Canada to fund promotion of children's access to high-quality education in emergency and crisis situations across the world

War, climate change and COVID-19 have generated a worldwide education crisis, with a projected 222 million children and adolescents who are not learning the basic skills and information they need to establish and prepare for their futures. In order to ensure that no kid is left behind, Canada is investing in quick-response and long-term initiatives that will provide children and teenagers with access to high-quality education in emergency and crisis circumstances.

The United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), has received a pledge from Canada of $87.5 million over four years (2023 to 2026), according to the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister in charge of the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada.

The donation from Canada will help 20 million children impacted by crises get access to a high-quality education, especially girls and teenage girls who live in remote, unstable, or conflict-affected areas. As part of Canada's plan to address the Rohingya and Burma crises, this contribution also includes financing for ECW's multi-year resilience program in Bangladesh. With this, more than 350,000 children and teenagers in Bangladesh between the ages of 3 and 18 will get an education that will benefit both the host communities and the Rohingya refugees.

The declaration was delivered virtually by Minister Sajjan at the High-Level Finance Conference of ECW in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference fosters conversation between leaders from the commercial and governmental sectors, civil society groups, and young people who have firsthand experience as refugees and internally displaced people. It also mobilizes funds for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

BACKGROUND INFO

The achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality Education will be aided by the extra funds. Canada is dedicated to advancing progress on the Sustainable Development Goals via the Decade of Action and to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in its entirety.

Canada co-founded ECW in 2016 and is presently its seventh-largest contributor, having provided $82.5 million (excluding current contribution) to support the education of kids living in crisis and emergency situations since the organization's founding.

The ECW, which is being held by UNICEF, is intended to provide quick, adaptable assistance to close gaps in funding, capacity, and coordination so that children and youth in emergency situations have access to high-quality education.

With a particular focus on girls and adolescent girls, as well as forcibly displaced children and youth, Canada's commitment to the ECW builds on decades of leadership in global education, including the Charlevoix Initiative and the Together for Learning Campaign. It also helps to ensure that those who are most marginalized have access to high-quality, inclusive education.