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Add to Preferred SourcesEducation Cannot Wait (ECW) recently announced a total of US$91.7 million in catalytic grant financing for new and expanded Multi-Year Resilience Programmes in Bangladesh, Burundi, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, and Sudan. All but Bangladesh are new multi-year investments, accelerating ECW’s growing expansion into countries impacted by protracted crises.
Across the six countries, the new catalytic grants aim to reach over 900,000 vulnerable children and adolescents, of whom 58% are girls. Half of the children and adolescents targeted are refugees or internally displaced; and, 13% are children with disabilities.
The new grants aim to leverage an additional US$250 million worth of public and private donors’ funding aligned to the multi-year programs in the six countries to reach a total of 3.3 million crisis-affected children.
In all, ECW – the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises – now supports Multi-Year Resilience Programmes (MYRPs) in 24 countries and First Emergency Response (FERs) in 35 countries. Thus far, a total of 42 emergency and protracted crisis countries have benefitted from ECW emergency education investments. ECW has mobilized US$845 million since Fund’s inception and leveraged an additional US$1 billion through ECW-supported Multi-Year Resilience Programmes.
“We mark a milestone in our global efforts to provide every crisis-affected girl and boy with their inherent human right to quality, inclusive learning opportunities. With additional support through our strategic donors, UN agencies, and civil society partners, we have the capacity to bring ECW’s investments to scale and reach millions more children and adolescents impacted by conflict, climate change, forced displacement, COVID-19, protracted crises, and emergencies with the safety, hope, and power of education. This is our global commitment to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and we call on global leaders today to step up and urgently fund ECW and our partners with US$1 billion in additional resources,” said Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait.
With this expanded funding, the breakout global fund has already reached close to 5 million children. The Fund’s COVID-19 education in emergency response has reached an additional 29.2 million children with life-saving access to remote learning, health bulletins, water and sanitation facilities, and other measures that are keeping students learning and preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Bangladesh: ECW’s US$13.2 million catalytic grant in Bangladesh will reach 130,000 Rohingya refugee and Bangladeshi host community children and adolescents, providing a mechanism to align additional funding and scale up the education in emergency response in Bangladesh. Fully funded, the scaled-up program will reach over 350,000 refugee and host community children and adolescents impacted by COVID-19 and the Rohingya refugee crisis.
Burundi: The US$18 million catalytic grant in Burundi will reach approximately 130,000 girls and boys. Fully funded, the program will reach more than 300,000 children and adolescents impacted by the interconnected crises of COVID-19, climate change, and conflict.
Lebanon: With US$12 million in catalytic grant investments in Lebanon, ECW and partners will reach approximately 233,000 girls and boys and Lebanon. The fully-funded program seeks to leverage an additional US$38 million to reach a total of 875,000 vulnerable children and adolescents.
Libya: ECW announced US$11.1 million in catalytic grant financing in Libya to reach 110,000 crisis-affected children and adolescents with holistic education solutions. ECW and partners are calling for US$18.9 million in additional resources to fully fund the program.
Pakistan: Approximately 22.8 million children are out of school in Pakistan. ECW’s new US$13.2 million catalytic grant will reach 155,000 children and adolescents. With US$46.8 million in additional resources, the program will ensure improved access to quality education for the most vulnerable out-of-school girls and boys, including many Afghan refugees and other children affected by the crisis.
Sudan: ECW’s US$17.7 million catalytic grant in Sudan will support access to quality life-sustaining education programs for at least 100,000 displaced, conflict-affected, and vulnerable children and adolescents. The program seeks to mobilize an additional US$60 million.
Yemen: In addition to the above Multi-Year Resilience Programmes, ECW also announced new funding for a First Emergency Response Grant in Yemen. The US$1.7 grant will support the rehabilitation of learning centers and water and sanitation facilities, provide psycho-social support to children and increase access to educational materials.
Original Source: Education Cannot Wait