Crisis, conflict and natural disasters often have a devastating impact on education. Last April, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake shook Nepal to its core, jeopardizing the education of at least 1 million children. In West Africa, Ebola drove a staggering 5 million children out of classrooms. And as the war in Syria enters its fifth year, violence is believed to have stripped close to 3 million children of an education.
The good news is that global consensus is growing on the importance of providing all of these children with the opportunity to learn. Most recently, education in emergencies took center stage at the Oslo Summit on Education for Development, where in recognition of the sector’s dire state — under-resourced and overstretched — ministers and leaders agreed to jump-start a global humanitarian fund for education in emergencies.
Although not a panacea, funding will be instrumental in bridging the gap. According to the Overseas Development Institute, as many as 65 million children living in humanitarian crises are missing out on an education. Reaching them, experts say, will require an annual budget of $8 billion — or an extra $4.8 billion a year.
But what does the funding landscape to education in emergencies currently look like?
