Germany Donates Additional €10m To Boost ECW’s Funding Of Education Ukraine

Posted by Eric Ojo Europe, Latest Headlines Sunday, September 25th, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The German Government has donated additional €10 million to further support the efforts of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), particularly in the funding of projects in Ukraine’s education sector.

The ECW is the United Nations (UN) global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. It supports quality education outcomes for refugee, internally displaced and other crisis-affected girls and boys, so no one is left behind.

ECW works through the multilateral system to increase the speed of responses in crises and connect immediate relief and longer-term interventions through multi-year programming.

The current Russia’s war in Ukraine has severely impacted access to education for approximately 7 million children. Schools across Ukraine have been the target of repeated attacks throughout the seven-month war.

Recent government reports indicate that as many as 2,300 educational institutions had been hit, and over 280 have been destroyed. Millions of refugees have fled into neighboring countries, straining resources, ripping families apart, and denying children and adolescents to their inherent human right to 12 years of quality education.

Meanwhile, Germany is the largest donor to Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, with almost €330 million in total funding to date.

This was announced by Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze at the Global Citizen Festival in New York.

The minister said the international community urgently needs to increase its investments in education, all that it our common responsibility to ensure that all children and youth have access to quality education.

“Global Citizens, thank you for raising your voices to call for more support for ECW, so that all young people everywhere in the world will have access to quality education: this will enable us to end extreme poverty – now”, he said.

Similarly, the Director of ECW, Yasmine Sherif thanked the German Government for its support and encouragement. “

Thank you, Germany! Your inspiring leadership and strong support have taken ECW to the next level. Education is the most crucial investment to make today, to build a more equal, prosperous and peaceful future for all!

“Through global and local partnerships, we can deliver on our promise of quality education for crisis-affected children and youth, ensuring that no one is left behind”, she added.

The new contribution connects to ECW’s First Emergency Response grants in Ukraine. The current investments are managed by Save the Children and UNICEF and focus on protecting the wellbeing of Ukraine’s conflict-affected girls and boys, while also ensuring continuous access to education and psychosocial support.

With the war in Ukraine, massive displacement in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia, the compounding impacts of the climate crisis, and global economic uncertainty, the world is facing a worsening global education crisis.

Shocking new analysis from ECW indicates that 222 million crisis-impacted girls and boys are in need of urgent education support – up from previous estimates of 75 million in 2016.

In response to the global education crisis, ECW launched its Case for Investment and 2023-2026 Strategic Plan during this year’s United Nations General Assembly.

To make good on promises outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (especially SDG4 – Education For All), Safe Schools Declaration and other international accords, the Fund is rallying donors and strategic partners to mobilize US$1.5 billion in funding to reach at least 20 million crisis-impacted children and adolescents over the next four years through its #222MillionDreams✨📚 campaign.

ECW’s High-Level Financing Conference will take place in Geneva in February 2023. It will be hosted by Switzerland and ECW and co-convened by Germany, Niger, Norway and South Sudan.