European Donors Asked To Support New Global Education In Emergencies Fund To Be Launched At World Humanitarian Summit
NEW YORK, May 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- European donors are among the world's leading countries, companies and philanthropists asked to join forces to create a 'major breakthrough' and provide education for millions of children displaced by conflicts and natural disasters.
The new 'Education Cannot Wait' fund will be launched next week at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.
A historic, global first, the fund is being hailed as a 'game changer' in targeting the needs of 75 million children and youth impacted by crisis, disaster and conflict.
Becoming a "full-blown global crisis" that will haunt the world for generations, 20 million school-age child refugees or displaced persons are denied an education.
The goal is to recruit 100 major foundations, businesses, governments and international agencies as contributors to the fund.
Education Cannot Wait will fill the gap where education falls through the cracks between humanitarian aid, which focuses on food and shelter, and development aid, which is by definition focused on the long-term.
UN OCHA figures show that education garners less than 2% of emergency funding in annual appeals, insufficient as the average refugee is out-of-country for more than a decade.
The new fund has unique features making it the first comprehensive public private partnership for humanitarian aid: (1) offering up to five years of educational emergency financing; (2) establishing dedicated windows for private sector, foundation and philanthropic contributions; (3) and harnessing new innovations and technology to deliver education to refugee children.
Announcing the fund, Gordon Brown, UN Education Envoy and International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity Chair, said:
He said, "For too long we have neglected the education of young people in conflict zones - at the cost of making youth the recruits for terrorist groups and their parents the most likely to leave and seek a better future for their children in Europe or America."
Mr. Brown will unveil support in Istanbul alongside UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other world leaders.
The Education Commission will deliver recommended actions to finance global education, including in emergency settings, at the UN General Assembly in New York this September.
The Commission is co-convened by Prime Minister Solberg (Norway), Presidents Bachelet (Chile), Widodo (Indonesia), Mutharika (Malawi) and UNESCO Director-General Bokova.
For additional inquiries, please contact: Reid Lidow, +1-212-843-0368, rlidow@educationcommission.org, www.educationcommission.org.
Share this article