World leaders commit $826m to Education Cannot Wait and the global challenge to support education of 222 million crisis-affected girls and boys.
The education of 222 million crisis-affected girls and boys will be supported by the US$826 million pledged by world leaders to Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and the global challenge.
According to Yasmine Sherif, executive director of Education Cannot Wait, “Today we make history in our global efforts to ensure children affected by conflict, climate change, and other crises can access quality learning opportunities.” These historic announcements were made on February 16 and 17 in Geneva at the ECW High-Level Financing Conference.
The Global Business Coalition, Italy, Qatar, Spain, and Zürcher Kantonalbank are five new donors who have pledged five contributions totaling $17 to ECW. These historic donations already total more than half of the US$1.5 billion needed to reach 20 million children and adolescents just over a month into the multinational fund’s new 2023–2026 Strategic Plan.
222 million children worldwide who have been touched by war, climate change, forced emigration, and other persistent crises urgently require access to high-quality education.
“Without education, democracy does not exist. Future generations must be dependable and educated “Ignazio Cassis, a Federal Councilor for the Swiss Confederation.
The High-Level Financing Conference is being co-organized by Switzerland, ECW, the governments of Colombia, Germany, Niger, Norway, and South Sudan.
The major donor to ECW is still Germany. “Millions of the most disadvantaged young people will experience hope thanks to the pledges made today. Germany already declared last year that we will contribute €210 million over the following four years to the Strategic Plan to Assist These Children “German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Svenja Schulze said.
The largest new commitment of the day came from the United Kingdom, which announced an additional £80 million in support for ECW. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Minister Andrew Mitchell said, “We are reaffirming our commitment to education in emergencies because we refuse to give up on the 222 million children and adolescents touched by the tragedies of conflict, tragedy, and displacement.”
During the high-level pledge session, Canada announced new investment worth CAD$87.5 million. According to Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development, we will continue to collaborate with our partners to make sure that all children have access to high-quality education.
We won’t stop there even if we meet our $1.5 billion goal “Yasmine Sherif, executive director of Education Cannot Wait, said. “We will be able to provide 10 million children affected by crises with a high-quality education thanks to today’s kind donations. This represents our investment in people.
