Geneva, 6 October 2026
Members of the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies (EiE Hub) are calling on governments and all other stakeholders to ensure that the two global education funds, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), receive the funding they require to meet the escalating needs of children and youth in crises through their complementary mandates.
The global education crisis has intensified in recent years. There are today more than 258 million school-aged children affected by crises across 87 countries, an increase of 21 million in less than two years. Out of these children, some 93 million – an alarming 36% – were out of school and lacked access to any form of education. Among refugee children, this percentage is even higher (46%).
At the same time, the global funding cuts to foreign aid from 2025 have taken a harsh toll on Education in Emergencies. Last year, less than one-third of the total global humanitarian funding requirement was met for education. Development funding for education in crisis contexts saw a similarly alarming drop, and could fall by as much as 30% by 2027 from 2024 levels. In an era of “hyper-prioritisation” and shrinking humanitarian interventions, there is now also a real risk that education will be pushed further down the agenda.
The reduction in funding has already had a profound effect on learners, teachers and communities in crisis settings. Schools have been forced to shut down, children and young people have seen their education disrupted, and teachers have lost their jobs.
Education remains one of the most cost-effective and efficient investments in the futures of not just children and young people, but communities and societies as a whole. In crisis situations, education also means much more than just schooling. It is a life-saving and life-sustaining intervention that provides access to protection and other services, including food, water, healthcare and mental health and psychosocial support. Crucially, education is prioritised by children, young people and their families themselves in emergencies.
In this context, ensuring that the two global education funds are fully resourced is more important than ever. Both funds are mobilising resources for 2026 and beyond, with GPE already mobilising USD2.1 billion from sovereign donors at a recent high-level replenishment moment, and ECW seeking USD600 million ahead of its High-Level Replenishment Conference in Geneva on 5 November.
The complementary mandates of ECW and GPE are crucial to helping millions of children and youth in crisis to access safe, quality and inclusive education. More resources are needed to better support countries to meet the most urgent education needs while building resilient and equitable education systems for the future.
Hope for crisis-affected children and youth starts with education – and education starts with funding and political commitment. Every pledge is a signal that the world will not give up on a generation of children and youth whose futures depend on it.
With global education budgets shrinking, it is also vital to explore ways to broaden and diversify education financing. This could include expanding the financing toolkit to leverage a wider range of public, philanthropic and private sources, as well as utilising innovative and creative financing mechanisms, such as the guarantee model of the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd).
We are calling on governments, philanthropic actors and other funders to:
- Fully fund and support ECW and GPE to reach the ambitions set out in their strategic plans, recognising that their complementary mandates are more critical than ever to resourcing education efforts in crisis situations and in the longer term.
- Sustain and increase funding for Education in Emergencies, ensuring that it does not become further marginalised in future humanitarian funding.
- Work with education actors to identify new and emerging sources of funding to offset the cuts to external aid.
Education Cannot Wait will host a High-Level Replenishment Conference in Geneva on 5 November 2026 in support of its campaign, “Hope Starts Here”. For more information on the campaign and to register for the event, click here.
The Global Partnership for Education’s replenishment campaign, “Multiply Possibility”, was marked with several high-level events on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2026. For more information on the campaign, click here.