The new Global Estimates Report released today by Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, shows that the number of school-aged children in crises around the world who need immediate assistance to receive high-quality education is increasing quickly.

This rapidly increasing number of children's present and future are at risk due to compounding conflicts, as well as more frequent and severe catastrophic weather and climatic occurrences. The report identifies the most impacted groups as being refugees, internally displaced children, girls, and children with disabilities.

The new research emphasizes that, despite growing needs, funding for humanitarian education aid has now stagnated following years of notable expansion. Education's percentage of overall Official Development Assistance (ODA) has also decreased recently.

In order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for education in low- and lower-middle-income nations, the United Nations estimates that there is an annual finance need of US$100 billion.

The study highlights the long-term risks to children's health, education, and well-being posed by exposure to armed conflict, forced relocation, climate-related dangers, diseases, and socioeconomic difficulties. It also emphasizes the fact that crises are becoming more severe, pervasive, and linked. The number of international wars has risen in the last five years, and in 2024, 50 nations will be facing intense, high, or chaotic conflict levels.

Worldwide Education Crisis

The report identifies 234 million children and adolescents affected by crises, of whom 85 million (37%) are not attending school at all.

Of these 85 million:

Girls make up 52%.

15 million people, or 17% of the population, are internally displaced or refugees.

Children with impairments make up more than 20%.

Almost half of these out-of-school children are from five long-running crises: Sudan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Pakistan.

Almost one-third of elementary school-aged children affected by crises are not attending school (52% of them are girls). The situation regarding secondary education access is as dire: 47% of children of upper-secondary school age and 36% of youngsters of lower-secondary school age cannot access schooling.

Many youngsters impacted by crises are lagging behind even in school. By the conclusion of primary school, just 17% of students in crisis situations reach the necessary level of reading competency. Interestingly, 52% of elementary school students are girls, who routinely perform better than their male counterparts.

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to over half of the world's school-age children affected by the problem. According to the research, the subregion is confronted with the most intricate obstacles in ensuring that every child has the opportunity to receive an education.

The report also emphasizes how extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change, which is causing even more children to miss school. In 2024, severe droughts afflicted sections of the Americas and Northwestern and Southern Africa, while major flooding decimated much of the Sahel, East Africa, and Central Asia. These crises' combined consequences have led to record levels of displacement worldwide and worsened food insecurity.

ECW and its strategic international partners are requesting an additional US$600 million in funding to meet the objectives of the Fund's four-year strategic plan in order to tackle these interrelated issues.

By 2026, ECW and its partners want to have expanded funding from public donors, the commercial sector, and high-net-worth people to provide 20 million children affected by crises with the safety, opportunity, and hope of a high-quality education.