Two weeks ago, donors and governments convened in Geneva for Education Cannot Wait’s (ECW), first-ever High-Level Financing Conference. The aim was to raise $1.5 billion to reach 20 million crisis-affected children and young people with a quality education – an important first step in reaching the 222 million children globally whose education is affected by conflict, climate change and the aftermath of Covid-19.
The conference was a landmark moment for the financing of education in emergencies with donors pledging $826 million US to ECW. In all, 17 donors announced pledges, including Italy and Qatar who pledged for the first time. Germany, Ireland and Denmark were among a small group of countries who increased their previous contributions to the fund.
It was disappointing however that donors could only come up with just over half of the funding required. As Gordon Brown, the UN Special Envoy for Education, put it, $1.5 billion is “a mere rounding error compared to what governments spend on arms and fossil-fuel subsidies”. We also know that when children are asked about what is important to them, education is top of the list.
Children are demanding world leaders do better
Children in crises are calling on world leaders to step up and invest in their futures. One of those children is Ana Sofía*, 14, from Colombia - one of the most dangerous places to go to school, who told Save the Children “if we had more resources, we would feel safer, and there wouldn't be so many school dropouts because we wouldn't be afraid to go to school.”
At the Conference, children also urged world leaders to protect their right to go to school without fear of attack, ensure safe learning for all children, and make climate change and education the priority of every government.
It was welcome to see children and young people have the platform to share their experiences and recommendations in this way. This was a big improvement on previous summits, such as the Transforming Education Summit, in which few under-18s were involved. We commend Education Cannot Wait and the conference co-hosts for providing children and young people with the space and support to participate in proceedings in this way. However, much more still needs to be done moving forward to enable the full, equal and meaningful participation of all children and youth in decision-making processes in line with Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Multiple crises are denying children their right to education
The impact that multiple and intersecting crises are having on children’s education was also a core theme of the conference. Addressing delegates at the climate change plenary session, co-convened by Save the Children, Nafisa*, 17, from Nigeria said “climate change is largely responsible for the drying up of the Lake Chad basin where I am from… climate change causes rain not to fall well in some seasons which affects farming and parents are unable to harvest enough to sell and take care of their children. As a result children are unable to go to school.”
The good news is that there is growing recognition of the impact that climate change is having on the education of Nafisa and millions more children around the world. The United Arab Emirates has committed to prioritise education in its COP28 Presidency, and the second edition of the RewirEd Summit will run in conjunction to the global climate summit.
The Global Refugee Forum, taking place in December 2023, also provides an important opportunity to address the impact that climate change and other crises, are having on refugee and forcibly displaced children’s access to education.
A generation defining year for children in crises
As the dust settles on Education Cannot Wait’s High-Level Financing Conference, it is far from job done. With emergencies becoming more frequent and protracted, fully-funding ECW will become even more pressing. Last month’s deadly earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria which has halted the education of millions of children tragically demonstrate this. ECW has announced a First Emergency Response for Syria and is calling for matching contributions from donors to support the education response.
At the same time, we need much greater investment in education systems that are resilient to plan for future crises. This requires preparedness, through system strengthening before crises hit to be a priority for all governments, organisations, and donors.
With the education of a record number of children currently disrupted, 2023 is an era-defining year for the hopes and dreams of an entire generation of children caught up in crises. In Geneva, donors fell short of the demands of children, but it’s not too late to change course. A year of opportunity awaits to help realise 222 million dreams.
*Names changed
