Delivered by a broad consortium of local and international partners, the aligned funding builds on ECW's successful investments to ensure crisis-impacted children have access to safe, quality learning opportunities.
NEW YORK, Aug. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- With US$3.05 million in new funding from the Government of Japan, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is scaling-up its lifesaving education investments in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Nigeria.
With the new resources, ECW and its strategic partners will expand their innovative programmes to reach more crisis-impacted girls and boys with the safety, hope and opportunity of a quality education, and deliver on the promise of education for all outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Japanese government provides humanitarian aid grants through its supplementary budget to international organizations on a rolling annual basis. In 2023, ECW submitted a successful US$3 million grant proposal through the Permanent Mission to Japan in New York for an investment in Ukraine. The new tranche of funding for Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Nigeria was approved in 2024 by the Government of Japan. To build on this successful partnership, ECW plans to submit a new proposal each year to strengthen its partnership with Japan and raise more visibility for Japanese contributions toward life-saving education in emergencies and protracted crises initiatives.
"The Government of Japan welcomes the opportunity to partner with Education Cannot Wait to strengthen education support in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso. We value ECW's continued leadership in delivering timely, effective and inclusive education in emergency settings. Particular attention must be paid to the most vulnerable learners, including children with disabilities, who face multiple barriers to accessing quality education in crisis contexts. Ensuring continued access to education for children affected by conflict and climate-induced crises is critical from a human security perspective. Japan remains firmly committed to working with international partners to advance the SDGs and to ensure that no one is left behind," according to the Government of Japan.
Japan's earmarked funding builds on the impact of the US$1.6 billion ECW and its strategic partners have mobilized to date through both the public and private sector.
"The Japan NGO Network for Education (JNNE) welcomes the Government of Japan's contribution of US$3.05 million to the Education Cannot Wait fund. This fund will provide quality learning opportunities for children and adolescents affected by war and climate change in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Nigeria. The contribution is particularly significant given that Japan will host the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in August. Japanese civil society organizations recognize the comparative advantages of ECW as the sole UN fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, which enables a coordinated approach to swiftly reaching vulnerable children and adolescents in need of educational support," according to a statement from JNEE.
Armed conflicts, forced displacement and the climate crisis are pushing millions of girls and boys out of school across many parts of Africa – exacerbating cycles of war, poverty, conflict and economic uncertainty.
In Burkina Faso, 20% of education facilities have been affected by the evolving security crisis, impacting the learning of over 800,000 students. In Ethiopia, 10.5 million children are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. In the Oromia Region of Ethiopia alone, 3.2 million children are currently out of school as the result of various hazards, including armed conflict, intercommunal violence, climate-related hazards, disease outbreaks, food insecurity and economic uncertainty. In Northwest Nigeria – a region long-impacted by armed violence, kidnappings and other challenges – as many as 860,000 children are out of school.
The Japanese funding in Burkina Faso will be delivered by UNICEF in collaboration with FDC, TinTua, Educo and Plan International. In all, the expanded ECW investment will reach close to 100,000 children with a focus on out-of-school children, primary education, and non-formal education for internally displaced children and adolescents.
In Ethiopia, UNICEF, along with local organizations Imagine1Day and the Gurmuu Development Association, will deliver the ECW investment, reaching a total of 72,000 girls and boys with safe, protective and climate-resilient learning spaces.
In Nigeria, Save the Children, along with local partner NNGO Goal Prime Organization Nigeria, will deliver the investment, expanding the reach of the programme to over 137,000 children in all.
Note to Editors
About Education Cannot Wait (ECW):
Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations. We support quality education outcomes for refugee, internally displaced and other crisis-affected girls and boys, so no one is left behind. ECW works through the multilateral system to both increase the speed of responses in crises and connect immediate relief and longer-term interventions through multi-year programming. ECW works in close partnership with governments, public and private donors, UN agencies, civil society organizations, and other humanitarian and development aid actors to increase efficiencies and end siloed responses. ECW urgently appeals to public and private sector donors for expanded support to reach even more vulnerable children and youth.
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Additional information available at: www.educationcannotwait.org
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Education Cannot Wait Scales-Up Lifesaving Education Programmes in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Nigeria with US$3.05 Million in Dedicated Funding from Japan
