Executive Director's Corner

Yasmine Sherif speaking with a kid from Lebanon
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Join Executive Director Yasmine Sherif in Education Cannot Wait’s Director’s Corner. 

 

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

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Statements
Every Crisis-Affected Girl and Boy has the Right to Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education In the lead up to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ Summit of the Future, taking place on 22-23 September 2024, Education Cannot Wait is supporting the global #ActNow Campaign with an urgent call to increase funding...
ECW ED Yasmine Sherif with Sudanese Refugees
Director's Corner
The words above, by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, serve as a reminder that we still have a long way to go to in educating ourselves. In doing so, we will naturally ensure that the young generation can access an inclusive quality education and use their knowledge to build a...
Children in Africa fighting climate change
Statements
ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on Earth Day 22 April 2024, New York – Every day should be Earth Day. Planet Earth gives us sustenance, nurtures our children, feeds our families and embraces us with warmth and loving grace. However, we mistreat both Mother Earth and her Children. On...
Sudanese girl in a learning centre
Statements
ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on the One-Year Anniversary of Hostilities in Sudan The conflict in Sudan is one of the worst in the world today, and millions of children and adolescents bear the brunt within and across the border from Sudan. As we mark the one-year anniversary of...
ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif in Nigeria
Director's Corner
There is a fork in the road before us. We have to choose who we are as human beings and as a human family. Do we break humanity or do we make it? As I write, the already staggering number of 224 million children and adolescents denied their right to...
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Statements
International Women’s Day Statement by Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Across much of the world, women have endured thousands of years of oppression, subjugation, and systematic denial of reaching our human and economic potential. Women’s education and leadership have been denied, delayed or destroyed. While progress has indeed...
Child in classroom in Uganda
Statements
World Day of Social Justice Statement: ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif The United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its covenants would suffice to make our world a just world for all. Yet, the global community does not respect its commitments to these international legal frameworks. It...
Girl posing for a picture at a classroom
Statements
ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on the Launch of the Africa Year of Education As we lead into the Africa Year of Education, and under the leadership of Africa, world leaders have an opportunity to solidify commitments to ‘Educate an Africa Fit for the 21 st Century’. That means...
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Director's Corner
In-Depth Interview with Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director, Education Cannot Wait: Getting to Know Her 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...
Children at a school used as a shelter in Gaza
Statements
International Day of Education Statement: Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Education is the bedrock of peace, the foundation of strong societies, and the building block for a better world. This year, as we celebrate the Sixth International Day of Education under the theme of ‘learning for a lasting...
Girl walking through rubble in Gaza
Director's Corner
In Latin it reads: Aude aliquid dignum. In the final analysis, when all else falls away, isn’t it most worthy to build a world where human civilization is marked by an ethical and moral compass, by reason, empathy and shared values? A world where human rights law and international humanitarian...
Girl writing on blackboard
Statements
Global Refugee Forum Statement by ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Today at the Global Refugee Forum, we reaffirm our commitment to alleviate human suffering and serve humanity. We stand with refugee children and adolescents everywhere. We will steadfastly continue to work with all our partners and invest in a quality...

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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