28 March 2019
Fund for Education in Conflict Zones Receives USD 2.8 Million for PPP
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
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Education Cannot Wait, the global fund that enables children in conflict zones to receive an education, has received a private sector donation of USD 2.8 million from the Dutch Postcode Lottery.

The Dutch contribution came through Theirworld, an international organization that campaigns and raises funds to remove the barriers to education for children.

ECW is a multi-donor trust fund hosted at UNICEF and created at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016; its work responds to several SDG 4 targets on education for all.

5 March 2019: Education Cannot Wait (ECW), a global fund that enables children in conflict zones to receive an education, received a contribution of USD 2.8 million from the Dutch Postcode Lottery, its second-largest contribution to date. The donation will support a three-way public-private partnership (PPP) between the Lottery, ECW and Theirworld, an international organization that campaigns and raises funds to remove the barriers to education for children.

ECW is a multi-donor trust fund launched at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, hosted at the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and led by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Its work responds to several SDG 4 targets on education for all. In February 2019, ECW launched an appeal to bring education to children prevented from accessing education due to conflicts. The fund estimates that around 75 million children and youth are affected.

Announcing the donation, Theirworld Chair Sarah Brown said the money will not only support education to children caught in humanitarian crises around the world, it will also enable Theirworld to carry out further fundraising for the cause. Other large donors to ECW have been education philanthropist Dubai Cares, and the Global Business Coalition for Education.

ECW estimates that one in four of the world’s school-aged children lives in countries affected by humanitarian crises, yet education receives only 2-4% of humanitarian aid. SDG 4 enshrines governments’ commitment to ensure that, by 2030, all children will be able to complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education.

SDG 4 is one of the Goals that will be reviewed at the July 2019 session of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The others are: SDGs 8 (decent work and economic growth), 10 (reduced inequalities), 13 (climate action), 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and 17 (partnerships for the Goals). [ECW Press Release] [Theirworld Website]

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