At the conclusion of a joint high-level mission in Ethiopia, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Global Champion and Danish Minister of Finance Nicolai Wammen, together with ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif, called for bold donor action to step up new and innovative financing solutions to deliver quality education for millions of children caught in crises in Ethiopia and beyond.

An estimated 9 million children are out-of-school across Ethiopia today due to ongoing violence, climate-induced disasters and widespread forced displacement – a staggering threefold increase from 2022. Close to 18% of schools in the country have been destroyed or damaged. Ethiopia also hosts the third largest refugee population in Africa, with over 200,000 new arrivals from Sudan and Somalia in 2023-2024 alone, further increasing pressure on existing resources.