Walk the Talk? Review of Financing for Education in Emergencies, 2015–2018

Today, large numbers of young people are living in crisis, their lives altered by armed conflict, political upheaval, and natural disaster. Humanitarian crises threaten achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, including education. More now perhaps than ever before, there is a huge need for provision of quality education for crisis-affected young people. Fortunately, the international community has recognized this need, creating a new global fund to channel foreign aid to education in emergencies (the Education Cannot Wait Fund), while donors are coordinating action on the issue through new networks and an international commitment has been made to ensure that education receives 4% of the budget in every humanitarian response. But the question remains: are donor policies and humanitarian funding keeping up with increased demand for education in emergencies? In 2015, Save the Children published the report Walk the Talk: Review of Donors’ Humanitarian Policies on Education, reviewing donor financial allocations to, and policies on, education in emergencies. This report examines whether donor policies and humanitarian funding are keeping up with increased demand for education in emergencies, and whether there has been any progress towards addressing the recommendations in the first Walk the Talk-report.