What are the recent trends in donor support for education for children living in conflict-affected fragile states (CAFS) and those caught up in emergencies? This third annual Last in Line, Last in School report from Save the Children finds that although donors have increased their focus on meeting the education needs of children in these countries and situations, there is still a long way to go. If trends continue, CAFS will not receive the levels of basic education aid needed to achieve the education Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education (UPE) until 2034.
Education is recognised as one of the most vital investments a government can make. However, too few donors have committed themselves at a policy and budgetary level to providing education in situations where there is a lack of will and/or capacity to respond to education needs, or as a component of humanitarian response. While the demand for investment in governance and infrastructure is inevitably higher in CAFS, and this is critical for enabling wider education reforms to reach remote schools, not enough attention is being paid to the immediate educational needs of conflict-affected populations, where one in three primary-aged children is out of school.
Only half of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors have policy commitments to providing education in countries affected by conflict and fragility, and only five have included education in their emergency strategies. The report also finds that:
- On average between 2005 and 2007, CAFS received just over a quarter of basic education aid, despite being home to more than half – 40 million – of the world’s 75 million out-of-school children.
- Basic education aid commitments to CAFS increased marginally from $0.9 billion in 2005 to $1.2bn in 2007 – well below the estimated $5.2bn required annually to achieve UPE in these countries.
- Of total aid allocated to CAFS, on average just 5 per cent went to education, compared to 10 per cent in other low-income countries.
- Education is now more widely recognised as a component of humanitarian aid. The financing of education in emergencies rose from $147 million in 2007 to $235m in 2008. However, less than half of requests for education funding in humanitarian crises in the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP), through which the majority of humanitarian aid is allocated, were met in 2008.
Donors need to increase long-term predictable aid for education in CAFS and ensure that education needs in emergency situations are met. This involves:
- Ensuring that funding is equitable, based on need, with at least 50% of new basic education aid commitments going to CAFS
- Increasing basic education aid to meet the $9bn annual external financing requirement for achieving good quality UPE
- Prioritising education in CAFS, ensuring that at least 10 per cent of ODA in CAFS is allocated to education
- Meeting the Education for All-Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI) financing gaps and ensuring adequate funding of the FTI’s Education Transition Fund
- Establishing policies on education in emergencies that ensure education is an integral part of humanitarian response
- Allocating a minimum of 4.2 per cent of humanitarian aid to education to meet education funding requirements in emergency situations
- Supporting coordination for education in humanitarian response through the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Education Cluster.
