Five years after the adoption of a groundbreaking resolution by the U.N. General Assembly, global action on education in emergencies is still in sore need of a champion — a role that the European Union could well fill in the near future.
Speaking at the Oslo Summit on Education for Development earlier this month, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides announced his plan to dedicate 4 percent of the EU humanitarian aid budget to education for children in emergency situations over the course of his mandate.
The announcement comes as a breath of fresh air for many nongovernmental organizations. As funding for education in emergencies continues to be sidelined in favor of more traditional, lifesaving humanitarian responses, their hope is that the EU’s decision will have a catalytic effect on mobilizing other donors.
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► A drive for education in the unlikeliest of places
► Top aid donors failing to invest enough in global education
“Education in emergencies is notoriously difficult to secure funding for,” David Skinner, director for education at Save the Children, told Devex. “As a standard setter on humanitarian response, the EU’s decision to increase the financing available for education in emergencies … raises the bar for what is acceptable or not in terms of donor financing for education in emergencies.”
