UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell's remarks at the Education Cannot Wait: High-Level Financing Conference

NEW YORK, 16 February 2023 - "Excellencies, colleagues, it is good to be with you.

"Thank you to the co-hosts and co-conveners of this high-level financing conference – Education Cannot Wait and the governments of Colombia, Germany, Niger, Norway, South Sudan and Switzerland. Thank you also to our esteemed panelists – the youth advocates and Ministers of Education – for your thoughtful discussion and recommendations.  

"I agree that we must act urgently to protect and expand access to education for children living through emergencies. Unfortunately, much of the international community is not yet with us … there is widespread acceptance that when crises strike, children’s learning stops. 

"Last year, for example, the proportion of humanitarian funding allocated to education remained below 3 per cent – with many donors preferring to fund lifesaving interventions like health care and clean water.

"But the truth is that education is both lifesaving AND lifechanging. When children in crisis-affected countries have access to education, they are provided with a range of services that support their wellbeing … like psychosocial support and social interaction … essential public safety information like mine risk awareness … and in many cases, a nutritious meal and clean water. And of course, education provides children – whether living in emergency contexts or not – with the foundational learning tools to survive and thrive as adults.   

"Education also helps to mitigate and address the impacts of the climate crisis.

"Each year, events linked to climate change disrupt learning for more than 40 million children. Yet less than one per cent of all climate financing is spent on education – despite the transformative role it can play in helping children and communities to adapt and build resilience.

"UNICEF is deeply committed to ensuring children’s access to education no matter how challenging the circumstances. Our organization implements the largest education in emergency programme globally, allocating around 50 per cent of the annual education expenditure to humanitarian contexts. UNICEF works across the humanitarian-development nexus – which helps us to ensure that education solutions are sustainable and that systems are strengthened over the long term.

"In 2023, we have appealed for nearly $2 billion in funds so that we can reach around 26 million children living in emergencies with education support.

"This includes working with governments and communities to make education systems more resilient to climate-related disruptions.  And we are aiming to reach at least 10 million children and youth each year with green skills-training.  

"UNICEF is also using innovative solutions to provide access to learning across a range of humanitarian contexts. The Learning Passport platform, for example, can be rapidly deployed and adapted in times of crisis so that children can learn anywhere at any time. The platform is now live in 28 countries and is reaching 3 million students.

"Excellencies, I know we agree on the vital importance of supporting children’s education in emergencies. Now, we must do a better job of convincing others.

"This starts with working more closely with governments to turn commitments made at the Transforming Education Summit into concrete funding and policy action. 

"We must also generate additional funds to support the ECW Strategic Plan without diverting humanitarian funds from other critical response sectors.  We need flexible multiyear funding so that we can better respond to new and emerging crises – such as we are seeing now after the devastating earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria. And we need donor support to unlock the funds necessary to build climate-smart education systems.

"We can do this by demonstrating the impact of our work and our capacity to scale our programmes up quickly, by showing donors that we will maximize every dollar to deliver the greatest impact for children, and by aligning our efforts to eliminate inefficiencies. In other words, we are ready, now, to expand our reach. We just need the resources.

"I am encouraged to hear about the financial commitments being made today to support education in emergencies.  You can continue to count on UNICEF as a steadfast partner in our collective effort to ensure that every child can learn and reach their full potential, no matter where they are. 

"Thank you."

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