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THE CHALLENGE

75 million school-aged children and youth are in desperate need of educational support, either in danger of, or already missing out on their education. Communities highlight the importance of education during times of crises, yet education appeals receive less than 2% of humanitarian funding. The right to education is most at risk during emergencies but it is also the exact time when it is needed the most.

Learn more about the situation

OUR RESPONSE

Education Cannot Wait is a new global fund to transform the delivery of education in emergencies - one that joins up governments, humanitarian actors and development efforts to deliver a more collaborative and rapid response to the educational needs of children and youth affected by crises. The fund aims to reach all crisis-affected children and youth with safe, free and quality education by 2030.

How the fund works

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educationcannotwait - Education Cannot Wait is a new global fund to transform the delivery of education to children and youth affected by crises. Find out more here

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75 million school-aged children and youth are in desperate need of educational support, either in danger of, or already missing out on their education. Communities highlight the importance of education during times of crises, yet education appeals receive less than 2% of humanitarian funding.

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The Global Partnership for Education supports close to 70 developing countries to ensure that every child receives a quality basic education, prioritizing the poorest, most vulnerable and those living in countries affected by fragility and conflict.

GPE partners have achieved remarkable results and helped millions more children enroll in school for a quality education.

Our impact

Silenat Alem is among the Ethiopian teachers who recently became school principals, thanks to a GPE program that is helping address the gender balance in school leadership positions.

When Chalachew was born, he couldn't have imagined the hardships that awaited him, nor could he have envisioned his power to defy odds and prove how far his desire to learn could take him.

When Ethiopia joined GPE in 2004, less than 50% of the country's children were enrolled in primary school, and those in school were not getting a quality education. GPE has been working closely with...

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The Global Partnership for Education supports close to 70 developing countries to ensure that every child receives a quality basic education, prioritizing the poorest, most vulnerable and those living in countries affected by fragility and conflict. GPE partners have achieved remarkable results and helped millions more children enroll in school for a quality education.

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Global Education fund

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Efforts by local educators and community leaders show real promise for creating lasting change; however, they often lack the resources they need to refine, sustain, and grow their solutions. This is where Global Education Fund comes in. We offer small, multi-year grants and technical support, including capacity building, mentoring and networking.

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Education - Unicef

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Education can change a child's life

Every child has the right to an education-whatever their ability, location, gender or ethnicity. We are working to make sure all children get the right to a quality education.

At the moment, this right is not afforded to every child. 70% of 10-year-olds in low and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a simple story. Children who haven't had the opportunity to learn are more likely to remain trapped in cycles of poverty. They're at greater risk of other rights violations, such as forced labour, early marriage or forced recruitment into armed groups.

Fundamentally, the right to learn is the right for children to explore, understand and discover things about the world and themselves. When that right is denied them, they are denied access to their own potential.

But we can change this and we are changing it. Every year UNICEF and our partners help millions of children get an education.

We work with governments, communities and parents to enable every child access to a quality education.

We set up child-friendly spaces where children can keep learning, even during a conflict or natural disaster.

We provide them with textbooks and classroom kits.

Inclusion

In striving to make this right a reality, we are ready to innovate. Take our Accessible Digital Textbooks for All, for example. With our partners, we developed digital learning materials to meet the needs of every child. That means availability, affordability and accessibility.

These textbooks are adjustable to the individual accessibility needs of the child. For students who are blind or have low vision, there are voiceovers. For those who are deaf or hard of hearing, there is sign language. Finally, there is a plethora of activities for those who have intellectual, developmental or learning disabilities, so that the textbooks truly are for every child.

Truly, radically inclusive learning can have a huge impact on a child. Take Ari, for example. Ari was diagnosed with Auditory Neuropathy as a baby, a disorder that prevents sound travelling from the ear to the brain.

Accessible Digital Textbooks ensure that Ari's disability doesn't hamper his learning. Instead, he is free to learn and express himself in the way that suits him.

Donate now to help us ensure every child has that freedom.

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Every year we help millions of children get an education by breaking down barriers. Find out more about our charity education work.

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Send my friend to school

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Send My Friend to School brings together thousands of children across the UK to speak up for the right to education. Order free resources now.

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Global partnership for education

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Video: About the Global Partnership for Education

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We are determined to achieve a world in which every person experiences the power of a great education.

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Education is a vital human right

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Education is a vital human right and plays a key role in human, social, and economic development.

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Education is a human right

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Getting every child to school

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Getting every child to school | Support UNICEF

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Imagine you couldn't read anything on this page. Imagine walking down the street, not being able to read signs or being able to add up your wages. Where would you be today? Right now millions of children are missing out on their right to an education.

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By improving access to schools, and providing additional resources like teacher training and supplies, WE Charity's Education pillar brings long-term, sustainable education opportunities to communities who need it most.

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By improving access to schools, and providing additional resources like teacher training and supplies, WE Charity's Education pillar brings long-term, sustainable education opportunities to communities who need it most.

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At this primary school in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, there are 174 learners in one class. Many children don’t turn up to school because the learning conditions are so poor.

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Want to help change the world? The 10 out of 10 series on A World at School will help you understand the issues and obstacles around getting 58 million children into school and learning.

Every day across the globe, millions of children don't go to school. It's not because they're sick or their school is closed for a teacher training day.

And it's not because they don't want to be at school. They do - the 58 million children who are missing out on a primary education right now are desperate to be sitting in a classrom every day and learning.

So why aren't they? Read on and find out...

Because they are girls

Picture: UNICEF/Delfosse

Girls gather in a yard at a primary school in Mogadishu, Somalia - a country where only 36% of girls go to school. The Go To School Initiative was launched last year across Somalia to change that. Girls make up over half of children out of primary education across the world and only 30% of all girls are enrolled in secondary school. In many countries, due to poverty, security or cultural factors, male children will be educated while their female siblings will not. According to UNESCO it will take until 2089 for the poorest girls to finish primary school if we continue at the current rate.

Because they live in war zones

Displaced children in the town of Mingkaman, South Sudan. Hundreds of thousands of children have been displaced in the country since violence erupted late last year. The long-term effects of growing up in a conflict zone are devastating and UNICEF estimates that 48.5 million children worldwide are missing school because of wars and conflicts. Nearly half of the Syrian school population are not attending classes and approximately 290 schools have been destroyed or damaged in recent fighting in Ukraine.

Because they have disabilities

Picture: Leonard Cheshire Disability

A child with disabilities is taught at a primary school in Bangladesh. Around 150 million children in the world live with a disability - 80% of them are in developing countries and nine out of 10 of these children do not attend school. The barriers range from the practical issues of transportation - many children have to walk to school - to the education policy of countries not supporting children with disabilities.

Because their countries are poor

Picture: Tommy Trenchard/IRIN

Girls working hard at a free, charity-run school in Adonkia, Sierra Leone. Some of the poorest countries in the world struggle to finance an education system for all their children. But evidence shows that if we invest more in education, poverty is reduced at a faster rate, there are long-term health benefits and greater gender equality.

Because of child marriage

Picture: Global Business Coalition for Education

These girls are from Nigeria, where 10.5 million children are out of school. More than 60% of them are girls in the north of the country and child marriage is a major cause of them dropping out. Boys can be affected but most victims of child marriage are girls. It is estimated that 15 million girls are married before they turn 18. After their wedding they leave the education system and, armed with few educational skills, they and their families are more likely to live in poverty.

Because of natural disasters

Children make their way earlier this month through the ruins of levelled homes in Tacloban City - the area worst affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines a year ago. Unforeseen events such as earthquakes, floods and disease can derail education for millions. In Liberia and Sierra Leone right now, primary and secondary schools will remain closed until at least the end of the year because of the Ebola outbreak, affecting more than 3.5 million children.

Because of too few teachers

Picture: Global Partnership for Education

In order to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goal 2 of universal primary education by the end of 2015, 5.2 million teachers need to be recruited. It is the lack of qualified teachers that leaves one in five children who attend primary school in sub-Saharan Africa unable to read or write by the time they leave.

Because they're a child labourer

Picture: OCHA/Philip Kropf

A child worker pans for gold at a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. By mid-afternoon, most children around the world are watching the clock and waiting for the home-time bell to ring. But there are more than 168 million child labourers - 11% of all children in the world - who are working instead of learning. More than half of them work in farming and almost a third in the service sector.

Because of poor sanitation

Picture: buildOn

In many parts of the world it's not as easy as raising your hand and asking to go to the toilet. Many girls - particularly adolescents who are menstruating - don't go to school because of a lack of privacy, unavailability of sanitary disposal facilities and water shortages. They are also worried about sexual advances from boys in mixed toilets. The charity Water Aid reported that just 45% of schools in the least developed and low-income countries had adequate sanitation facilities. A school sanitation programme in Bangladesh saw an 11% rise in girls' enrollment.

Because there is no school

In some parts of the world, there just aren't any schools. Many children in the developing world are taught outdoors when the weather permits. And many schools don't even have desks or sufficient equipment. In sub-Saharan Africa more than 95 million schoolchildren don't have a desk and worldwide the figure is estimated at over 400 million.

So now you know...

Thesee are just 10 of the many reasons why millions of children around the world don't go to school. You can help the cause and get 58 million children around the world into school and learning.

Add your voice to the growing worldwide call for world leaders to keep the promise made in 2000 that every boy and girl would get a primary education by the end of 2015. Sign the #UpForSchool Petition now.

And you can also read more about the #EducationCountdown campaign and the obstacles that prevent children going to school.

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10 reasons why children don't go to school

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Want to help change the world? The 10 out of 10 series on A World at School will help you understand the issues and obstacles around getting 58 million children into school and learning. Every day across the globe, millions of children don't go to school.

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Why can't all kids go to school? - Have you ever thought about how great it is to go to school? Although it can be easy to complain about the rules and the homework, it’s also important to think about school as something we&rsquo...

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We are asking for your support to transform the life of a child like four-year-old Assenat, who lives in Gaza, part of the occupied Palestinian territory.

Thousands of children like Assenat are traumatised from living through years of war and conflict. Thousands more across the world are living in poverty, unable to go to school or even be sure of regular meals and a safe place to live.

ActionAid believes all children should have an equal chance to thrive. Through our child sponsorship programme we're reaching some of these children, but we want to help many more. Your sponsorship can make a huge difference to a girl or boy in need - ensuring they have enough to eat, an education and hope for the future.

We currently offer child sponsorship in Afghanistan, Ghana, Guatemala, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, The Gambia, and Zambia.

As their only sponsor, you'll have a special relationship with your sponsored child. Sponsor a child today and see for yourself the difference your support can make.
Sponsor a child

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We are asking you to sponsor a child and change their life for good. For just 65p, your sponsorship with ActionAid UK will help a child in one of the poorest countries in the world get access to nutritious food, clean water, health care and education.