Leading Australian NGOs Call for Government to Invest AUD 24 Million Over 3 Years to ECW

Plan International Australia and Save the Children Australia have launched a call to action for the government of Australia to invest in Education Cannot Wait and support the education of children and adolescents affected by emergencies and protracted crises. 

The Case for Investment draws attention to the 222 million children at risk of missing out on an education because of armed conflicts, forced displacement, climate-induced disasters, and protracted crises. The report notes that Education Cannot Wait aims to mobilize at least US$1.5 billion to deliver its 2023-2026 Strategic Plan and calls on the Australian Government to invest $24 million over 3 years in the fund. 

Outlining the case for an Australian investment, the NGOs state that ahead of the COP28 meetings in the United Arab Emirates, an Australian investment in ECW would be a powerful signal of Australia’s commitment to invest at the intersection of the global climate and learning crises. 

The Case for Investment goes on to set out 3 reasons for Australia to invest in ECW: 

1. Responding to climate emergencies in the Indo-Pacific: ECW’s new Strategic Plan includes a core focus on responding to the impact of climate change on education. Australia can play a leading role in shaping this work, ensuring that global funding reaches children impacted by emergencies in its priority countries affected by climate-induced disasters across the Indo-Pacific. 

2. Multilateral leadership & visibility: Australia was a founding donor to ECW, helping the fund to become the high-impact global public good it is today. Australia also invested AUD$10 million in 2017-2020. Investing in ECW again means protecting Australia’s original investment, delivering global impact, and standing shoulder to shoulder with global allies to keep children learning in the most complex crises. 

3. Girls’ education & reaching those furthest behind: ECW funding is focused on the most complex, protracted, and underfunded crises, and ECW’s interventions seek out those most likely to fall behind within those crises: girls, children with disabilities, and forcibly displaced populations. 

To find out more, you can also read Plan International Australia’s report “From Crisis to Classroom" which highlights the impact of emergencies and protracted crises on children and adolescent’s education, with a focus on the Pacific.