Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the United Nations global fund for education in crises, has released a new report, “Breaking Barriers: Understanding Educational Exclusion in Crises.” The report estimates that 258 million school‑aged children and adolescents now have their education affected by crises worldwide, including 93 million who are completely out of school. Education needs are highly concentrated. 182 million crisis‑affected children live in the world’s 20 most severe crisis contexts, where 74 million are out of school – nearly 80% of all out‑of‑school crisis‑affected children identified.
Breaking Barriers shows that the crisis goes well beyond access. Children in crisis‑affected contexts are falling behind on foundational skills, with early learning gaps often turning into an access crisis in adolescence. Refugees, internally displaced children, children with disabilities, and girls face the highest barriers. Displacement and conflict are associated with deeper and more persistent learning deficits, and dropout rates are significantly higher for displaced learners.
“Support for education in crises is the insurance policy families, governments, and donors need to protect their long‑term investments in education and economic opportunity… Now is the time to invest in the futures of crisis‑affected children,” said ECW Director Maysa Jalbout.
As the global fund for education in crises, ECW already invests in many of the countries featured in the report and, through ECW’s Strategic Plan 2027-2030, aims to reach a further 10 million girls and boys — a goal that requires US$600 million in new resources over the next four years.
The findings will inform ECW’s upcoming Hope Starts Here campaign, leading up to the High‑Level Financing Conference in Geneva on 5 November, and offer a powerful evidence base for global education movements like the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) to press for urgent, transformative investment in learning for children in crises.
Click HERE to read more about the report on the ECW website.
