UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the first global fund for education in emergencies, reached more than 1.4 million children and youth caught in armed conflicts, forced displacement, natural disasters and protracted crises in its first two years (2017-2018) of operation, an ECW official told Xinhua on Saturday.
"Nearly one and a half million children and youth furthest left behind in conflicts, forced displacement and disasters have been given the hope, opportunity and safety of a quality education," said Kent Page, ECW's chief of advocacy and communications, citing fund director Yasmine Sherif.
ECW is seeking to mobilize 1.8 billion U.S. dollars by 2021 to reach 9 million children and youth living in crises and displacement, said Page.
ECW is a catalyst for collective efforts. Its diverse range of local, national and international partners are devoted to building locally owned and sustainable solutions to bring quality education to millions more children and youth living in crises who don't have access to an education, said Page, citing Sherif.
"Only by working together and stay firm on our commitments can we accelerate advancement towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially Goal 4 of the SDGs, which calls on world leaders to ensure education for every girl and boy by 2030," said Page.
Since its inception, ECW has mobilized 460 million dollars to date to support children and youth living in 29 countries - with a total of 333.5 million dollars mobilized by the end of 2018.
However, despite the well-documented potential of education as an enabler to break cycles of poverty and protracted crises, and while donors have increased their focus on education in emergencies and protracted crises, the funding gap for education in emergency and crisis settings remains very large.
According to ECW's 2018 annual report launched Friday, 56 percent of the total amount of resources needed for education in emergencies appeals were unfunded in 2018, and the share of funding for education in emergencies increased only slightly -- from 3.8 to 4.3 percent of all humanitarian funding in 2018.
ECW, hosted by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), is the first global fund dedicated to education in emergencies. It was launched by international humanitarian and development aid actors, along with public and private donors, to address the urgent education needs of 75 million children and youth in conflict and crisis settings.
