Education Cannot Wait’s Mission in Ethiopia Calls for Solution to Address the Education Needs of Children

Yasmine Sherif, Nicolai Wammen, and other strategic partners meet with crisis-affected boys and girls.© ECW

Education Cannot Wait’s Mission in Ethiopia Calls for Solution to Address the Education Needs of Children

At the conclusion of a joint high-level mission in Ethiopia, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Global Champion and Danish Minister of Finance Nicolai Wammen, together with ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif, called for bold donor action to step up new and innovative financing solutions to deliver quality education for millions of children caught in crises in Ethiopia and beyond.

An estimated nine million children are out of school across Ethiopia today due to ongoing violence, climate-induced disasters, and widespread forced displacement—a staggering threefold increase from 2022. Close to 18 percent of schools in the country have been destroyed or damaged. Ethiopia also hosts the third largest refugee population in Africa, with over 200,000 new arrivals from Sudan and Somalia in 20232024 alone, further increasing pressure on existing resources.

ECW’s high-level delegation traveled to the Tigray region, which is recovering from a three-year conflict that brought education to a complete halt. The delegation visited schools benefiting from funding by ECW and strategic partners, and met children, parents, and teachers. The delegation saw first-hand the impact of ECW-supported programs implemented by UN and international and local civil society partners— including UNICEF, Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children and Imagine1Day—in close collaboration with the government. In one school alone, enrollment increased by an impressive 20 percent last year thanks to a comprehensive package of interventions funded by ECW.

“The education crisis in Ethiopia is one of the largest silent crises in the world today. Yet, we are seeing impressive impact of ECW’s investments. Girls and boys who are back in school after enduring years of conflict told us they want to move beyond their experience of conflict, learn and achieve their dreams of becoming teachers, nurses, pilots and lawyers. The passion for learning among both girls and boys was very evident. We now need to support them and urgently appeal to strategic donor partners for additional financing. With more resources, together with our UN and civil society partners, and in close collaboration with the government, we can reach more children, considering that nine million remain out of school still. Investing in the very real potential of Ethiopia’s young generation is not an option, it is an absolute necessity,” said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations.

During the mission, Sherif announced a new $5 million First Emergency Response (FER) grant, bringing ECW’s total investments in Ethiopia to over $93 million since 2017. The new FER grant, implemented by UNICEF ($4 million) and the local organization Imagine1Day ($1 million) together with their consortium partners, aims to address urgent needs in the Oromia and Afar regions, where renewed conflict, intercommunal violence, drought and displacement have further disrupted education services in recent months. These emergency interventions will build on the $24 million Multi-Year Resilience Programme announced last month by ECW, targeting needs in the Amhara, Somali and Tigray regions.

“It is heartwarming to witness the lifetransforming power of quality education in the most complex crisis situations. I met strong and resilient girls and boys who are returning to learning, healing and thriving thanks to ECW’s support. However, conflicts, climate change and other crises continue to push millions of children out of school every year—in Ethiopia and beyond. Business as usual will not meet this challenge. I encourage private sector partners to join ECW’s efforts and invest in new and innovative financing strategies to fill the widening gap,” said Nicolai Wammen, Minister of Finance, Denmark, and ECW Global Champion.

To date, ECW’s combined multi-year and emergency investments in Ethiopia have reached more than 550,000 children and adolescents, providing a comprehensive range of supports—school rehabilitation, teacher training, mental health and psychosocial support, inclusive education, school feeding, gender transformative initiatives, early childhood education and more. ECW’s support focuses on the most vulnerable, including girls, children from refugee, displaced and host communities, and children with disabilities.

“UNICEF Ethiopia and partners are very grateful for the continued and dedicated support of ECW. Children belong in the classroom and thanks to ECW, children are learning and playing in a safe environment across the country,” said Dr. Aboubacar Kampo, UNICEF Representative in Ethiopia.

“Imagine1Day is deeply grateful for this ECW First Emergency Response grant. With this generous support, we will provide over 13,000 out-of-school children in the Afar region—60 percent of whom are girls and 13 percent are children with disabilities—with access to safe learning environments. This project will not only enhance their well-being but also empower them to reach their full potential. Given that education in emergencies in Ethiopia has been severely underfunded, this grant is crucial in ensuring that crisis-affected children receive the education and support they need to build a brighter future,” said Dr. Seid Aman, Country Director of Imagine1Day.

ECW’s investments are aligned with the Ethiopia Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) and the Ethiopia Education Sector Development Programme VI. ECW urgently calls for additional resources to fill the $64 million funding gap for the acute education needs of the 2024 HRP.