The Netherlands Pledges Additional €6 Million to Support Education Cannot Wait’s Covid-19 Education in Emergency Response

The Netherlands today announced a new, additional contribution of €6 million (~US$6.9 million) in support of Education Cannot Wait’s COVID-19 education in emergency response. The pledge was made by the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Sigrid Kaag, at ECW’s High-Level Steering Group meeting today.

“I am very happy to announce our new, additional €6 million contribution to Education Cannot Wait today. We appreciate Education Cannot Wait’s intersectoral approach and the emphasis on mental health and psychosocial support. As we respond to the COVID-19 education crisis, now is the time and moment to further mainstream this approach,” said Minister Kaag.

This new contribution expands ECW’s latest COVID-19 response targeting over 850,000 crisis-affected children and youth, including at least 650,000 refugees and IDPs, 460,000 girls and adolescent girls and 50,000 children with disabilities. Countries benefiting from this support include Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.

“We thank Minister Kaag and appreciate her global leadership and that of the Netherlands for this generous and timely contribution. This contribution will enable us to provide concrete and action-oriented support to children and youth who are already suffering the brunt of conflict and refuge. With a strong focus on mental health and psychosocial services in our education investments, ECW is now able to bring hope and real remedies to girls and boys in the midst of COVID-19,” said Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait.

ECW’s COVID-19 response focuses on continuity of learning and safe school re-openings. This includes providing distance teaching modalities, accelerated learning programmes for those who have been out of school, and helping education actors and systems prepare for the re-opening of schools with proper safety and physical distancing measures.

ECW is working with a wide range of partners to respond to the full impact of the ongoing education crisis on children and youth. In addition to academic needs, the response incorporates mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS) activities, while also providing intersectoral interventions such as protection referral services and school meals programmes.

To date, ECW has allocated over $60 million in First Emergency Response grants across 35 countries where children and youth are doubly impacted by the pandemic and pre-existing emergencies and protracted crises.

Image