In the News

Girls are the future. They are agents of positive change and potential in a world torn apart by conflicts and chaos. On this International Day of the Girl Child, Education Cannot Wait joins girls, women and people everywhere in calling for an end to the oppression of girls, an end to gender-based violence and sexual abuse, an end to child marriage, an end to unpaid work and an end to any form of subjugation. Our voices will not be silenced.

Girls are the future. They are agents of positive change and potential in a world torn apart by conflicts and chaos. On this International Day of the Girl Child, Education Cannot Wait joins girls, women and people everywhere in calling for an end to the oppression of girls, an end to gender-based violence and sexual abuse, an end to child marriage, an end to unpaid work and an end to any form of subjugation. Our voices will not be silenced.

Girls are the future. They are agents of positive change and potential in a world torn apart by conflicts and chaos. On this International Day of the Girl Child, Education Cannot Wait joins girls, women and people everywhere in calling for an end to the oppression of girls, an end to gender-based violence and sexual abuse, an end to child marriage, an end to unpaid work and an end to any form of subjugation. Our voices will not be silenced.

It is important to note that UNHCR and the Ministries of Education do not yet have comprehensive data on the enrolment of refugee children in Cameroon, as they are enrolled in hundreds of schools spread across the country and the education partner cannot cover all of these institutions. As for the Ministries of Education, due to a lack of knowledge of refugee documentation, a large number of children are registered as refugees without having refugee status. As part of Education Cannot Wait's multi-year resilience programme, 477 head teachers have benefited from capacity building on refugee status documentation. This awareness-raising will continue to improve the quality of data on refugee education.

While the number of school-age refugees increased by almost 6% between 2022 and 2023, putting further pressure on the fragile education system, the NER of refugees still increased slightly (by ½ and 1½ points at primary and secondary levels respectively). However, the rates remain below the 2025 targets set by the Ministry of Education and UNHCR in the 2030 Refugee Education Strategy for Chad, especially at primary level (47% against a target of 70%).

Thanks to support from Education Cannot Wait, Education Above All Foundation and the CERF, UNHCR has been able to scale up the construction of classrooms and latrines, cash-for-education interventions, distribution of textbooks and school kits, and support to teachers.

Millions of school-aged children, adolescents and their teachers in countries of brutal conflicts, devastating climate disasters and refuge are calling out for our action today. Their mental health cannot wait. They need support now to restore the foundation for learning.

Conflicts, climate disasters and flight severely impact their brain development and their ability to focus, learn and develop their potentials. In the absence of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), their education risks being lost, hence the loss of their very last hope.

Only a very few survive and thrive without professional support. This is why Education Cannot Wait has made MHPSS a top priority. All our investments integrate mental health and psychosocial services across all age-groups – from early childhood development through secondary school. Their teachers are part of the support too.  

As we unite behind universal human rights this World Mental Health Day, let it not be just another day of commemoration without action. Let us instead heed their calls and take action. We can make a difference by funding education in emergencies and protracted crises and joining the Education Cannot Wait community. We can do so with full confidence that MHPSS will be an integral part of a holistic and inclusive quality education.

By ensuring girls and boys can access mental health and psychosocial services, by providing teachers the training they need to work on the frontlines of the world's worst humanitarian crises, and by providing protection for children that have lived through these life-changing ordeals, we provide a whole-of-child solution for quality education.

It's not just our way of addressing the world's mental health crisis, it's part and parcel of addressing the education crisis.

Millions of school-aged children, adolescents and their teachers in countries of brutal conflicts, devastating climate disasters and refuge are calling out for our action today. Their mental health cannot wait. They need support now to restore the foundation for learning.

Today, 224 million children and adolescents and their teachers live through experiences that create chronic anxiety, depression and various degrees of trauma affecting their mental health. They see and live through the most excruciating pain imaginable. The soul-shattering pain of executions of family members, sudden loss of parents and siblings, all while their homes and schools are bombed and burnt down. They live with a daily fear of sexual violence, gender-based violence, trafficking, unwanted pregnancies, child marriage and forcible recruitment into armed groups. Their mental health is inevitably affected. Yes, this is a normal reaction to an abnormal challenge. However, it is not a normal life for a young person.

In terms of UNHCR support, there has been an increase in the construction of classrooms, the distribution of school kits and the training of teachers, particularly in the regions of Menaka, Gao and Bandiagara (Koro). If the number of children reached by UNHCR's assistance has decreased this year compared to last, this is mainly due to the fact that some of the rehabilitation/construction of school infrastructure carried out this year will not be operational until the start of the new school year.

It is worth noting that thanks to Education Cannot Wait funding, the SSA-P Accelerated Education Centres enabled 1,067 students to return to formal education, compared to 970 last year.

On the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York, the COP28 Presidency and Dubai Cares, a civil society organization formally associated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications (UN DGC), co-hosted a high-level session titled “Rewiring Education for People and Planet: The Road to COP28”. The exclusive gathering served as a platform to outline the COP28 Presidency’s vision for the climate education intersection. The event aimed to build momentum around climate education and invite the global community to the RewirEd Summit at COP28. The COP28 presidency put forward its program for education at COP28 and shared its ambitions for the legacy of education.

The session was opened by HE Adnan Amin, CEO of COP28 and HE Dr. Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer and Vice-Chairman of Dubai Cares with the participation of representatives of the RewirEd Summit strategic partners including the CEOs of Generation Unlimited, Education Cannot Wait, and the Aga Khan Foundation, as well as high-level representatives from UNICEF, Global Partnership for Education, UNESCO, and COP28 Youth Delegates.

En marge de la 78ème Assemblée générale des Nations unies (AGNU) à New York, la présidence de la COP28 et Dubai Cares, une organisation de la société civile officiellement associée au Département de la communication mondiale des Nations unies (DGC), ont organisé conjointement une session de haut niveau intitulée "Rewiring Education for People and Planet : La route vers la COP28".

La session a été ouverte par Adnan Amin, PDG de la COP28, et Dr. Tariq Al Gurg, directeur général et vice-président de Dubai Cares, avec la participation de représentants des partenaires stratégiques du Sommet RewirEd, notamment les PDG de Generation Unlimited, Education Cannot Wait, et la Fondation Aga Khan, ainsi que des représentants de haut niveau de l'UNICEF, du Partenariat mondial pour l'éducation, de l'UNESCO, et des jeunes délégués de la COP28.

El gobierno de Canadá y Unicef unen esfuerzos para garantizar los derechos de la niñez en el país, en materia de migración, salud, nutrición, educación y protección, con un enfoque especial en las mujeres y las niñas.

Además, esta alianza contempla el fortalecimiento de la respuesta del Estado, para dejar capacidades instaladas que permitan la sostenibilidad de sus acciones en el país.

En el marco de esa alianza, el ministro de Desarrollo Internacional de Canadá, Ahmed Hussen, junto a un equipo de trabajo, visitaron el departamento de La Guajira en Colombia para conocer las dinámicas migratorias y poblacionales, así como las acciones que realizan Unicef, Acnur y OIM.