Education Cannot Wait Announces US$5 Million Emergency Grant in Response to Pakistan Floods

Emergency support will be delivered by ACTED and UNICEF in partnership with the Government of Pakistan and local partners, reaching over 80,000 children impacted by the devastating floods

In response to the deadly floods in Pakistan, which have destroyed the homes of 1.7 million families and impacted over 33 million people, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) announced today the release of US$5 million in First Emergency Response funding.

The fast-acting 12-month investment will be delivered in partnership with the Government of Pakistan by ACTED and UNICEF, reaching more than 80,000 girls and boys across Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhunkhwa.

“The climate crisis is an education crisis. These devastating floods have taken lives, destroyed as many as 22,000 schools – a shocking figure – and ripped families apart. We need to act with speed. ECW and our strategic partners are sprinting to deliver a fast-acting response to bring children back to school without further delay and deepening suffering,” said Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

The extraordinary monsoon rains in Pakistan have caused massive flooding and landslides across the nation. More than 1,400 people have lost their lives and the Government estimates that 22,594 schools have been damaged or destroyed.

The new response builds on ECW’s ongoing Multi-Year Resilience Programme in Pakistan, and focusses on providing equitable access to inclusive and quality learning environments, establishing temporary learning spaces, and providing children with the psychosocial supports they need to avoid dropping out of school permanently.

Teaching and learning materials will be provided to children in both formal and temporary learning spaces. Teachers will be supported to adapt their teaching methods to best suit the new context, including adopting more inter-active and play-based methods that also support psychosocial well-being. The investment will also ensure that gender-based violence mitigation measures will be implemented, with a particular focus on protecting adolescent girls.

Worldwide 222 million crisis-impacted children and adolescents are in need of urgent education support. ECW and its partners are calling on world leaders to provide at least US$1.5 billion in urgent funding to realize #222MillionDreams✨📚 and support the children of Pakistan and other crisis-impacted countries in ensuring girls and boys can access the safety, hope and opportunity that quality educational environments provide.