Theirworld and GBC-Education at the World Humanitarian Summit #EducationCannotWait

Global Youth Ambassadors Anoka Abeyrathne, Wanja Maina  and Courage Nyamhunga pose with Ban Soon-taek, Ban Ki-moon, Sarah Brown, and Gordon Brown.

The Education Cannot Wait fund was unveiled by global and national organisations at the historic World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey.

After months of campaigning, this new fund to help provide education for millions of children and youth affected by humanitarian emergencies was officially launched today. Education Cannot Wait aims to reach more than 13.6 million children and youth living in crisis situations with quality education over the next five years and 75 million by 2030.

To mark this occasion, after months of campaigning by civil society groups, grassroots activists, and high level politicians, Theirworld and GBC-Education attended the World Humanitarian Summit to witness the launch of the fund.

GBC-Education announced on Monday morning the contribution of USD100 million to the fund, as well as private sector leadership and forward-thinking innovation. The pledge was announced at a high-level breakfast taking place including a keynote by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

Later that day,  Theirworld held their own event on delivering Education in Emergencies, featuring contributions from high level leaders such as Gordon Brown, Irina Bokova,Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Pierre Krähenbühl and Jan Egeland; representatives from the sector such as War Child, International Rescue Committee, and World Vision; and finally a panel comprising of private sector and philanthropic partners such as People’s Postcode Lottery, Dubai Cares, and the Hilton Foundation.

Please visit our overview of the summit action at A World At School for more information and keep an eye on our @worldatschool and @theirworld twitter feeds for rolling updates.