Executive Director's Corner

Yasmine Sherif speaking with a kid from Lebanon
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ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif

Yasmine Sherif is the Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW). A lawyer specialized in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law (LL.M), she has over 30 years of experience with the United Nations and international NGOs. 

Ms. Sherif has served in some of the most crisis-affected areas of the world, including Afghanistan, the Middle East, the Balkans, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan as well as in New York and Geneva. She has led high-level missions to numerous conflict and crisis-affected countries. Her expertise spans across the education, humanitarian, development, human rights, gender and peacekeeping spectrum.

She is the author of the book, The Case for Humanity: An Extraordinary Session, and a Champion for ‘No Lost Generation.’ In 2017, she received the annual award Sweden’s UN Friend of the Year, in 2020 she was awarded the Global Educator Award in the United States, and in 2022 she received on behalf of Education Cannot Wait, the prestigious Mother Teresa Award.

Ms. Sherif also received an award from the United Nations Association-USA Brooklyn Chapter in 2023. She has also been honored as a Listee in Marquis Who's Who for her dedication to the field of international affairs and law, and leadership of ECW, as well as in the “Women Leaders 2024 Collector’s Edition" as a woman leader to look up to in 2024. 

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All Statements and Updates

Education in Crisis: An Inherent Human Right
24 January 2019
Op-Eds

Education in Crisis: An Inherent Human Right

WE NEED TO STEP UP GLOBAL SUPPORT TO FILL THE US$8.5 FUNDING GAP FOR EDUCATION IN CRISIS By Yasmine Sherif There is a US$8.5 billion funding gap for education in crisis that has left some 75 million children in some of the harshest living conditions on the planet without access...
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Fatma is a six-year-old Sudanese refugee living in a refugee camp in the east of Chad. For girls like Fatma, the security and stability of education provide hope for a brighter future. ©UNICEFChad/2018/Kim
09 October 2018
Op-Eds

Unleashing the Potential of Youth: Youth2030 and Generation Unlimited

By Yasmine Sherif The future of our humanity relies on the young generation. In a world that still bares the deep wounds of war, hunger, displacement, conflict and inequalities, we need to step up to find lasting solutions for our next generation of leaders and citizens of the world. At...
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Hanaa, 8, who was paralysed by an exploding bomb and lost the use of her legs, solves a problem on a whiteboard in a classroom at a school in east Aleppo city, Syrian Arab Republic, February 2018. Hanaa's dream is to become a physiotherapist to help children like her. ©UNICEF/Al-Issa
24 July 2018
Statements

Global Disability Summit 2018: Education Cannot Wait Commits to Ensure Disabled Children in Crisis Settings Fulfill Their Right to Learn

New York, 24 July 2018 – Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is proud to sign the Global Disability Summit 2018 Charter for change . As a global fund for education in emergencies, ECW’s overarching goal is to support the delivery of quality education to the millions of children and youth whose...
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Children play with their teacher in a classroom in Peru.
09 June 2018
Statements

Statement by the Education Cannot Wait Director on the G7 Investment in Education for Girls in Crisis

New York, 9 June 2018 – The historic announcement today by G7 leaders – including Canada, the European Union, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom – and the World Bank of a US$2.9B (C$3.8B) investment in education for women and girls in conflict and crisis marks an inspiring moment of solidarity. I...
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Statement of the Education Cannot Wait Director on the EU Increase of Spending for Education in Emergencies and Protracted Crises
22 May 2018
Statements

Statement of the Education Cannot Wait Director on the EU Increase of Spending for Education in Emergencies and Protracted Crises

I applaud the new EU policy framework aiming to increase the humanitarian funding for education in emergencies and crises to 10 per cent of its overall humanitarian aid budget as of 2019. This announcement marks a key milestone in our collective efforts to fill the funding gap to meet the...
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PR
11 May 2018
Statements

Statement of the Education Cannot Wait Director Welcoming the International Finance Facility for Education

Today, an estimated 75 million children and youth are caught up in emergencies, crisis and conflict. Education cannot wait is dedicated to mobilizing the resources and catalyzing the collective efforts from a wide range of aid actors to meet their most urgent immediate needs and lay the ground to ensure...
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Show Humanity for Her
07 May 2018
Op-Eds

Show Humanity for Her: Education Cannot Wait for Girls in Conflicts and Disasters

By Yasmine Sherif, Director Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Conflicts and disasters are about destruction. Discrimination is about disempowerment. Combine the two and we get a glimpse of the raw reality affecting millions of girls. Standing amidst the ruins of their towns, communities and families, they are also shackled by marginalization...
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Statement of the Education Cannot Wait Director to the Attack Against Aid Workers in the Central Africa Republic
01 March 2018
Statements

Statement of the Education Cannot Wait Director to the Attack Against Aid Workers in the Central Africa Republic

I am shocked and deeply saddened by the senseless killing of our brave colleagues and partners bringing hope to the children and youth in the Central African Republic. According to UNICEF, six education workers were killed in Markounda, in the northwest of the country, while they were supporting a program...
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DON’T CHALLENGE THE HUMANITY OF 75 MILLION CHILDREN IN CONFLICTS AND DISASTERS
11 December 2017
Op-Eds

Don’t Challenge the Humanity of 75 Million Children in Conflicts and Disasters

Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait On the commemoration of the Human Rights Day on 10 December, let us remember the 75 million children whose humanity is challenged in crisis-affected countries around the globe. These children have a face, an identity and a name. Farida in Afghanistan, Akello in...
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Investing in Our Shared Humanity
24 September 2017
Op-Eds

Investing in Our Shared Humanity

Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait- 24 September 2017 World leaders gathered at the United Nations in New York this past week. At the 72nd General Assembly, renewed calls were made for our universal values that laid the foundation for the United Nations. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development...
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A Message From the Fund’s Director
17 August 2017
Statements

A Message From the Fund’s Director

Dear Friends of the Fund, Firstly, I want to extend my gratitude for the warm welcome I’ve received since joining the fund. I have been fortunate to meet with many of you during my initial months. Dedicated education colleagues in Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan & Uganda, committed donors, heads of UN...
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Latest Photos

Access Photos of ECW Director Yasmine Sherif
ECW Director Yasmine Sherif at UN's Transforming Education Summit
ECW Director Yasmine Sherif at UN's Transforming Education Summit
ECW Director Yasmine Sherif at UN's Transforming Education Summit
The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, ECW Director Yasmine Sherif and ECW staff at UN's Transforming Education Summit
ECW Director Yasmine Sherif at UN's Transforming Education Summit
ECW Director Yasmine Sherif at UN's Transforming Education Summit
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Director Yasmine Sherif speaks with students during a school visit on her all-women mission to Afghanistan.
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Leading an all-women mission to Afghanistan, Director Yasmine Sherif arrives at a local school, hand-in-hand with female teachers and staff.
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Director Yasmine Sherif and actress and education champion Rachel Brosnahan take the stage at Global Citizen Live 2021 in NYC.
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Director Yasmine Sherif meets children with disabilities during ECW’s Lebanon Mission.
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Director Yasmine Sherif and Nasser Faqih, ECW Chief of Partnerships, visit a refugee camp with partners during a mission to Lebanon.
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Director Yasmine Sherif speaks with on-the-ground partners during ECW’s mission to Lebanon.

Latest Videos

Al Arabiya with Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait

قناة العربية: الشارع الدبلوماسي مع طلال الحاج يستضيف ياسمين شريف حول وضع التعليم في افغانستان

Diplomatic Avenue : Al Arabiya Exclusive with Yasmine Sherif, Director of UN Global Fund ECW

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Celebrates the Fifth Anniversary of Education Cannot Wait

[FR] ECW Director Yasmine Sherif mission in DRC - part 1

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Resolutions are just tiny steps. To make them a reality requires Action. Until it becomes action on the ground, those words mean very little. Not until you help that child to access a safe, quality education have you actually achieved the result.

Yasmine Sherif, ECW Executive Director