Education Cannot Wait urges donors to mobilize $600 million ahead of Nov. 5 replenishment

Mesa, the head of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), told reporters that governments, philanthropy and the private sector must "mobilize $600 million to reach 10 million more crisisaffected children with education" at a replenishment meeting in Geneva on Nov. 5. She emphasized the urgency and the need to prioritize the most vulnerable children in contexts such as Gaza, Afghanistan and Sudan.

Mesa framed the replenishment as the key financing vehicle to expand ECW's rapid-response and multi-year programs. "The need could not be more urgent," she said, noting that ECW has already reached more than 16 million children since its establishment but that crisis-affected education remains underfunded. The brief called on donors to step up to meet a shortfall that, in Gaza alone, ECW and the global education cluster estimate runs well beyond the seed funds announced today.