The education of 4 million children has been disrupted, with
some 600,000 children not able to access in-person learning due to
ongoing fighting, attacks and displacement.
KYIV, Ukraine, Sept. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On a high-level UN
mission to Ukraine this week,
Education Cannot Wait (ECW) leadership met with girls and boys
impacted by the brutal war and partners on the ground to better
understand how the education of some 4 million children across
Ukraine has been disrupted.
The visit concluded at the Fourth Summit of First Ladies and
Gentlemen with ECW calling on world leaders to commit to protecting
education from attack and to scale-up funding to provide
life-saving access to safer in-person classes, remote learning
opportunities when necessary, and remedial catch-up classes, driven
by quality and inclusive education.
"This atrocious war must stop now! For as long as the children,
adolescents and teachers in Ukraine suffer this unfathomable horror,
schools must be protected from attacks. As a global community we
must rise to the challenge before us to ensure that every girl and
every boy in Ukraine impacted by
this brutal war and the refugees have access to the safety, hope
and opportunity that only a quality education can provide," said
Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director
of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in
emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations. "Our
investment in education is an investment in recovery, peace,
security and justice for Ukraine
and beyond. It is an investment in the vast potential of future
generations."
ECW and its strategic donor partners have provided more than
US$26.9 million in funding to support
quality, holistic education programmes in Ukraine since 2017. Delivered by a consortium
of partners including Finn Church
Aid, the Kyiv School of Economics, Save the Children and
UNICEF – in coordination with the Ukrainian Ministry of Education
and Science – the programmes have reached more than 360,000
children, about 65% of whom are girls.
"The support from Education Cannot Wait is critical for
children, their parents and teachers who are doing everything they
can to keep classrooms open and to continue in-person learning
despite the impact of the war across the country," said Munir
Mammadzade, UNICEF Representative to Ukraine.
ECW's support includes a US$20.4
million allocation to roll out a Multi-Year Resilience
Programme in Ukraine. The
investment seeks to mobilize millions more in additional funding
and reach more than 150,000 children across 10 of Ukraine's most-impacted areas.
The investments work to improve learning outcomes by providing
safer and more accessible physical learning environments, expanding
digital learning initiatives and providing alternative education
opportunities. To address the challenges facing the girls and boys
who are living through this ongoing conflict, there is also a
strong focus on mental health and psychosocial support, and
targeted support for girls and children living with
disabilities.
At last year's Education Cannot Wait High-Level Financing
Conference, the Global Business Coalition for Education (GBCE)
pledged to mobilize US$50 million
from the business community in support of ECW's four-year strategic
plan. In partnership with GBCE, TheirWorld, HP and Microsoft,
US$39 million in partnership and
device donation for ECW has already been mobilized, and over 70,000
laptops have been shared with schools, teachers and other people in
need, both inside Ukraine and in
neighboring countries.
Since the start of the school year in early September, deadly
and destructive attacks have again affected education facilities
across Ukraine. Approximately
600,000 school-aged children are not able to access in-person
learning, and since the start of the war over 1,300 educational
facilities have been damaged or destroyed, according to UNICEF.
Even when children are in school, the constant threat of bombings
and attacks is disrupting the quality and continuity of education
for children who have been pushed from their homes, lost loved ones
in the fighting, and live under constant threat.
Education Cannot Wait and its strategic partners are calling for
US$600 million in additional funding
to deliver on the global targets outlined in the Fund's four-year
strategic plan to provide children in crisis-impacted countries
everywhere with quality, holistic education, and the hope for a
better tomorrow.
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