Urgent Action Needed For Ethiopia’s School Children
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Urgent action is needed to support Ethiopia’s school children, with millions out of school due to conflict, displacement, and climate disasters.
At the end of a joint high-level mission in Ethiopia, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Global Champion and Danish Minister of Finance, Nicolai Wammen, along with ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif, urged donors to take bold action and invest in new, innovative financing solutions to provide quality education for millions of children affected by crises in Ethiopia and beyond.
Ethiopia is currently facing an alarming educational crisis, with an estimated 9 million children out of school due to ongoing violence, climate-induced disasters, and widespread forced displacement. This number represents a dramatic threefold increase from 2022. In addition, nearly 18% of the country’s schools have been destroyed or damaged, further exacerbating the educational challenges. Ethiopia also hosts the third-largest refugee population in Africa, with over 200,000 new arrivals from Sudan and Somalia in 2023-2024 alone. These factors have placed immense pressure on the country’s already strained resources.
As part of the mission, the ECW delegation traveled to the Tigray region, which is recovering from a devastating three-year conflict that led to the suspension of education in the area. During their visit, the delegation toured schools that are benefiting from ECW funding and strategic partnerships, meeting with children, parents, and teachers. They observed the positive impact of ECW-supported programs implemented by the UN, international organizations, and local civil society partners, such as UNICEF, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children, and Imagine1Day. These programs have been executed in close collaboration with the Ethiopian government.
In one school, the delegation saw firsthand the remarkable outcomes of ECW’s efforts, with enrollment increasing by an impressive 20% in the previous year, thanks to a comprehensive set of interventions funded by ECW. This success story is one example of how targeted investments are helping to rebuild education systems and improve access to learning opportunities for children in crisis-affected areas.
During the mission, Sherif also announced a new US$5 million First Emergency Response (FER) grant, bringing ECW’s total investments in Ethiopia to over US$93 million since 2017. The new FER grant will be implemented by UNICEF (US$4 million) and the local organization Imagine1Day (US$1 million) along with their consortium partners. This grant aims to address urgent educational needs in the Oromia and Afar regions, which have been severely impacted by renewed conflict, intercommunal violence, drought, and displacement in recent months.
These emergency interventions will complement ECW’s previous investments, including the US$24 million Multi-Year Resilience Programme announced last month. This program is focused on addressing the educational needs of children in the Amhara, Somali, and Tigray regions, which have also been heavily affected by conflict and humanitarian crises.
To date, ECW’s combined multi-year and emergency investments in Ethiopia have supported more than 550,000 children and adolescents. These investments have provided a wide range of services, including school rehabilitation, teacher training, mental health and psychosocial support, inclusive education, school feeding programs, gender-transformative initiatives, and early childhood education. These efforts are particularly focused on the most vulnerable children, including girls, children from refugee and displaced communities, and children with disabilities.
ECW’s approach aligns with Ethiopia’s Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) and the Education Sector Development Programme VI, ensuring that its interventions are integrated into national strategies and frameworks for education and development. Despite these significant efforts, there remains a critical funding gap. ECW has called for additional resources to fill a US$64 million shortfall in funding for the acute education needs outlined in the 2024 HRP.
The situation in Ethiopia underscores the urgent need for global action to address the educational crisis in countries affected by conflict and displacement. As the situation continues to deteriorate, the role of organizations like ECW is vital in ensuring that children in crisis-affected regions can continue to access quality education, which is essential for their future prospects and well-being. By supporting innovative financing solutions and strengthening partnerships, donors can help bridge the gap and provide hope to millions of children whose education has been disrupted by crisis.
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