New ECW Results Report highlights significant learning outcomes achieved for children and adolescents in crisis settings and calls for urgent additional donor support to meet the rapidly escalating needs.

NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global community is falling behind on its promise to ensure 'quality education for all' by 2030. Armed conflicts, forced displacement, climate change, and other emergencies and protracted crises have left more than 224 million crisis-affected children in urgent need of education support, a sharp rise from 75 million in 2016.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations, and its strategic partners continue to defy the odds, delivering life-saving,life-sustaining and multi-year investments in education to the world’s most vulnerable children and adolescents. Since ECW became operational in 2017, its investments have reached 11 million children and adolescents, including 5.6 million girls and boys in 2023 alone.

Despite these growing needs, funding for education in emergencies and protracted crises dropped for the first time in a decade, according to Education Cannot Wait's 'Results Against All Odds: 2023 Annual Results Report', launched today in New York.

Overall humanitarian funding for education decreased by 3% last year, from US$1.2 billion in 2022 to US$1.17 in 2023, according to the report.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations, and its strategic partners continue to defy the odds, delivering life-saving,  life-sustaining and multi-year investments in education to the world's most vulnerable children and adolescents.

Since ECW became operational in 2017, its investments have reached 11 million children and adolescents, including 5.6 million girls and boys in 2023 alone. This reach is unprecedented. Yet, much more resources are needed to meet the needs of the over 224 million children, adolescents and their teachers in need of urgent support.

To date, the Fund has mobilized more than US$1.6 billion from public and private donors. However, $600 million urgently needs to be mobilized in donor contributions for ECW and its strategic partners to reach a total of 20 million children and adolescents with inclusive, quality education by the end of its 2023-2026 strategic plan period.

"For our 25 strategic donor partners, these transformative investments deliver a quality child-centered and holistic education, and thus represent a commitment to sustainable development, human rights, economic resilience and global security," said The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education and Chair of ECW's High-Level Steering Group. "Education is the most powerful tool to restore hope in a world marred by brutal conflicts, human rights violations and inequality. It is our investment in a new generation of leaders."

Impact, Depth and Sustainability
From Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gaza, the West Bank, to Haiti, the Sahel, Sudan, Ukraine and other hotspots around the globe, ECW's report highlights the profound impact of education in crisis settings.

"Girls and boys in crises are enduring the worst impacts of brutal man-made conflicts, forced displacement, climate change and other disasters. Our new report proves that despite these challenges, it is possible to provide them with the protection, hope and life-changing opportunity of a quality holistic education. To do this, we urgently call for US$600 million to meet our strategic plan targets and ensure a better future for 20 million girls and boys by the end of 2026," said ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif. "This is the time to make a moral choice that is aligned with political action."

The new report shows ECW's strong focus on the world's most vulnerable and at-risk children: of the children reached in 2023, more than half were girls (51%), 17% were internally displaced and 22% were refugees.

The quality and impact of the education delivered – even in the most difficult of circumstances – is also improving. In all, 9 out of 10 programmes reported improved school enrollment and 72% showed gender-equitable progress. ECW reported that, among programmes able to monitor learning outcomes, 80% of its investments demonstrated academic improvements and 72% showed improvements in children's social and emotional learning and well-being.

ECW investments also improved the continuity of learning with notable increases in the number of girls and boys reached through the Fund's investments in early childhood education and secondary school, disability inclusion, gender-transformative approaches, mental health support, and agile, holistic solutions that address whole-of-child needs. 

The climate crisis is an education crisis. The number of children reached through First Emergency Responses resulting from climate-induced hazards nearly doubled from 14% in 2022 to 27% in 2023.

"Education is a public good and a fundamental right. To achieve our goals, global leaders must align policies, funding and humanitarian principles. Multilateral aid funding must immediately be increased to reverse the current downward trend, and partnerships and collaboration must be strengthened across humanitarian, development and peace efforts. Education Cannot Wait has shown us that the seemingly 'impossible' is indeed possible – provided that the funding is made available," said The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown.

Note to Editors 

• Results Against All Odds: 2023 ECW Annual Results Report
• Executive Summary
• Social Media Kit