The EU Honors Commitment to Spend 10% of Budget on Education in Emergencies

In a major development for children caught in crisis, the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, announced that the EU has honored its commitment toward spending 10% of its budget on education in emergencies (EIE).

“We are making a concrete investment to peace by helping every child get access to school, anywhere and at all times,” Commissioner Stylianides said, referring to the €164 million dedicated to projects committed to bringing learning opportunity to young people affected by emergencies.

Starting in 2015, the EU – represented by Commissioner Stylianides – committed to raising its support for education in emergencies from only 1% of the annual budget. At GBC-Education’s annual breakfast event around the UN General Assembly in September 2016, the Commissioner announced that the European Union was honoring its commitment to devote at least 4 percent of its humanitarian budget to EIE. By 2017, the Commissioner raised that commitment to 8% of the EU’s budget, in addition to providing €11 million in support for the Education Cannot Wait fund.

As the EU meets the 10% target, it recognizes the vital importance of investing in youth – especially the 75 million young people who are estimated to miss out on an education due to conflict or natural disaster this year.

Complementing the leadership of the European Commission, the Global Business Coalition for Education’s REACT initiative is bringing the power of the business community to help solve challenges in delivering education in emergencies. Since the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, thousands of young people have benefited from the contributions of the business community in delivering education in emergencies.