Established in 2016, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) was formed to bridge the humanitarian and development divide. According to its 2018-2021 strategy, it is based on, “a shared set of principles – humanitarian principles, such as humanity, impartiality and neutrality, and development principles, such as national ownership, capacity development and sustainability”. Made up of public and private partners, it promotes the right to education through availability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability and according to its strategy, “seeks to close the $8.5 billion funding gap needed to reach by 2030 75 million children and youth who are in urgent need of educational support in crisis-affected countries”.
By 2021 Education Cannot Wait (ECW) GPE aims to reach 8 million children and youth (3-18 years) including those from marginalised groups through ECW-supported interventions. In 2017 it reached 369,346 so this is a significant increase. In its intentional plan, it has identified 26 countries in which it intends to direct its efforts in its “multi-year Resilience Plan”. These include a significant number of African countries. The countries, in alphabetical order, are as follows Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Iraq, Jordon, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine/ West Bank and Gaza, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Uganda and Yemen. This indeed is a formidable list and its education programme has the potential not only to shape children and their communities for generations to come but to also shape nations.
There are 5 overarching outcomes that run through all their initiatives: 1. Increased access to education for crisis-affected boys and girls; 2. Strengthened equity and gender equality in education in crisis; 3. Increased continuity and sustainability of education for crisis affected girls and boys; 4. Improved learning and skills outcomes for crisis-affected girls and boys; 5. Safe and protective learning environment and education ensured for all crisis affected girls and boys.
So how do ECW intend to operate? “ECW considers education partners in country are in the best position to design their programmes based on their specific contextual needs and the coordination mechanisms and expertise at country level. As a global fund, it does not specifically prescribe the detailed technical contents of the programmes which it finances.” They continue to say, “It therefore relies on strong partnerships at local, national and global levels to transform its financing into actions under each of these collective outcome areas. In doing so, ECW offers support to existing structures and mechanisms”.
The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on 28 January 2018,
“Let us be quite clear that this is not about shifting funding from development to humanitarian programmes or vice versa. It is about recognizing common goals and optimizing existing resources and capabilities to help all people in situations of risk, vulnerability and crisis. It is about working better together to reduce humanitarian needs over the medium to long-term.”
Let us do better than hope and get actively involved in shaping and influencing the education system for our young, our adult generation of tomorrow, who will one day shape the world for themselves.