Justin Trudeau (AFP)

Canada’s popular Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced during the Global Citizen Festival in South Africa on Dec. 2, that his country would donate CA$50 million (US$38 million) to the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) fund to provide access to education for girls living in crisis and emergencies.

Previously, Canada made a $15 million pledge to the ECW fund. And with this new $38 million pledge, Canada became the second-largest donor with a total of $53 million, the ECW said in a press release.

Canada emphasized that its contribution will “improve children’s education in countries facing humanitarian emergencies and crises” and that “investing in education, especially in crisis situations, empowers girls and prepares them for the future”.

The funding, the press release said, would provide much-needed gender-responsive education for girls living in the midst of crisis, in war zones, in refugee and displacement camps, as well as emergency settings.

“Canada’s pledge sends a clear signal to the world that girls and adolescent girls everywhere can no longer be left behind, that they deserve equal access to education and opportunities. Today, Canada, together with the broad coalition of Education Cannot Wait’s partners, is telling the world that girls matter. We are telling the world that education cannot wait for the 39 million girls living in war and disaster that don’t have the opportunity to go to class, learn and thrive,” said ECW director Yasmine Sherif.

The ECW, a global fund hosted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), wants to collect $1.8 billion by 2021 to provide access to safe, reliable, quality education for 8.9 million children — half of whom will be girls — enduring some of the worst possible human conditions on the planet.

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