Some 826 million dollars were promised this Thursday, February 16 to “Education Without Delay”the UN fund responsible for financing the education of children facing humanitarian crises.
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That’s just over half of the $1.5 billion of which “Education Without Delay” believes it needs to finance its four-year strategic plan 2023-2026, to help 20 million children and adolescents.
The UN fund, created in 2016 and which organized its very first donors’ conference in Geneva, estimates that 222 million children worldwide have seen their education disrupted by conflicts or climate-related disasters, including 78 million who do not never set foot in school.
Since its creation, “Education Without Delay” raised more than $1 billion to build schools and purchase educational materials, provide daily meals, and offer psychological services. The fund helps nearly seven million children in 32 countries.
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The task of the fund is to “realizing 222 million dreams”, said its chief Yasmine Sherif during the conference on Thursday. Lack of education has real and immediate consequences. Children sometimes end up on the streets, facing threats of violence, human trafficking, recruitment by armed groups or, for girls, forced marriage.
“We have seen around the world that hope dies when a convoy carrying refugees gets lost at sea. Hope dies when goods destined for refugees in besieged cities do not get through”said Gordon Brownchairman of Education Without Delay and former British Prime Minister.
“But hope also dies when a young person cannot plan or prepare for the future because they don’t have the chance to go to school”he pointed out.
“But hope comes alive when we can provide an education for children, when we can give them the chance for a better future. When even in the most deprived and desperate places in the world, we can somehow enable them to go to school”.
