Image Courtesy : www.educationcannotwait.org

A global learning crisis has left around 222 million crisis-impacted children & adolescents in dire requirement of education support. This week, the LEGO Foundation, Germany, and the United States announced US$42 in recent additional funding to ECW- Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations (UN) global fund for education in emergencies and long-winded crises.

The funding notifications were made on the diversions of the United Nations General Assembly and onstage at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, headlined by Metallica, Mariah Carey, Charlie Puth, Rosalía, Jonas Brothers, Måneskin, and Mickey Guyton.

The new budget catalyses much-needed support to manage a global learning crisis where more than 78 million crisis-influenced girls and boys are out of school, and almost two-thirds of 10-year-olds cannot read and understand a simple text.

Seizing the stage at this weekend’s Global Citizen Festival, the CEO of LEGO Foundation, Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, declared a substantial new US$25 million contribution to ECW, bringing total contributions to about US$65 million to date.

Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen said to imagine there was a magic lever that could change the lived experiences of the 222 million children and juveniles- living in crisis contexts into the peacekeepers and builders of the future. Well, there is education to help construct this lever. The LEGO Foundation is delighted to announce US$25 million in new funding to ECW- Education Cannot Wait.

In reply to the crisis in Ukraine, which has harshly influenced access to education for close to 7 million children, the Government of Germany also declared €10 million in new funding. Germany is the most considerable donor to ECW, with around €330 million in total funding to date.

Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, Svenja Schulze, stated that the international community urgently must boost its investments in education. Schulze thanked global citizens and said thank you for raising voices to call for more support for (ECW) Education Cannot Wait so that all young people everywhere in the world will have access to quality education, and this will enable them to end extreme poverty – now.

On Tuesday, at the Fund’s High-Level Steering Group meeting, the Government of the (US) United States declared US$7 million in new funding from the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, fetching total contributions of US$109.3 million to date.

During the ECW’s High-Level Steering Group meeting during the United Nations General Assembly, Assistant Secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Julieta Valls Noyes, said that I was honored to announce US$7 million in extra assistance from the United States for Education Cannot Wait in order to bring quality education to refugee, stateless, and other displaced children.

Yasmine Sherif, Director, ECW- Education Cannot Wait, stated that education is our investment in human beings and human potential. So far, we have only noticed a glimpse of it. There are 222 million children out there that will permit us to witness the full potential of humanity. These generous new contributions from the LEGO Foundation, the United States, and Germany are a global buzz to action. We must merge to completely fund ECW- Education Cannot Wait and our strategic partners in mustering US$1.5 billion over the next four years. This new funding will authorize us to reach 20 million children caught in some of the world’s most destructive humanitarian crises.

Since its beginning in 2016, ECW- Education Cannot Wait and its strategic counterparts have mobilized more than US$1.1 billion and instantly supported almost 7 million children and adolescents. An additional 31.2 million have been reached via the Fund’s COVID-19 response.

During this week’s United Nations General Assembly, ECW- Education Cannot Wait established its Case for Investment & 2023-2026 Strategic Plan. World leaders, donors, and different global advocates are joining ECW’s global #222MillionDreams campaign in charge up to the Fund’s High-Level Financing Conference, which will take place in Geneva in February 2023.

News Source: Reliefweb