In the News

Education Cannot Wait's website at educationcannotwait.org is one of its core digital communications platforms. The organization relies heavily on this site to communicate with its key stakeholders, which include governments, other UN agencies, civil society organizations, youth activists, and other actors in the aid world as well as current and potential public and private donors. 

All this work culminated in a nomination for an Acquia Engage Award for 2023 in the category of “Leaders of the Pack – NGO or Non-Profit”. In the words of Acquia’s own case study on the new site, the new site’s agility “empowers ECW to stay responsive to emerging needs and evolving circumstances [and] ensures that ECW's digital presence remains relevant and indispensable.”

In response to monsoon floods of 2022 School Education and Literacy Department (SELD) Sindh in collaboration with UNICEF developed crises impact and response data system.

The DRRWG is coordinating the implementation of the 2022 flood response plan, the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Multi-year Resilience Program (MYRP), the capacity building of Education sector members, and preparedness response plan.

Schools in Haiti's capital and beyond are crumbling as gang violence deepens poverty and disrupts basic government services while the state education system faces a $23 million deficit.

"The country needs help," said Yasmine Sherif, executive director of the U.N. global fund Education Cannot Wait, for education in emergencies and crises.

On Friday, she announced a $2.5 million grant that is expected to help nearly 75,000 children via cash transfers, school feeding programs and other initiatives.

Sherif was in Haiti as part of a three-day trip during which she visited schools and met with teachers, principals, state officials and civil society members. She pleaded with the European Union and countries including France and the U.S. to help close the educational deficit as she noted the effect violence has had on education.

Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), announced the grant on Friday in the capital, Port-au-Prince, during a high-level UN mission to the Caribbean country.

The aim is to reach nearly 75,000 children and adolescents in the hard-hit departments of Ouest, home to the capital city, and Artibonite.

Ms. Sherif urged world leaders not to turn their backs on the boys and girls of Haiti.

“With the power of education, we can protect these girls and boys from the grave risks of sexual violence, forced recruitment in armed groups and other human rights violations,” she said.

“With the power of education, we can lift up an entire nation from a never-ending cycle of hunger, poverty, economic uncertainty and violence.”

A UN-backed global fund that supports education in emergencies will provide $2.5 million to ensure that thousands of children affected by gang violence in Haiti can attend school in safety. 

Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), announced the grant on Friday in the capital, Port-au-Prince, during a high-level UN mission to the Caribbean country.

The aim is to reach nearly 75,000 children and adolescents in the hard-hit departments of Ouest, home to the capital city, and Artibonite.

"World leaders must not turn their backs on the girls and boys of Haiti. These children, teachers and families have seen their human rights and human dignity ripped from their hands by brutal acts of violence, disorder and chaos. With the power of education, we can protect these girls and boys from the grave risks of sexual violence, forced recruitment in armed groups and other human rights violations. With the power of education, we can lift up an entire nation from a never-ending cycle of hunger, poverty, economic uncertainty and violence," said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations.

During a high-level UN mission to Haiti, Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif announced a fast-acting US$2.5 million First Emergency Response grant that will provide life-saving access to quality education for girls and boys impacted by the rise in violence, insecurity and forced displacement that has pushed millions of children into harm's way. Total ECW funding in Haiti now tops US$15.8 million.

In response to these challenges, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and its global strategic partners announced today a new US$8 million catalytic Multi-Year Resilience Programme grant that will be delivered by a consortium of partners, led by RET International in coordination with Ecuador's Ministry of Education and local partners, to reach a total of 42,700 children and adolescents. Consortium partners include Plan International, Child Fund, and the Ibero-American Institute of Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Andrés Bello Convention Organization (IPANC-CAB).

La educación es un salvavidas para los niños y niñas que viven en Ecuador. Dos de cada diez infancias refugiadas y migrantes no asisten a la escuela. La violencia, la incertidumbre económica y la inseguridad continúan afectando a la nación y a la región en su conjunto. Hacemos un llamado urgente a las y los líderes mundiales para que para aumentar el financiamiento. Nuestra inversión en la educación es nuestra inversión en el vasto potencial de las infancias y jóvenes de América Latina», dijo Yasmine Sherif, Directora Ejecutiva de Education Cannot Wait, el fondo global para la educación en emergencias y crisis prolongadas dentro de las Naciones Unidas.

On 14 February, 2020, Education Cannot Wait announced the flagship of MYRP in three regional states of Ethiopia – Somali, Oromia and Amhara. The programme boasted a substantial budget of USD 27 million in seed funding for three years. With its resilience and determination, the Somali Region has been allocated 53% of the total allocation/fund. This budget encompasses the implementation costs, consortium, and grantee allocations, which are earmarked for national and sub-national education cluster coordination alongside emergency and refugee response initiatives.

In the Somali Region, the project targeted eight districts and 43 schools ravaged by climate-induced and artificial disasters; the project has been instrumental in making significant strides toward providing children with access to a secure, fair, inclusive, equitable, and quality education.

For more than 222 million children around the world who currently live in a conflict zone, however, the ability to learn is treated more like a luxury than a right.

“During major active conflicts, it’s very dangerous to go outside of the home,” ​Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), told Global Citizen. “Boys may be kidnapped to join armed groups; girls may be sexually abused — it’s a complete disruption of your environment that prevents you from accessing basic services like education.”

While speaking in Yola on Friday during the flaggoff of the distribution of instructional materials and school games facilities, Mr. Joel Jutum, UNICEF Education Consultant Bauchi field office, said that the investment of his organisation in education, especially in the North-east is to ensure that all children return to school after the insurgency experience witnessed in the area.

Jutum added, “UNICEF in partnership with our generous donors, including the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, Global Partnership for Education, Education Cannot Wait.