The Privilege of Making a Choice

A civilian student named Saber was caught in the crossfire in Khartoum. He had two choices: either flee and lose everything; or die. But within a moment his option to choose was violently denied: he died.

Gender Gap in Academia: Glass Ceilings & Sticky Floors

Over the last decades, the global share of women among teaching staff in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has increased from nearly 35% in 1990 to close to 45% in 2020.

Folly Bah Thibault Appointed as Education Cannot Wait Global Champion

The acclaimed international journalist Folly Bah Thibault today accepted her appointment as a Global Champion for Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

Education Cannot Wait Grant Gives Refugees, Displaced Children Hope

 

 
Colombia's government is expanding its educational response to the Venezuelan regional crisis, and its efforts are supported by Education Cannot Wait (ECW), which announced USD 12 million grant. However, the need is great, and ECW estimates financial support of USD 46.4 million is needed for the multi-year resilience response.

Holistic Education Support in Colombia Extended to Counter Snowballing Learning Crisis

The largest external displacement crisis in Latin America’s recent history is unfolding as countries open their borders to an influx of refugees from Venezuela following unprecedented political turmoil, socio-economic instability, and a humanitarian crisis.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews H.E. Mr. Khalifa bin Jassim Al-Kuwari, Director-General, Qatar Fund for Development

 
Mr. Khalifa Jassim Al-Kuwari is the Director General of the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), managing the State of Qatar’s foreign aid and international development activities. Since 2014, he led the establishment, strategy-setting, operationalization, partnerships and funding programmes of the Qatar Fund for Development in various developing countries.

Positioning Education in Emergencies as Top Priority on International Agenda

 

 
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, speaks at the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) High-Level Financing Conference in February 2023 in Geneva. The event mobilized a record US$826 million for ECW and the global challenge to support the education of the 222 million girls and boys living in crises, positioning education in emergencies as a top priority on the international agenda.

Education Cannot Wait to Extend Multi-Year Resilience Programme in Colombia: Total Funding Tops US$28 Million

Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Executive Director Yasmine Sherif announced today that ECW intends to continue to expand its investments in Colombia. ECW’s support to the current Multi-Year Resilience Programme exceeds US$12 million, and the Fund has allocated an additional US$12 million for the next three-year phase, which, once approved, will bring the overall investment in Colombia to over US$28 million.

Keep Moving …

Only forty-five days into our new Strategic Plan 2023-2026, Education Cannot Wait secured 55 percent of its total requirement for the coming four years, reaching $826 million at #HLFC2023. This is a significant milestone for education in emergencies and protracted crises, and ECW will continue to pursue fund-raising year-round in the coming four years. The goal is to reach the target of 20 million children and adolescents affected by armed conflicts, climate-induced disasters and forced displacement.

International Women’s Day, 2023
Empower Her

On International Women’s Day, let us remind ourselves of the power of education. We have all benefited from an education that less than a century ago was not a given for a girl and which still remains a distant utopia for millions of young girls.

The Brutal War on Ukraine Must End

Today with heavy hearts we mark 365 days of a brutal against Ukraine. Through this illegal act of aggression, over 450 children have been killed and another 900 injured. The shelling and bombing has damaged 3,000 educational institutions, and completely destroyed 420 schools and learning centers. As many as 5.7 million children have had their education disrupted, with no end in sight.

Climate Crisis is a Child Crisis and Climate-Resilient Children, Teachers and Schools Must Become Top International Agenda

From southern Ethiopia to northern Kenya and Somalia, the most severe drought in the last 40 years is unfolding. It is simply too hot to go to school on an empty stomach, and close to 3 million children are out of school, with an additional 4 million at risk of dropping out entirely across the Horn of Africa.

Act on the Taliban and Secure Our Right to Education, Afghan Women and Girls’ Plea

It has been more than 500 days since the Taliban regime in Afghanistan shut down schools and shattered the education dreams of girls and women like Somaya Faruqi, who has been forced to leave her homeland to continue her education.

ECW High-Level Financing Conference Raises More than 826 Million USD to Keep Crisis-Impacted Children in School

As an unparalleled, unprecedented global education crisis unfolds, an estimated 222 million crisis-impacted children are desperate to learn. As barriers to accessing education increase, darkness beckons, and education is their last hope.

Education Cannot Wait Appoints New Global Champion Somaya Faruqi on International Day of Women and Girls in Science

In celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) today named Somaya Faruqi as a new ECW Global Champion.

On International Day of Education, We Must Prioritize Girls in Humanitarian Crisis

“Is it a sin to be a girl? We don’t want to be at home and illiterate. We want to go to school, study and be intelligent.” In just a few words, this plea for education from a young Afghan girl has captured the world’s attention. Her heartbreaking question shows how the Taliban’s recent ban on girls attending secondary school and university – effectively ending education opportunities for all Afghan girls and women – is not only violating their fundamental human right to education but shattering countless hopes and dreams in an instant. [related_articles]

Delivering On Our Promise of Universal Education

As we mark the International Day of Education, world leaders must make good on their promise of providing quality education for all by 2030. Education is our investment in peace where there is war, our investment in equality where there is injustice, our investment in prosperity where there is poverty.

All Girls Must be Allowed to Return to Education in Afghanistan

Education Cannot Wait stands in solidarity with every girl and woman in Afghanistan. Each one has an inherent human right to education. We also stand in solidarity with every Afghan father, brother, husband and son, suffering the pain of seeing their daughter, sister, wife and mother brutally denied their right to an education.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews Liesbet Steer, Executive Director of the Education Commission

 
Dr. Liesbet Steer is the Executive Director of the Education Commission, chaired by UN Special Envoy for Global Education and Chair of the ECW High-Level Steering Group, The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown. Under Liesbet’s leadership, the Commission has been at the forefront of new thinking in education financing calling for more effective and “progressive” domestic spending, innovative international and private financing (through the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd), the Education Outcomes Fund and Greater Share) and better coordination of external funding (including through her leadership of the Global Education Forum and Save Our Future). [related_articles]

Three Questions, #222MillionDreams; One Issue: Education and the ‘Triple-Nexus’ with UN Resident Coordinator & Humanitarian Coordinator DRC, Bruno Lemarquis

 
Q1: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) faces one of the most long-standing, complex protracted crisis on the globe. In such a context, how important is it for aid stakeholders to support the education sector among the multitude of urgent priorities in the country? Why must education be a leading priority?

Drought, Conflict and Forced Displacement Push Ethiopian Children Out of School

A joint mission to Ethiopia by Education Cannot Wait (ECW), and Norway's International Development Minister has drawn attention to one of the world’s largest education crises that have left 3.6 million children out of school. The number of out-of-school children has spiked from 3.1 million to 3.6 million, according to UNICEF. However, ECW-funded schools provide children with ‘whole-of-child’ interventions, including school feeding, psychosocial support, teacher training, school materials, accelerated learning, gender transformative approaches, and the construction and rehabilitation of school facilities.