Germany and UK top list of 17 donors as UN's global fund for education in emergencies expands commitments to reach 20 million children over next four years.

GENEVA, Feb. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- World leaders announced US$826 million to Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and the global challenge to support the education of 222 million crisis-affected girls and boys.

“Today we make history in our global efforts to ensure children impacted by conflict, climate change and other crises are able to access quality learning opportunities." -Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif.

These ground-breaking announcements were made at the ECW High-Level Financing Conference on 16-17 February in Geneva, Switzerland.

In all, 17 donors announced pledges to ECW, including five contributions from new donors  – the Global Business Coalition, Italy, Qatar, Spain and Zürcher Kantonalbank. Just over one month into the multilateral Fund's new 2023-2026 Strategic Plan, these landmark commitments already amount to more than half of the US$1.5 billion required to reach 20 million children and adolescents. 

Worldwide, 222 million children impacted by conflict, climate change, forced displacement and other protracted crises urgently need quality education.

"There is no democracy without education. We must be able to count on well-educated future generations," said Federal Councilor of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis.

Switzerland is co-convening the High-Level Financing Conference with ECW and the Governments of Colombia, Germany, Niger, Norway and South Sudan.

Germany remains ECW's largest donor. "Today's pledges will help to give millions of the most vulnerable young people hope. Germany already announced last year that we will support the Strategic Plan to assist these children with €210 million for the next four years," said Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany.

The United Kingdom provided the largest new commitment for the day, announcing £80 million in new funding to ECW. "We are renewing our commitment to education in emergencies because we refuse to give up on the 222 million children and adolescents affected by the horrors of war, disaster and displacement," said Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Minister Andrew Mitchell.

Canada announced CAD$87.5 million in new funding during the high-level pledging session. "We will continue to work with our partners to help to ensure that quality education is available for all children," said Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development.

"Even when we reach our $1.5 billion target, we will not stop there," said Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif. "With today's generous contributions, we will be able to reach 10 million crisis-affected children with quality education. This is our investment in humanity."