lay the foundation for sustainable development out of crisis. Germany is strongly committed to supporting sustainable pathways out of crises and provides support to ECW from a funding line dedicated specifically to programs that aim to bridge the divide between humanitarian and development interventions. By bringing together both humanitarian and development actors, ECW is generating unprecedented levels of coordination, within existing coordination structures. ECW was established to enable those actors and mechanisms to do more of what they currently do well, facilitate collaboration and joint programming, while mobilizing and disbursing additional resources.

“That is why we are working to see to it that children in crisis regions do not only receive food and shelter but also schooling – as quickly as possible. Children must be able to continue their studies, even after they have been displaced”, said Minister Müller.