Invest in Girls’ Education: Invest in Our Future

On today’s International Day of the Girl Child, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and our strategic partners call for substantial new funding to ensure every girl impacted by crises is able to access 12 years of quality education.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews Mohamed M. Malick Fall, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria

 
Mohamed M. Malick Fall was appointed as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nigeria in February 2024. He has more than 20 years of experience in the development, humanitarian and peacebuilding fields. Prior to his appointment, he served as the UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, where he provided oversight and guidance to 21 UNICEF Countries Offices, including on the formulation and implementation of the Country Programme Documents, the UN Reform process, and the engagement with the Regional and Economic Commission and African Union and the private sector.

Our Teachers, Our Heroes

1 calls on people everywhere to provide teachers and the communities they serve with the resources they need to succeed in their crucial profession.

Afghanistan: Ban on Girls’ Education Linked to Rise in Forced and Child Marriage

After the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, they banned girls’ education beyond the sixth grade. Human rights groups say the policy is a major driver of the rise in underage and forced marriages involving Afghan girls.

Afghan Women Die Needlessly After Natural Disasters

In normal times, women in Afghanistan face dire living conditions relative to their counterparts in other parts of the world, given the iron grip of Taliban repression. However, the powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar, and Laghman at the end of August was out of the ordinary.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews Tom Dannatt, Founder and CEO of Street Child

 
Tom Dannatt is a Founder and CEO of Street Child, an international non-government organization active in over 20 disaster-hit and lowest-income countries – working for a world where all children are ‘safe, in school and learning’. Tom founded Street Child in 2008 with his wife Lucinda and has led the organization since its inception. Street Child leads the civil society constituency within ECW’s governance and, accordingly, Dannatt represents the constituency on the Fund’s High-Level Steering Committee.

No Progress Without Women’s Freedom

In recent weeks, the walls of the Afghan capital have been plastered with slogans about women's hijab: “Unveiling is a sign of ignorance”; “Hijab is a father's honour and the pride of Muslims”.

Afghan Women to the International Community: Real Action, Not Mere Sympathy or Words of Condemnation

This year marks the fourth anniversary of the Taliban retaking power in Afghanistan. All these years have been one long nightmare for  the women of Afghanistan, the ones who have borne the brunt of oppression – arguably the worst of its kind anywhere in the world.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews Dr. Faiza Hassan, Director of the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies

Dr. Faiza Hassan is the Director of the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE). A chemical engineer who transitioned into education leadership, Dr. Hassan brings close to 20 years of diverse experience in education, social policy reform and humanitarian response. She has a proven track record in strategic management, technical leadership and driving impactful, large-scale complex programmes.

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2025

 
Artificial Intelligence is changing how we live, learn, work - and who gets heard. It holds promise for humanity but, without safeguards, it risks becoming a new tool of domination.

Small-Scale Enterprise Becomes a Beacon of Hope for Afghan Women

It was a sunny winter day in Kabul. I decided to step out and take a stroll around my surroundings. With my long dress and hijab on, I left the house. Since I was not too far from home, I did not need the company of a Mahram, a male guard, by my side – a strict restriction placed on Afghan women by the Taliban.

How the Commonwealth Climate Access Hub Reaches the Most Vulnerable

 
The Commonwealth Climate Access Hub responds to the needs of its member countries, including their most vulnerable people to build resilience and climate-smart communities.

Managing Underdevelopment: What Two Decades of ODA Debt Reveal

Imagine investing US$14 billion, or even slightly less, to achieve universal literacy in 17 African countries where more than half the adult population still cannot read or write . Pair that with another US$36 billion to connect Africa’s landlocked nations through 12,000 kilometres of new railway lines along priority transport corridors.

Broadcasting Hope: Women’s Voice Radio Helps Afghan Teen Reclaim Her Future

Mehrangiz is a sixteen-year-old girl from Badakhshan, a province in the northeastern Afghanistan famed for its rubies, jewels, and a land of love and beauty.

Environment Day – 2025

 
Plastic pollution is choking our planet. An estimated 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year. Less than 10% is ever recycled.

Climate Justice: Island Resilience

 
In a world where headlines warn of rising seas, dying reefs, and vanishing species, it’s easy to think the story ends in loss. But what if the frontlines of climate change were also frontiers of hope?

Malnutrition Plagues Children and Pregnant Women in Afghanistan

Bibi Gul, a pregnant woman from Helmand’s Marja District, walked two hours to reach the nearest health center in search of treatment for her moderate malnutrition.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

 
Tom Fletcher is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, OCHA. He started his official duties on 18 November 2024.

The Taliban Took Everything – Even My Hope

Rukhsar (pseudonym), 27, is a widow and sole breadwinner for a family of five. She recounts her life story under Taliban rule, a reality faced by thousands of women in Afghanistan.

World Press Freedom Day 2025

 
Freedom of the press is facing growing threats across the world. Authoritarian regimes still imprison, silence, and kill journalists.

The World Bank, at 80, and the True Goals of Multilateral Cooperation and Global Development

The Rogun Dam in the mountains of Southern Tajikistan, if ever completed, would be the tallest dam in the world. Late last year, the World Bank committed almost $3 billion to finance its development, claiming the project would benefit locals.