Education Cannot Wait reports 10.4 million children reached as crisis education funding declines | Report

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in crises, released its Defending Hope, Delivering Education: 2025 Annual Results Report on 21 September 2026 in New York, documenting outcomes achieved across 33 countries between 2023 and 2025, according to a press release. The report shows that 10.4 million children and adolescents were reached during the reporting period, 51% of whom were girls, raising the total number of learners supported since the Fund’s inception to 16 million. The findings arrive as humanitarian education funding has fallen for a second consecutive year, covering less than one-third of assessed global needs.

ECW’s 2026 Global Estimates study, Breaking Barriers, puts the number of school-aged children whose education is affected by crises at 258 million, which is 21 million more than 18 months earlier. Of these, 182 million live in the 20 highest-severity settings. Attacks on education reached record levels across 2024 and 2025. The scale and severity of educational need have continued to grow throughout the reporting period.

Across reporting programmes, education participation increased in 97% of multi-year programmes with evidence, while 96% reported improvements in literacy and/or numeracy. More than 80% of programmes reporting on continuity outcomes exceeded established benchmarks, and 83% of multi-year programmes providing evidence reported improvements in social and emotional learning and well-being. Between 2023 and 2025, 217,000 teachers and education personnel were trained, including 99,000 in mental health and psychosocial support, and 22,000 classrooms were rehabilitated or built. Emergency response times were cut by more than one-third in 2025, the fastest since ECW’s inception.

“Amid the pressures confronting the world, we must not lose sight of a simple truth: education remains one of the most powerful investments we can make in our collective future. It protects children, sustains hope and lays the foundations for recovery, resilience and stability before, during and after crises,” said Maysa Jalbout, Director of Education Cannot Wait.

In 2025, ECW channeled 31% of emergency response and multi-year programme funding to local and national actors, surpassing the Fund’s target at the time.

Through its Hope Starts Here campaign, ECW is seeking US$600 million for its 2027–2030 Strategic Plan to reach 10 million more crisis-affected children. Governments, philanthropy and the private sector can turn commitments into pledges at the High-Level Replenishment Conference, hosted by Switzerland in Geneva on 5 November 2026. The Fund’s investments combine rapid emergency grants with multi-year predictable funding, bridging humanitarian relief and long-term development.