WIREDGOV

The European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides yesterday  announced his objective to dedicate 4% of the EU humanitarian aid budget to education for children in emergency situations.

Speaking yesterday at the Oslo Summit on Education for Development, Christos Stylianides said: "No child should miss out on education. We want to make education a priority in emergency situations so that more children can have access to learning, to teachers, to a brighter future. I am truly committed to this cause. I aim to dedicate 4% of our humanitarian aid budget to education in emergencies in the course of my mandate. This is one of my top priorities. I am already in contact with the European Parliament towards achieving this goal."

The European Union has been supporting education in situations of emergency through the EU Children of Peace initiative, created in 2012 after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

To date, the European Union has allocated more than €23 million for the EU Children of Peace projects, including the contributions of €500 000 from Luxembourg and €250 000 from Austria in 2014. By the end of this year, more than 4 million children will have benefited from the initiative in 26 countries.

Background

Education in emergencies is one of the most underfunded areas in humanitarian aid, with almost two thirds of the needs currently unfunded. At present, less than 2% of the global humanitarian budget goes for this purpose.

The Oslo Summit on Education for Development organised by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown, took place yesterday aiming at mobilising new political commitment to reach the 58 million children who are out of school worldwide.

For more information

The European Commission's humanitarian aid and civil protection

EU Children of Peace web page

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