16,000 organisations. One message: invest in education now!
Children and youth are the future. When we are educated, we are the ones who can make change and make the world better.
– Anxhela, 16-year-old girl from North-East Albania
Around the world children consistently tell us what matters most to them. When asked to name their top priorities, time and time again, they place education at the top. For every child, education presents a clear pathway to shape their future, even when everything around them might feel uncertain. For children living through conflict, displacement, and instability, education represents even more: a source of safety, a sense of normalcy, and a foundation for hope. For many, education is nothing less than a lifeline.
Yet despite this unwavering call from children, education is being pushed aside globally.
This week, more than 190 partners representing over 16,000 organisations around the world are united in calling for this to change. Civil society groups, local, national and global organisations and coalitions are standing together in solidarity. Our shared message is simple, but powerful:
The world must not turn its back on one of the greatest proven investments for peace, prosperity and equality: education.
This call to action comes at a critical moment. The number of children out of school has risen for the seventh consecutive year, having reached 273 million. This is more than a statistic. It represents 273 million individual lives. 273 million dreams being pushed aside. It signals a world moving backwards, not forwards in delivering every child’s right to education.
For Razan*, a ten-year-old girl forced to flee Khartoum, Sudan, the cost of inaction is deeply personal. War cost her a year of schooling, finding shut classrooms time and time again, as fighting followed her family across Sudan. She told us:
I don’t want any more wars. I just want to wear my backpack every morning and go learn new things.
Today, Razan has happily returned to school, determined to continue her education and pursue her dreams without further interruption. There is, importantly, reason for hope and optimism. Where sustained investment and political will come together, progress in education can be rapid and transformative. Over the past two decades, global efforts have led to more children completing their education than ever before. Gender gaps in education have been narrowing and between 2015 and 2023, 50 million more girls enrolled in school, with improvements in completion rates across all levels. Since 2000, the share of countries with inclusive education laws has risen from 1% to 24%, expanding access to education for children facing barriers or forms of marginalisation, including children with disabilities.
These gains demonstrate what sustained political will and investment can achieve at scale. But these gains also risk being reversed for the next generation.
The reality is that systems designed to deliver quality education are steadily being weakened by underinvestment. By the end of 2026, international aid to global education is expected to fall by $3.2 billion. For at least six million children, this could mean the difference between quality learning in a classroom and being shut out of formal education entirely. At the same time, a $97 billion annual financing gap continues to put education out of reach for millions of children, despite many countries stepping up domestic investment in education.
There is a stark contradiction at the heart of global decision-making today. As political leaders gather at forums such as the G7 leaders' summit taking place this week, they reaffirm the role of education in tackling some of the world’s most pressing and emerging challenges. Yet the financing and political commitment required to sustain education systems are falling short.
World leaders champion stability amid escalating crises, while simultaneously undermining one of the clearest pathways to long-term peace and security. Without urgent action, education will remain a casualty of political inaction. This cannot continue.
Education is not a secondary priority in a world shaped by crisis. It is part of the solution.
It provides safe environments, where children are less vulnerable to exploitation, child labour, and early marriage. It strengthens economies, supports climate resilience, advances gender equality, and reduces the likelihood of conflict.
The evidence is clear: when governments fail to invest in education, they’re not just cutting budgets. They are cutting opportunity, stability, and hope for millions of children. We know that through education, children thrive, and societies grow stronger. Turning away from education puts an entire generation at risk and jeopardises the progress on access, learning, and equity that the world has spent decades fighting to achieve. The question now, is whether leaders will listen and back the hopes of millions of children with the funding and action that is urgently needed.
- Marian Hodgkin, Global Head of Education, Save the Children
At the heart of our call to action, is a clear demand that education must be prioritised in policy, financing and political action. This is a pivotal year. Two critical global funds for education, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and Education Cannot Wait (ECW) , are hosting replenishment summits later this year. These mechanisms are complementary, and together they accelerate impact to support children’s right to education across development and crisis contexts. We join partners in calling on decision makers to fully fund both mechanisms at levels that match the scale of today’s crises.
Children have been clear about what they want. Communities and organisations around the world are amplifying their call.
The responsibility now lies with global leaders to respond, not just by affirming these commitments in principle, but to deliver them in practice.
Because when education is pushed aside, the consequences are profound. The future of millions of children, and the stability of the world they will inherit, are put at risk.
No Funding. No Learning. No Chance. The time to invest is now!
Read the joint open letter here: Global Open Letter – Invest in Education (2026)
