In the News

The program is delivered through a $2 million First Emergency Response grant from Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises hosted by UNICEF.

“The climate crisis is upending development gains and putting an entire generation at risk.”Yasmin Sherif, Education Cannot Wait Executive Director. ECW and its strategic partners including UNICEF are turbocharging efforts to connect the dots between climate action and education action.

“The climate crisis is upending development gains and putting an entire generation at risk. The very future of the human race is in the crosshairs. Last year was the warmest year on record, and devastating floods and prolonged drought in places like the Horn of Africa contributed to a rise in global food insecurity and displacement, while also straining household finances,” says Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait.

Getting girls and boys like Mohamed back to learning is a challenge. Through the ECW investment, local partners are sensitizing communities and families on the value of education. By providing holistic education support – which includes cash incentives, mentorship and quality learning environments – they create a value proposition to get children back to the classroom.

Power Our Planet’s coalition of supporters also includes leading social movements, foundations and nonprofit organzations including Education Cannot Wait, the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations. 

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the first global fund dedicated to education in emergencies, says COP29 is an unmissable opportunity to chart a financial path to education for climate-affected children. The prevailing lack of financing and climate-related interventions designed for education in emergencies and protracted crises will only derail climate action," Graham Lang, ECW's Deputy Director, told IPS. Dianah Nelson, ECW's Chief of Education, spoke to IPS about how underinvesting in education creates a knowledge gap in green skills and that this is a missed opportunity in the context of using education to accelerate the efficient and effective implementation of climate action. And raise a generation of young learners on the frontlines of climate action. ECW is advocating for simpler funding and fund disbursement processes as they are the only lifelong for climate-impacted children in vulnerable, high-risk countries.

As the reopening of schools becomes a priority amid these dire circumstances, UNICEF — supported by the European Union, Education Cannot Wait and UNICEF regular resources — continues to provide critical education supplies.

Education Cannot Wait will receive support to provide safe learning spaces and psychosocial support for 200,000 vulnerable children in refugee and host communities in Chad, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Uganda.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the first global fund dedicated to education in emergencies, says COP29 is an unmissable opportunity to chart a financial path to education for climate-affected children.

The prevailing lack of financing and climate-related interventions designed for education in emergencies and protracted crises will only derail climate action,” Graham Lang, ECW’s Deputy Director, told IPS.

Dianah Nelson, ECW’s Chief of Education, spoke to IPS about how underinvesting in education creates a knowledge gap in green skills and that this is a missed opportunity in the context of using education to accelerate the efficient and effective implementation of climate action. And raise a generation of young learners on the frontlines of climate action.

ECW is advocating for simpler funding and fund disbursement processes as they are the only lifelong for climate-impacted children in vulnerable, high-risk countries.

Education Cannot Wait: Providing safe learning spaces for 200,000 children in Chad, South Sudan, and nearby regions.

At this year’s Climate Talks in Baku (COP29), Education Cannot Wait called on world leaders to place education at the top of the international agenda.

Venezuela, como Afganistán, Yemen y Sudán, cuentan como países frágiles, donde nuestra inversión en educación entre 2021 y 2027 será de 3.200 millones de euros. En estos países, estamos focalizados en necesidades básicas: salud, educación, seguridad alimentaria. No podríamos trabajar allí con Global Gateway, no podemos atraer inversión privada. A través de organizaciones internacionales como Education cannot wait, de la ONU, trabajamos en Colombia, Ecuador y Perú para permitir a los menores refugiados venezolanos acceder a la educación. 

New ECW investment will be delivered by UNHCR, Jesuit Refugee Service and strategic partners to reach 70,000 refugee and host community students. Total ECW funding in Chad tops US$46 million. With millions of people fleeing the brutal conflict, hunger and atrocities in Sudan, the education system in the neighboring state of Chad is reaching the breaking point. Since April 2023, over 629,000 refugees have entered the country, along with over 200,000 Chadian returnees. In response to the growing regional crisis, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and its strategic partners announced today a US$5 million First Emergency Response grant that will reach over 70,000 refugee and host community children in Chad with the safety and opportunity that only a quality education can provide. The 2024 Sudan Emergency: Regional Refugee Response Plan for Chad is only 23% funded. As of 12 August, education partners had secured only 15% of the US$51.2 million needed to support interventions this year. “Some 144,000 Sudanese refugees have arrived in Chad from Sudan in 2024 alone. The Government of Chad graciously welcomes refugee students into the national education system and works tirelessly with UNHCR and the Jesuit Refugee Service, as well as their partners, to deliver a quality education that also addresses the enormous need for mental health and psychosocial service, teacher training, school feeding and academic learning. With our increased support, we stand firm by our shared commitment at the Global Refugee Forum: not to leave refugees, nor their host-communities behind,” said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations. With escalating violence and a looming famine, the war in Sudan is creating ripple effects across the region. The situation in Chad is critical. About 144,000 refugees have arrived in 2024 alone, with some projections indicating as many as a quarter million could arrive by the end of the year. In new settlements, there are as many as 370 students per classroom. Many of the children have also lived through the severe trauma of displacement, war and hunger, and require urgent mental health and psychosocial support. The 12-month grant will be delivered by UNHCR and Jesuit Refugee Service in the Eastern Chad regions of Ouaddaï, Sila, Wadi-Fira and Ennedi Est. Delivered in coordination with the Government of Chad and local partners, the investment builds on ECW’s US$41 million in existing investments in Chad, which have already reached close to 900,000 children, including 150,000 internally displaced children and 230,000 refugees. With regard to education in emergencies, particularly due to the massive influx of Sudanese refugees in the eastern part of the country, vulnerabilities are significantly increasing. With support from our technical and financial partners, the Government — especially with the announcement of new First Emergency Response funding from Education Cannot Wait — will assist those affected by the crisis. Furthermore, the Ministry would like to once again express its gratitude to the donors who continue to support the Government’s efforts to provide education in emergencies in Chad, particularly in response to the crisis in the east,” said Mr. Mamadou Gana Boukar, Chad’s Minister of National Education and Civic Promotion. The investment has a strong focus on girls and children with disabilities, and will work to improve access to inclusive education, improve the quality of the learning environment, and strengthen the national education system and local community educational initiatives. 

Key donors such as the World Bank (through their Early Learning Partnership), the International Finance Facility for Education, Education Cannot Wait, and the Global Partnership for Education verbally made additional commitments at UNGA to increase their financial support for young children, particularly in early childhood education.

This included stakeholders such as the World Health Organization, Education Cannot Wait, and more. Crucially, youth activists committed to gender equity and climate change now see ECD investment as a critical driver of change.

With nearly 8 million children out of school due to emergencies alone, ECW calls of donors to urgently increase funding for life-saving quality education in Ethiopia. Save the Children and a consortium of international and local partners will deliver the three-year programme in coordination with the Government of Ethiopia. Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and its strategic partners announced today a US$24 million catalytic grant to scale-up the impact of the Fund’s Multi-Year Resilience Programme in Ethiopia, which has already reached close to half a million children. Total ECW funding in Ethiopia now tops US$88 million, and ECW called on donors to significantly expand funding for education in Ethiopia and across the Horn of Africa. “Ethiopia is facing a humanitarian crisis caused by conflict, climate change, forced displacement and economic stresses. The humanitarian funding gap for education is significant and, as a result, 8 million children are out of school. Without access to an education, they risk child marriage, forced recruitment, killing and maiming. This is the very reason we today announce an additional $24 million catalytic investment. However, our investment alone does not meet the needs of 8 million crisis-affected girls and boys and thus we call for the public sector and private sector to contribute with financial resources to this well-coordinated and holistic multi-year education programmme,” said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations. These compounding challenges are deepening the humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia and across the Horn of Africa. In all, approximately 21.4 million people urgently need humanitarian support in Ethiopia alone. Prior to this most-recent contribution by ECW and its strategic donor partners, only 12% of the US$101 million required for the education response was funded, according to the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan. The three-year ECW grant seeks to crowd-in more resources from donors, the private sector and philanthropic foundations to reach over 170,000 crisis-impacted girls and boys in Ethiopia’s hard-hit Amhara, Somali and Tigray regions. Built in coordination with the Government of Ethiopia, the grant will be led by Save the Children with a consortium of international and local partners, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Humanity and Inclusion, Development Expertise Committee, OWS-DF, Tigray Development Association, and Forum for African Women Educationalist. In building on the commitments outlined in the Grand Bargain Agreement, local organizations will receive approximately 50% of the total budget. “Save the Children is committed to working with the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia, our partners and other stakeholders to address both conflict and climate-induced challenges and other stressors, which are disrupting access to education for millions of girls and boys. We are jointly working to strengthen coordination and collaboration at all levels and ensure coherent, aligned responses for children that get them back to learning in flexible, appropriate, and safe learning environments. Closing gaps in financing of education is a matter of urgency, and we strongly call upon the support of all stakeholders,” said Dragana Strinic, Country Director at Save the Children Ethiopia. The grant will increase access and retention of out-of-school girls and boys – including internally displaced people, returnees, host community, refugee, and children with disabilities – into non-formal education, improve the quality of foundational learning, support girls and boys to transition from non-formal accelerated programmes to formal education, and improve coordination mechanisms across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. ECW and its strategic partners are racing to mobilize US$600 million in additional resources to reach the targets outlined in the Fund’s four-year strategic plan. By crowding-in resources, this continued support will accelerate the United Nations’ efforts to deliver on the promise of universal, equitable education as outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.