“We must shift from reacting after crises to preparing before they strike”

To protect the right to education of millions of children and youth in fragile and crisis-affected countries, it is time to prioritise acting ahead of crises to prevent their worst outcomes. This message was loud and clear as State representatives, donors, aid practitioners and others gathered in Geneva on 12 June 2025 for the launch of the EiE Hub’s third-ever Flagship Report, Acting Ahead to Protect Education Investments – Why the need for proactive approaches to crises is more urgent than ever.

The report sets out the case for why so-called anticipatory approaches – that is, acting before hazards occur to mitigate their impacts – are so crucial to safeguarding education in emergencies. There is a growing body of evidence that acting before crises hit saves lives, reduces costs and maximises scarce resources. This is all the more important right now in the light of the recent drastic funding cuts.

“Our response remains too reactive. This report is a timely and urgent call that we must shift from reacting after crises to preparing before they strike,” said Ambassador Dominik Stillhart, Deputy Director General and Head of Humanitarian Aid and SHA Division, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Ambassador Stillhart also reflected on the lasting impression a visit to refugee camps hosting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh had made on him, in particular the sense of hope learning centres provided to children.

Husna Sharifi, a Scientific Collaborator at the University of Geneva, spoke about her own experiences in disaster risk reduction from her native Afghanistan. She described how she, while working with UNICEF, had set up a network of local community monitors to prepare schools that normally had to close due to flooding. “A key lesson is to always use the resources already available, instead of waiting for outside help,” she said.

Jessica Alexander, a long-time humanitarian practitioner and the report’s author, then laid out the report’s main findings as well as seven key asks for governments, donors,aid actors and other stakeholders to scale up anticipatory approaches for education and more broadly. She stressed the potential of using schools to reach and meaningfully engage children and youth, including those with disabilities, as active participants in anticipatory efforts.

Xavier Castellanos, Under Secretary General for National Society Development and Operations Coordination at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), shared how National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies across the globe are increasingly expanding anticipatory approaches that support safe, equitable and continued access to education in the face of any predictable crisis such as droughts, heat and cold waves, air pollution and epidemics. “We ask ourselves, how can we anticipate the impacts that disasters and crisis will have on schools, children, teachers and communities? How can we make schools more resilient and people better prepared – how can we guarantee the conditions for children to continue learning – even as shocks keeps affecting them, their families and communities?” he said.

Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), noted that anticipatory approaches in education are not new as such, although awareness of their benefits has significantly increased in recent years. She discussed ECW’s recent, promising pilot programs on anticipatory action in Somalia and Pakistan, and issued a call to action to the wider sector: “We need strong, powerful advocacy to shift political mindsets on the importance of funding for education.”

Judith Herbertson, Head of Girls’ Education at the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), emphasised the interplay between climate change and education. “Aside from the immediate humanitarian effects of a climate event, the knock-on impacts on educational disruption are staggering. As an example of innovative approaches to counter this, she cited the FCDO’s support to the International Rescue Committee’s CREST project in Kenya, which has harnessed AI-enabled predictive technology and innovative climate finance to ensure children and communities are protected from the effects of climate-related school closures.

Last but not least, Dr. Andrew Cunningham, Global Lead of Education at the Aga Khan Foundation -a member of the International Education Funders Group (IEFG)-, emphasised the crucial role that philanthropy can play in the Education in Emergencies sector. “Education needs more agile, risk tolerant and flexible funding. This is crucial to ensuring contextually relevant approaches.”

Petra Heusser, Executive Director of the EiE Hub, closed the event by stressing the need to take the report’s recommendations forward not just amid ongoing discussions around the future of the humanitarian sector, but also with key climate talks at COP30 looming.

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