Education Cannot Wait Renews Multi-Year Resilience Programme in Uganda with US$25 Million in Catalytic Funding Investment

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Mar 15, 2023, 01:00 ET

ECW total funding to Uganda tops US$75 million. New investment delivered by Save the Children and UNHCR in partnership with Government of Uganda will reach 122,000 refugee and host community children. US$180 million funding gap remains as partners come together to address Africa's largest refugee crisis.

KAMPALA, Uganda, March 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to Africa's largest refugee crisis, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) today announced US$25 million in catalytic funding to expand the Fund's Multi-Year Resilience Programme in Uganda. Total ECW funding in Uganda now tops US$75 million.

A significant number of school-aged refugee children are out of school in Uganda. More than half of refugee early learners (aged 3-5) are out of school. Approximately 27% of girls and 19% of boys are left out of primary education, while less than 5% of girls and just 10% of boys will make it into secondary school.

The extended three-year programme will be delivered by Save the Children and UNHCR, in partnership with the Government of Uganda, and will support the inclusion in the national education system of more than 122,000 refugees. These children and those in host-communities in Uganda will receive the safety, hope and opportunity of quality, inclusive education.

The new programme seeks to catalyse US$180 million in aligned funding to deliver on the overall objectives outlined in Uganda's Education Response Plan for Refugees and Host Communities II, the Government's bold and continued commitment to the inclusion of refugee children and adolescents in its education system.

The scaled-up investment builds on the impact of ECW's first Multi-Year Resilience Programme in Uganda, which enrolled 240,000 girls and boys into formal and non-formal education, built and rehabilitated 225 classrooms, provided learning materials for close to 150,000 children, and ensured bespoke educational supports for girls, children with disabilities and learners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"At this year's High-Level Financing Conference, world leaders stepped up with US$826 million in commitments to ECW. We must build on that support and ensure that inclusive, quality education through humanitarian-development coherence in places like Uganda are fully funded. This is an investment in sustainable economic and social development for those left furthest behind," said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, the UN's global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

Uganda hosts more than 1.5 million refugees, with 798,000 child refugees. Since January 2022, there have been over 84,000 new arrivals in Uganda, primarily from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where ECW also supports education interventions.

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