UN fund bringing school to children in crises raises $541 million in Geneva
Governments pledged US$405.8 million in Geneva on 5 November to Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in crises. With earlier commitments, its campaign now stands at $541.6 million, 90% of the $600 million it needs to reach 10 million more children in 2027–2030. Since 2016 the fund and its partners have reached more than 16 million children. The need keeps growing: an estimated 258 million school-age children have their education disrupted by crises.
On a giant screen in Geneva, one number: 541,600,000 dollars. That is what Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies, has raised to keep bringing lessons to children living through war, forced displacement and climate disasters.
$405.8 million in a single day
At the conference hosted by Switzerland on 5 November, governments and partners announced $405.8 million in new pledges, according to ECW. Added to $135.8 million already secured through earlier multi-year commitments, its Hope Starts Here campaign reaches $541.6 million, 90% of its $600 million target. The fund singled out Germany, the UK, Norway, Canada, Switzerland, Ireland, the EU and Japan among the donors. Switzerland, the host, pledged CHF 35 million for 2027–2030.
The money will back the fund’s 2027–2030 strategic plan, which aims to reach 10 million children, half of them girls and one million with disabilities.
What it has already done
Since it was set up in 2016, ECW says it has reached more than 16 million children in crisis-hit countries with its partners. Between 2023 and 2025 alone it reached 10.4 million in 33 countries, 51% of them girls, according to its annual results report. Over that period 217,000 teachers and education staff were trained, 99,000 of them in mental health and psychosocial support, and 22,000 classrooms were rebuilt or built. School participation rose in 97% of multi-year programmes with evidence, and 96% reported gains in literacy or numeracy.
$58 million to go, and the need is growing
The campaign is not over: about $58 million is still needed to hit the target. And the challenge is huge. ECW estimates that 258 million school-age children have their education affected by crises, 21 million more than 18 months earlier, while humanitarian funding for education fell for a second year running. “Today’s commitments are a powerful demonstration of international solidarity and a renewal of the promise we made ten years ago: that children caught in crises will not be left behind. That promise must now be translated into action,” said Sigrid Kaag, Chair of ECW’s High-Level Steering Group.
