Education cannot wait

EDUCATION CANNOT WAIT Ensuring we deliver on the promise of increased funding, support and collaboration weSustainable deliver on the promise InEnsuring adopting the Development Goalsofgovernments pledged to ensure that allfunding, of the world’s girls and boys would complete free, equitable increased support and collaboration and quality education by 2030. However, without increased funding, support and collaboration to reach those affected by crises, the world will fall far short of that goal.

Persistent underfunding of education, coupled with inadequate capacity has combined to form a toxic cocktail that is denying far too many children the opportunity to learn.

But its creation is only the start, we now need to move the world to actively support the fund and its vision of a world where all children and youth affected by crises can learn free of cost, in safety and without fear.

Reaching the children who are educationally left behind because of this mix of neglect and underfunding will require a catalytic shift in global approaches and ambition.

This document has been produced to coincide with the launch of Education Cannot Wait to articulate the key criteria by which the success of Education Cannot Wait should be judged.

The creation of Education Cannot Wait: the fund for education in emergencies is central to that shift and we welcome its establishment.

It draws on ‘More and better’ which we published in 2015 and on the recommendations of a wide range of civil society organisations developed during the Fund’s design process.

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MORE AND BETTER FUNDING 1. Fund the fund Whilst Education Cannot Wait has been designed to deliver more than just funding, the most basic measure of its success will be whether it increases resources for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

At a minimum its modest budget for the first five years of its operation must be fully funded. This must be a priority of the international donor community.

2. Close the wider global funding gap A key parameter for Education Cannot Wait’s success must be its contribution to generating increased funding for education via existing humanitarian and development funding streams and national budget allocations.

Overall, it is critical to deliver both via the fund and more broadly new, multi-year resources aimed at fully funding the estimated $9 billion gap for education in emergencies annually.

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3. Ensure funding is additional For the fund to succeed all of its funding must be new and additional to what donors and governments have previously contributed to education in emergencies.

A robust monitoring mechanism must be implemented to ensure that additionality is delivered and that the creation of the fund does not inadvertently result in less funding either for humanitarian response or education elsewhere.

4. Ensure funding is timely, predictable and flexible Education Cannot Wait must not only attract new, additional funding, but the funding must also be disbursed in a timely, predictable and flexible manner.

5. Funding and action must support quality educational outcomes To bring about real impact for children living donors and governments must support quality education that delivers learning. It is important that the meaning of ‘quality’ education is understood and agreed, and a mechanism to measure the quality of learning supported by Education Cannot Wait is implemented.

MORE AND BETTER SUPPORT 1. Strengthen the capacity of existing systems, structures and organizations Education Cannot Wait must support the capacity of existing systems, structures and organisations, including national governments, the Education Cluster and UNHCR. 2. Increase investments in risk reduction, conflict sensitivity and better preparedness The impact of crisis on children`s education could be greatly reduced if national education systems in crisis-prone countries are better prepared to provide education which is conflict-sensitive and risk-aware, before, during and after an emergency arises.

The Education Cannot Wait fund must include investments in risk reduction, conflict-sensitivity and preparedness.

3. Enhance monitoring, research and impact evaluation of education in emergency interventions The lack of priority given to education in humanitarian responses is linked to a lack of understanding of its impact and value-add in humanitarian responses.

Education Cannot Wait must support the development of a better evidence base for education in emergencies programming as a matter of urgency.

4. Undertake better tracking and reporting of education in emergencies funding and spend While there is a wide ranging consensus that the education in emergencies funding gap is substantial, inadequate information about the extent of unmet need, a sense of likely future need and the amount of existing funding for education in emergencies hampers our ability to develop a comprehensive picture.

Education Cannot Wait must support the generation of better financial information for the purposes of planning, delivery, evaluation and advocacy.

MORE AND BETTER COLLABORATION 1. Establish modalities for transition to enable a smooth and timely transition to a permanent host The fund will be established at UNICEF and a decision regarding its permanent home will be made by a formal review of hosting opportunities. The hosting review process and transition must be properly planned, managed and owned by the governing structure of the fund with clear timelines, milestones and transparency.

2. Ensure Education Cannot Wait fund is closely aligned with the Global Partnership for Education The fund will both be a funder and a convener for education, roles which are in part currently performed by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Putting aside its ultimate home Education Cannot Wait must establish clear and constructive working relationships with GPE. 3. Clear and transparent decision making with representation from civil society on the governing body The establishment of Education Cannot Wait reflects a desire to harness the collective power of all education in emergencies actors – therefore it is important that all stakeholders are adequately represented in its governance mechanism. Ensuring in particular that civil society and affected communities have the ability to influence and participate in discussions and decision-making is critical.

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EDUCATION FOR REFUGEES

SAVE THE CHILDREN`S ROLE AND CONTRIBUTION TO EDUCATION CANNOT WAIT

Save the Children is calling for a new deal for the world’s child refugees, at the heart of which should be a commitment to ensure that they all have access to education and that no refugee child, following displacement, is out education for more than 30 days.

Save the Children welcome the creation of Education Cannot Wait and commits to supporting its effort to realize our shared vision of a world where all children affected by crises can learn free of cost, in safety and without fear in order to grow and reach their full potential.

Of the 7.3 million child refugees in the world today, half don’t have access to education.

We are and will continue to achieve that vision by building on and stepping up our global and national advocacy for education in emergencies, continuing to co-lead, along with UNICEF the IASC education cluster, and invest in global capacity building efforts and improved and more efficient coordination in planning and response of education in emergency responses. We also commit to support the creation and implementation of models and standards for establishing quality education in emergencies and to continue to raise funds for our own education in emergency programmes and to support Education Cannot Waits resource mobilization and that of others.

They deserve better, they deserve to be in education and learning.

We believe this can be achieved via decisive action to: • ensure that the world’s 3.2 million out of school refugee children have access to education; • improve the quality of education being provided to all of the world’s refugee children; and • increase early childhood care and education for the world’s 2 million pre-primary aged refugees.

The role of Education Cannot Wait Once established we believe that Education Cannot Wait could provide the catalytic shift in ambition and approaches needed ensure every last refugee child is in education and learning including by providing the vehicle for driving and financing the education elements of refugee hosting compacts.

Though established with a broader purpose, a focus by Education Cannot Wait during its inception phase on the pressing educational needs of refugee children, could provide it with the opportunity to make a tangible and measurable difference to one of the world’s biggest and most urgent challenges.

Published by Save the Children 1 St John’s Lane London EC1M 4AR UK +44 (0)20 7012 6400 savethechildren.org.uk First published 2016 © The Save the Children Fund For more information contact Joseph Nhan-O’Reilly | Head of Education Policy & Advocacy | j.oreilly@savethechildren.org.uk 4