By
Rameen Siddiqui
Africa-Press – Eritrea. In the realm of humanitarian crises, the immediate focus often gravitates towards providing water, food, and shelter – essential provisions for survival. However, Yasmine Sherif, a distinguished expert in humanitarian law, a human rights lawyer, and the esteemed Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW) with decades of experience at the United Nations, offers a compelling argument for prioritizing a fundamental human right often overlooked in emergency settings: Education.
From her extensive career spanning over 35 years in various UN roles, including justice, protection, gender, and peacekeeping, Yasmine’s journey to leading ECW was a natural progression rooted in a singular aspiration: to alleviate suffering and serve humanity. She passionately articulates that while all human rights are critical, education stands as the foundational right from which all others spring.
“If you don’t have education,” Yasmine explains, “you don’t have freedom of thinking, freedom of expression. You may not be able to protect your right to due process. You may not have a livelihood, so you don’t have a right to a job, right to housing, freedom of expression, or voting rights.” She emphasizes that education is the bedrock upon which individuals can claim and defend their other rights. Conversely, it can be weaponized with devastating effect. “If you really want to control a people or a nation or a region,” she asserts, “the most efficient way of doing that is making sure that nobody gets an education. It can be used as a weapon of totalitarianism.”
The Unbreakable Classroom: Educating amidst chaos and conflict, a conversation with Yasmine Sherif
Reimagining Education in Protracted Crises: Beyond Basic Needs
The conventional approach to humanitarian aid often struggles with the long-term reality of crises. Yasmine challenges the notion of reforming education systems in the immediate chaos of conflict, deeming it “naive” when communities are facing crimes against humanity. Instead, the immediate priority is to ensure that education delivers quality learning outcomes, even amidst the turmoil. Children must not just carry school bags; they must acquire knowledge that leads to qualifications and future opportunities.
This immediate focus is critical because the vast majority of humanitarian crises are protracted. Citing examples like Afghanistan (since the late 1970s) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (since the 1950s or 60s), Yasmine highlights that the average displacement for a refugee is a staggering 17 years. “If they have to sit and wait for an education until there’s peace,” she warns, “you’re losing a whole generation.” The most formative years, from birth to 18, are crucial for a child’s psychological and intellectual development. Missing out on education during this period, especially in conflict-affected regions with limited resources, creates an almost insurmountable deficit.
Currently, a staggering 234 million children and adolescents are deprived of quality education due to armed conflict, displacement, and climate disasters – nearly a quarter of a billion lives. Yasmine issues a dire warning: “If we don’t make education in emergencies and crises a priority now, and reverse that trend, in a few years, we’ll have a billion.” This dire situation is compounded by trauma, lack of food, and inadequate sanitation (particularly for girls), all of which severely hinder learning. A holistic approach to education must address these multifaceted needs of children suffering severe trauma.
Breaking the Cycle of Aid Dependency: Education’s Transformative Power
At the heart of ECW’s groundbreaking work is a paradigm-shifting philosophy: While water, food, and tents are undeniably important, an exclusive focus on these basic provisions risks creating perpetual aid dependency. Yasmine firmly believes that education is just as lifesaving, if not more, than these immediate physical provisions.
Drawing on Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Yasmine illustrates this point powerfully. The base of Maslow’s pyramid comprises water and food, moving up towards self-realization at the apex. “If you’re going to focus on that little base all the time, for billions of people,” she argues, “they will never become self-realized. They will never become strong.” For her, the base is essential but not exhaustive; humanity must move beyond it to empower individuals to rebuild their lives and countries.
While abstract concepts like “peacebuilding” and “social cohesion” may seem out of reach amidst active conflict, Yasmine clarifies education’s tangible contribution. In highly volatile environments, education actively prevents young adolescent boys from joining armed and terror groups, and protects girls from child marriage, rape, and domestic abuse (which, tragically, she notes, often escalates during conflict when men are emasculated by their inability to protect their families). By preventing these devastating outcomes, education lays the groundwork for eventual social cohesion and stability.
The Funding Disparity: A Global Priority Misalignment
Yasmine directly challenges global leaders on the glaring disparity in funding priorities. She highlights that approximately $2.3 trillion is invested in war machinery globally each year, while less than half a billion is allocated to education in crises. This dramatic difference, she contends, reveals a severe flaw in leadership and a lack of understanding of long-term global priorities.
“If you don’t think that education belongs in conflict,” she states unequivocally, “you do not know that 99% of conflicts are protracted.” The reality, she asserts, is that “only education can save us in the long term in a sustainable way.” She urges policymakers to overcome “willful ignorance or just naive ignorance” regarding international law and the UN Charter, reminding them that leaders are here to serve humanity. Investing in education today, she argues, is an “immediate need” that will yield “profitable results in the future,” countering the short-sighted, tunnel-vision approach that currently dominates.
Operational Realities: Navigating Extreme Volatility
Operating in highly volatile environments presents immense operational and security challenges for organizations like ECW. Yasmine starkly states that the biggest threat to education is when armies bomb schools and destroy education systems, spending “more money on bullets than on teachers.” This, she asserts, creates an “enormous security risk” for the very people leaders are meant to serve.
She points out the paradox that despite increased military spending, the world is arguably less secure than in the 1990s post-Cold War era. The United Nations, with its established security system and expertise, is uniquely positioned as the first responder in such dangerous situations, enabling ECW to operate in 44-45 of the most challenging countries. However, the day-to-day realities involve formidable obstacles. Access is a significant issue, as extreme danger, seen in places like Gaza, can make it impossible to set up schools without risking lives.
Diplomatic maneuvering is crucial for negotiating access with militia groups, armed civilians, and militaries who disregard humanitarian law, to secure safe passage. Beyond human factors, environmental hazards like landmines pose a lethal, decades-long threat, causing horrific injuries and deaths among children. Furthermore, a pervasive war economy fuels increased kidnapping, rape, and trafficking for profit, exacerbating gender-based violence and overall insecurity.
Tragically, a shift since World War II means that civilians have become the primary target in conflicts, making them incredibly vulnerable even on the way to school. In essence, the security challenge encompasses everything from global geopolitical instability down to the individual child’s risk of being killed, with the most vulnerable being those directly targeted, their morale and social cohesion deliberately destroyed as a tactic of war.
ECW’s Unique Approach: A Catalyst, Not an Empire
Amidst these profound challenges and a humanitarian landscape often riddled with competition, ECW positions itself through a unique and highly effective operational model. Yasmine, who co-founded ECW with former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, attributes the initiative’s remarkable success to the carefully selected team. She emphasizes the paramount importance of recruitment, seeking individuals with extensive experience in humanitarian contexts and education in crisis, possessing not only high intellectual IQ but also strong social and emotional intelligence, particularly empathy, which is crucial for serving vulnerable populations. This philosophy, she notes, aligns with Steve Jobs’ advice on organizational success stemming from its people.
In just a few short years, ECW has mobilized $1.6 billion from donors into its trust fund and realigned coordinated funding for joint programs, securing an additional $2 billion. Remarkably, this was achieved with a lean team of only 30 staff at headquarters, boasting the lowest operational overhead in the entire education sector, with the vast bulk of funds going directly to children and adolescents.
ECW eschews building a vast internal empire with country offices. Instead, it operates as a catalyst, empowering its “colleagues” – UN agencies (UNHCR, UNICEF, UNESCO, WFP), civil society organizations (like Save the Children, Norwegian Refugee Council, Plan International, with over 30% local organizations), ministers of education, and strategic donor partners. “We are not here to compete over humans; we are here to serve, and we are doing this collectively together,” Yasmine stresses.
This innovative approach fosters a collective “ECW family” where every partner’s identity is respected, but the overarching mission is shared. ECW raises resources and visibility for its partners, enabling them to focus on their challenging work on the ground. This refreshing perspective, demanding self-transcendence and ego-shedding, underscores that true service is found in gratefully catalyzing help for others.
Tangible Impact: Stories from the Frontlines
Yasmine proudly highlights ECW’s tangible difference across all 45 countries where it has made investments. While annual reports provide comprehensive evidence, she offers compelling examples of impact in some of the world’s most challenging environments. In Afghanistan, through partners on the ground, ECW is delivering education to girls in sixth grade and above, actively challenging and overcoming the discriminatory ban that restricts their schooling. In North East Nigeria, working with Dr. Mukegba’s organization and other partners, ECW provides comprehensive education, including top-tier mental health and psychosocial services (MHPSS) and protection, to girls and boys who were kidnapped by terrorist groups like Boko Haram.
Yasmine recounts meeting these girls, who, once victimized and stripped of self-worth, have been transformed into “queens” who now mentor other young girls. Furthermore in Gaza, when other organizations hesitated after a crisis, ECW and its partners were the first to provide MHPSS to deeply traumatized children and adolescents. “We did what they liked it or not,” Yasmine states, emphasizing ECW’s unwavering commitment to humanitarian imperatives of humanity, impartiality, and neutrality, regardless of political pressures.
A Vision for the Future: Education Now
Yasmine’s overarching vision for ECW is both profound and urgent. Her dream and hope are singular: that the 234 million children and adolescents currently deprived of quality education finally get to enjoy their inherent right to it – not in ten years, not in one week, but now, or at least this year.
She concludes with a powerful, direct plea, echoing her earlier call for a paradigm shift in global priorities: “Shift your 2.3 trillion dollars to more bullets and bombs towards more books and positive constructive support to the future and young generation.” ECW’s commitment remains to be at everyone’s service, ensuring coordinated results, joint programming, and collective action to maximize the impact for every child caught in crisis.
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