The European Union and its Member States pledged, on Thursday 16 February, €313 million to the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, ‘Education Cannot Wait (ECW)’, established in 2016. The European Commission announced this on Thursday, stressing that “this is the biggest contribution to the fund".
The ECW enables governments, multilateral institutions and the private sector to support comprehensive education programmes for children and young people whose education has been interrupted or who have been totally deprived of school due to conflict or crisis.
“Education Cannot Wait is a key partner in reaching the 222 million children affected by crises around the world. Given the urgency, the €25 million pledge of the European Commission (for 2023-2027: Editor’s note) will be made available as of this year”, comments the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen.
According to the Commission, the EU and the UN aim to make investments in education more effective and sustainable by bridging the gap between humanitarian and development actions, in line with the commitments made at the UN ‘Transforming Education Summit’ in New York in September 2022.
This contribution to the UN fund complements other EU aid. The EU budget for education in fragile countries for the period 2021-2027 will reach €3.2 billion. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)