$ 6.5 million for children and young people affected by the crisis
April 13, 2022, Chisinau – Education Cannot Wait (ECW), together with strategic partners USAID, FCDO / UK and Theirworld, today announced a new initial allocation of $ 1.5 million to support education in responding to emergency situations in the refugee crisis in Ukraine in Moldova, in addition to the $ 5 million grant announced in March. This new allocation brings the total response of crisis education in Ukraine to ECW to $ 6.5 million. The new grant will be implemented in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Moldova, so that refugee children and young people can have access to learning opportunities.
Children from the host communities will also benefit from the investments. The development of the grant will be facilitated by the stability coordination mechanism for the educational response.
During the high-level deadline, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced an additional $ 18 million contribution to the global financial fund to support further educational responses in crisis-affected countries. This contribution makes the United States the third largest donor to the United Nations Global Fund for Emergency and Prolonged Crisis Education – after Germany and the United Kingdom.
With an estimated $ 30 million funding shortfall for the emergency education response in Ukraine, ECW is urging donors and strategic partners to provide additional funding urgently to address the region’s vast humanitarian crisis.
According to recent reports, about 400,000 people have entered Moldova, fleeing the conflict in Ukraine. While most have continued their journey to other countries, Moldova now hosts about 100,000 refugees. Among them are about 50,000 refugee children, of whom only 1,800 currently go to school.
“Refugee children from Ukraine fled a brutal war and were dispossessed and traumatized in Moldova. They are very vulnerable and need immediate support. Although public schools are open to refugee children, they are overburdened, requiring urgent mental and psychosocial health services, health and teachers to respond to the flow of refugee children of preschool and school age. With a coordinated and common response in the Republic of Moldova, we can act quickly and, therefore, we are acting now, “said Yasmine Sherif, Education Cannot Wait Department.
“As the main donor to the Education Cannot Wait, the UK is committed to protecting the right of all children to education, including those affected by the crisis. We are ready to support a coordinated educational response for refugee children in Ukraine. Education must be a priority as an integral part of the humanitarian response in Ukraine, ”said Alicia Herbert, Director of Education, Gender and Equality and Gender Representative, FCDO.
“For children whose lives have been shattered, education provides stability and hope for the future. Theirworld will announce additional funding to support refugee education projects in the coming weeks, leveraging experiences from other emergencies and advocating for donors to invest 10% of resources in the humanitarian response in education, “said Justin van Fleet, President . Their world.
“Education is a key element in ensuring a decent life for refugees, and it is one of the first services required. We greatly appreciate the support of the authorities, teachers and communities in the Republic of Moldova who have received refugee students. “, said Francesca Bonelli, UNHCR Representative in Moldova.
“The closure of schools due to COVID-19 has taught us the ways to lose learning are far beyond the days lost at school,” said UNICEF Country Representative in Moldova Maha Damaj. “In Moldova, UNICEF, together with its partners, is working to help children take care of themselves in Ukraine to regain their education in a safe and encouraging environment, supporting their resistance to the traumas of war.”
The war puts children and adolescents living in Ukraine in great danger. According to recent estimates, nearly 5 million people have fled Ukraine and another 7.1 million have been displaced. For all school-age children in Ukraine, education has been disrupted by conflict and, according to the latest estimates, more than 900 educational institutions have been destroyed or damaged during the fighting. Nearly 3.3 million school-age children need emergency humanitarian aid.
The new ECW allocation will support the regulatory framework of the Government of Moldova which allows the inclusion of refugee children in the national education system. As part of the overall response to the crisis, the allocation complements the first $ 5 million emergency response in Ukraine of the Education Cannot Wait, which works with governments, donors, UN providers, civil society organizations and other strategic partners to ensure the continuity of education of affected children. crisis.