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Build forward better.

Education is on the brink of collapse.

Nearly two years since the start of the pandemic and no education system in the world is back to normal. Hundreds of millions of children are still out of school. Up to 16 million may never return.

Now the education of millions of children is at risk of collapsing due to factors like climate change, a lack of COVID-19 vaccines, displacement and attacks on schools.

Our new analysis has revealed that the DRC, Nigeria, Somalia, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Mali, and Libya have education systems that are at ‘extreme risk’. Syria and Yemen follow closely behind.

With each day that passes, children out of school find it harder to catch up on lost learning, and grow more vulnerable to hunger, violence, abuse, exploitation, child labour and child marriage - especially girls, and children who live in low-income countries, in refugee camps and warzones.

We don't just want to build back better, we want to Build Forward Better.

Download the Build Forward Better report

Download the exec summaries (English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic)

Children have put the spotlight on education.

As part of #100DaysOfAction, children have taken action to pressure their leaders to save their education. From painting murals, to hosting a chat show, to meeting with their president, children's actions have put the global spotlight on education. Now we have the world's attention, we must keep up the pressure by turning promises into meaningful change.

“Because we dream of a better future, because we want to succeed, we want your support to make our voices heard and our demands realised. Be with us to create a strong and effective generation.” Mya, a girl from Lebanon

Even before the pandemic, children's education was in crisis. We must reimagine the world's fragile education systems to better withstand future crises, especially the climate crisis and conflict.

Our 8 point plan to Build Forward Better.

The Build Forward Better report shows what we've learned from the pandemic and what needs to happen to ensure that education systems are more resilient in the face of future crises. 

Here is our 8 point plan to Build Forward Better:

  1. COVID-19 RECOVERY: Ensure children can return to school safely and get their learning and well-being back on track.
  2. PREPAREDNESS AND ANTICIPATORY ACTION: Every country must have an integrated preparedness plan to secure children’s learning and wellbeing in future crises.
  3. TARGET OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN: Ensure children who were out of school before the pandemic can access safe learning opportunities.
  4. KEEP LEARNING SAFE: Protect learning from violence, attacks and the climate emergency.
  5. SCALE-UP AND ADAPT FINANCING: Urgently fill the education financing gap.
  6. GET THE DATA RIGHT: Improve and collect more data. Share data widely for agile decision-making on preparedness and policymaking.
  7. FOCUS ON EQUITY AND CHILD PARTICIPATION: Reach the children most affected by inequality and discrimination. Include children in designing, implementing and evaluating programmes.
  8. SHIFT POWER: Move decision-making power and resources to children.

Download the 8 point plan

Download the full Build Forward Better report