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January 24, 2023

Education in Emergencies: A Global Call for 222 Million Children

Three young girls looking at schoolbooks together and smiling

Education Cannot Wait, the UN’s Global Fund for Education in Emergencies, will hold its multiyear High-Level Financing Conference February 16 and 17, 2023, in Geneva. This is a crucial opportunity for the United States to commit to financing quality, inclusive, and transformative education for over 222 million children and adolescents living in crisis and conflict settings around the world. This discussion on the state of U.S. government financing to the education in emergencies sector will feature special guests such as Yasmine Sherif, director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW); LeAnna Marr, deputy assistant administrator at the Center for Education, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID); and Elizabeth Campbell, deputy assistant administrator, Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) at the U.S. Department of State.

This event will incorporate two discussions: "Financing the Education in Emergencies Sector: A Case for Investment in #222MillionDreams,” which will provide an overview of Education Cannot Wait's mission and the U.S. government's support to the sector; and "Nothing About Us Without Us: Youth-Led Solutions to Education Crises," a call to action by young leaders working to protect the right to education for displaced students around the world.

This event is co-sponsored by the Global Human Development Program, Collaborative on Global Children's Issues, Center for Child and Human Development, Institute for the Study of Migration, and Institute for Women, Peace, and Security at Georgetown University with Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, Global Campaign for Education-US, Global Citizen, International Parliamentary Network on Education (IPNED), RESULTS, Save the Children, Youth Alliance Working Group of the Children's Policy and Funding Initiative (CPFI), National Association of System Heads (NASH) Refugee Resettlement Initiative, and No Lost Generation and the Welcoming Campus Initiative at George Washington University.

Featured

Nehemia Abel (G‘23) is a policy and advocacy fellow for the International Rescue Committee and a master’s degree student in the Georgetown University Global Human Development Program. She was the 2021 U.S. Agency for International Development Donald M. Payne Fellow and co-founded Ubumwe.

Salma Alokozai (G‘24) is a fellow at the Afghanistan Young Leaders Initiative by Asia Society and a master’s degree student in the Georgetown University Global Human Development Program. She is a board member of the Chaarmaghz Mobile Book Library for Afghan Children and chair of the Paiwand-e-Afghanan Association.

Pierina Anton Lopez (G’23) is a Global Campaign for Education-U.S. fellow and student in the Georgetown University Global Human Development Program.

Elizabeth Campbell is the deputy assistant secretary at the Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) at the U.S. Department of State.

Emmanuelle Dyer Melhado is an undergraduate student in the class of 2024 and the outreach chair for the Welcoming Campus Initiative and No Lost Generation at George Washington University.

Jessica Garcia Bocaletti is a senior at International High School at Langley Park, as well as a Posse Scholar.

Olivia Issa is a program lead with the NASH Refugee Resettlement Initiative and a 2022 graduate from George Washington University.

Joan Lombardi is a senior fellow at the Collaborative on Global Children's Issues and senior scholar with the Center for Child and Human Development at Georgetown University.

LeAnna Marr is the deputy assistant administrator at the Center for Education of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Yasmine Sherif is the director of Education Cannot Wait.