In the News

“As we gather at the Global Disability Summit, Education Cannot Wait reaffirms its unwavering commitment to ensuring that children with disabilities are at the core of our efforts to leave no child behind in crisis settings,” said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of ECW.

These children include Zénabou, a 14-year-old girl from the Central African Republic who was born deaf and could not speak. She had never been to school. All that changed through ECW’s holistic education programme in the Central African Republic, specifically focusing on children with disabilities.

As partners come together for the 2025 disability summit, ECW and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) are calling on leaders worldwide to galvanize support for children living with disabilities in crisis settings and fragile contexts. Stressing that the power of education as a pathway toward peace and resilience cannot be underestimated.

The visionary advocate for children's rights, Sigrid Kaag, has taken the helm at Education Cannot Wait (ECW) as the new Chair of its High-Level Steering Group. This pivotal role will see her lead global initiatives aimed at mobilizing resources to ensure that children living in the world's most challenging humanitarian contexts can access quality education.

“Education Cannot Wait and its strategic partners are integral in transforming the lives of millions affected by crises,” Kaag stated. “Our commitment to their right to education is not just a moral obligation; it is the best investment towards fostering economic resilience and global security.” Her commitment to expanding support from both public and private sectors aims to build on ECW’s existing success, which has positively impacted over 11 million children.

“With her extensive international experience and dedication to children in crisis, Sigrid Kaag will be a remarkable leader for Education Cannot Wait,” said Brown, endorsing her capabilities to guide the next phase of this vital organization.

Sigrid Kaag is the newly appointed Chair of Education Cannot Wait, focusing on children's education in crisis situations.

Education Cannot Wait is a global fund dedicated to providing education in emergencies and protracted crises.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, is proud to announce the appointment of Sigrid Kaag of The Netherlands as the new Chair of ECW’s High-Level Steering Group.

“Education Cannot Wait and its strategic partners transform the lives of millions of girls and boys impacted by armed conflicts, forced displacement and climate-induced disasters. Our investment in their right to quality education is our shared responsibility and is the best investment towards economic resilience, global security and sustainable development,” said Kaag.

Through its four-year strategic plan, ECW is working with donors, member states, the private sector, UN agencies and civil society to raise US$1.5 billion to reach 20 million crisis-impacted children with the safety, hope and opportunity of a quality education.

The needs are more pressing than ever. When ECW was founded in 2016 by The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, it was estimated that approximately 75 million crisis-impacted children required urgent education support. Today, that number has more than tripled to almost a quarter of a billion crisis-affected girls and boys.

“Education Cannot Wait and its strategic partners transform the lives of millions of girls and boys impacted by armed conflicts, forced displacement and climate-induced disasters. Our investment in their right to quality education is our shared responsibility and is the best investment towards economic resilience, global security and sustainable development,” said Kaag. “With continued, generous and expanded support of public and private sector donors, we can increase ECW’s remarkable results, which have already reached more than 11 million children. I thank The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown for his visionary leadership in creating and leading ECW – from a start-up just a few years ago to the billion-dollar global fund it has become. I look forward to working with the High-Level Steering Group and the Director, along with the support of the Executive Committee to continue his legacy.”

Brown served as the Chair of ECW’s High-Level Steering Group from 2016 to 2024 and will continue his global advocacy through his ongoing role as the UN Special Envoy for Global Education.

“With her diverse and deep international experience and passion for the needs of crisis-affected children, refugees and displaced young people, Sigrid Kaag will be a brilliant Chair for the ongoing evolution of Education Cannot Wait,” Brown said.

“Under the strategic and visionary leadership of The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, Education Cannot Wait and our partners created a new vision to deliver quality education with humanitarian speed and development depth on the frontlines of the world’s humanitarian crises,” said ECW Director Yasmine Sherif. “We are delighted to welcome Sigrid Kaag as our new High-Level Steering Group Chair. Through her leadership, we will continue our efforts to reach millions of crisis-impacted girls and boys worldwide.”

Kaag’s appointment included a broad consultation, selection and approval process with senior United Nations leaders, including UN Secretary-General António Guterres, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, and senior members of the ECW High-Level Steering Group.

ECW’s High-Level Steering Group provides strategic guidance to the Fund’s operations. Convened at the ministerial level, it is comprised of partner organizations – including heads of UN agencies and multilateral aid agencies, CEOs of civil society organizations and foundations, and private sector representatives – and works closely with ECW’s Director and Executive Committee.

Meanwhile, an organization named "Education Cannot Wait" also stated that every girl deserves safety, opportunity, and hope for education.

The group, Education Cannot Wait, posted on X that the start of a new academic year in Afghanistan has once again excluded girls above sixth grade from returning to the classroom. “Every girl — without exception — deserves safety, opportunity, education, and hope,” the organization wrote.

With Gaza in ruins, the war in Ukraine at a critical juncture, and millions of Africans facing starvation, global attention has understandably shifted away from the plight of Afghan girls denied their right to an education. Yet, amid the prevailing gloom over the state of the world’s most troubled regions, the Taliban’s ban on girls’ secondary education could be facing its biggest internal challenge yet.

Nowhere is the fight for the rights of girls and women more urgent than in Afghanistan, where the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 has led to egregious human rights violations, including the exclusion of girls from secondary education. Now, after yet another Afghan school year has begun without girls beyond sixth grade, a rift within the regime offers hope that the ban may be reversed in the near future.

Against this backdrop, Afghanistan is grappling with deepening economic and humanitarian crises that have pushed more than 25 million people – over half the population – into poverty. The exclusion of women and girls from the workforce has exacerbated these economic challenges, fueling the growing rebellion against Akhundzada’s extremist policies.

По его словам, партию гаджетов удалось получить при содействии Министерства образования и науки Украины и сотрудничества руководства Харьковской ОВА, руководителей общин, Finn Church Aid (FCA) при финансовой поддержке Education Cannot Wait. 

Lessons were traced in the sand, constantly disrupted by hunger, fear, and uncertainty. In 2024, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), with support from Education Cannot Wait (ECW), launched a structured non-formal education intervention across schools in Al Geneina

According to the United Nations, there is a $100 billion annual financing gap to achieve the education targets in low- and lower-middle income countries outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals. A new Global Estimates Report recently issued by Education Cannot Wait (ECW) provides a stark and truly daunting portrait of the state of education in the world today.

According to ECW’s analysis, about 75 percent of school-aged children are out of school in Sudan — that's 11 million. This is a silent global emergency. According to the United Nations, without additional measures, by 2030 approximately 300 million students globally will lack basic numeracy and literacy skills. Children affected by crises are falling even further behind. Only 17 percent of crisis-affected primary school children achieve minimum reading proficiency by the end of primary school, according to the ECW report.

Working together with partners, ECW provides significant investments each year in school feeding. The most recent analysis indicates that ECW investments for quality school feeding interventions active in 2023 reached over 300,000 children across nine countries.

In Ethiopia, ECW investments reached around 100,000 children through school feeding programmes. Recognizing that poverty was a crucial factor keeping children out of school, the programme involved families and community members to manage the programme and provide in-kind contributions like building kitchen houses or providing firewood to cook the hot meals. 

In Cameroon and Haiti, ECW funding delivered by WFP is focused on local procurement from smallholder farmers. This not only ensures nutritious meals for young learners, but also strengthens the local food system and local economy. 

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, over 39,000 students in 69 schools have received nutritious meals through an ECW-funded programme delivered by UNICEF.

Additionally, Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, the European Union, and Yasmine Sherif, executive director of the UN initiative “Education Cannot Wait”, have all stressed the importance of securing the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

In the International Day of Women Judges, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and Legal Action Worldwide (LAW), in partnership with the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), have launched a groundbreaking initiative aimed at empowering Sudanese refugee girls in Uganda. The programme – funded by an ECW Acceleration Facility grant of US$200,000 – will offer training in comprehensive legal education on human rights, gender equality, advocacy and more, while also supporting participants’ access to formal and non-formal education programmes, and integrating mental health and psychosocial support to help participants build emotional resilience.