Author: celine

Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. We support quality education outcomes for refugee, internally displaced and other crisis-affected girls and boys, so no one is left behind. ECW works through the multilateral system to both increase the speed of responses in crises and connect immediate relief and longer-term interventions through multi-year programming. ECW works in close partnership with governments, public and private donors, UN agencies, civil society organizations, and other humanitarian and development aid actors to increase efficiencies and end siloed responses. ECW urgently appeals to public and private sector donors for expanded support to reach even more vulnerable children and youth. 

Located in the village of Condel, 500 kilometres from the Guinean capital, Conakry, the primary school has already welcomed 104 students from the village and its surroundings.
Attending this school, will allow the children to be in a safe environment that is close to their home. The facility has four classrooms, a toilet block and living quarters for the principal. With the support of the Guinean government, we were also able to recruit teachers.

Our thanks to the Ministry of Education for supporting our initiative to help improve access to education in rural areas. Children, wherever they live, should receive the same education and opportunities so that can thrive and decide their future.
Finally, many thanks to our generous donors without whom the project could not have been completed.

The Kesso Bah Foundation Elle Ira à l’Ecole, in its mission to raise the enrollment rate of children and in particular young girls, has begun the construction of a school in the village of Condel, located 36 kilometers from the prefecture of Dalaba about 500 kilometers from Guinea’s capital Conakry.

With a population of about 3 000, the village of Condel and its surroundings need an educational facility to accommodate school-age children whose rate of enrollment varies between 35% and 60%. The nearest school is about 5 kilometers away. Children in the area go there on foot and do not eat all day, because the school does not have any catering facilities and the long distance makes it difficult for them to come home at lunch time. It is for this reason that many parents say they prefer to keep their children at home or even have them work in the fields.

The Foundation, in agreement with the local authorities in Condel, is aiming to build a school with three classrooms, housing for the Principal, a toilet block (4 cabins) and a wire mesh fence. We also hope to recruit two school teachers with the support of the Guinean authorities.

International Day of the Girl Child is the opportunity to recognize and understand the challenges girls face around the world. The most significant still being access to education.

The Covid-19 pandemic has made existing inequalities worse. The crisis has been catastrophic for education everywhere but especially for children in poor communities and conflict zones who were already struggling to attend school.
Many can’t take part in distance learning as they don’t have access to laptops, an internet connection or even electricity. And the pandemic has impacted women and girls very differently, threatening to reverse decades of progress made on women’s rights and gender equality. There’s been a rise in domestic violence in many countries, including in Kenya where there’s also been rise in teenage pregnancy.

Folly Bah Thibault, spoke to Euronews about the importance of educating girls and the ways to ensure their right to education is guaranteed.

As part of the UN General Assembly Week and the Global Goals Week, Qatar Foundation organised a panel to explore Glocalization-a new concept in education that includes the learning of global themes through the use of experiences on the local and national level.

The event was hosted by our Founder Folly Bah Thibault. Some of the world’s leading experts on education discussed the need to empower young students in order to address the crisis facing our world from the loss of ecosystem.  One way of doing that is through the glocalization approach, by teaching students to see the point of what their learning and how it relates to their lives.

The panellists also discussed some of the educational responses to the coronavirus pandemic and the lessons learnt from the crisis that can be impactful in how we educate current and future generations.

Violence against women and girls has increased during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Al Jazeera English Television in collaboration with the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative hosted a special programme to discuss what should be done to protect their lives and ensure their safety in long term recovery plans.

Folly Bah Thibault was joined by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpillainen and South Africa Rugby Captain Siya Kolesi. 

Our founder Folly Bah Thibault, was honoured to host a high-level virtual event to mark the first-ever International Day to Protect Education from Attack.

On the 28^th of May, the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution that brought this day into being – following a call for action by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Qatar – the Chairperson of Education Above All Foundation and UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocate.

The International Day to Protect Education from attacks draws attention to the plight of more than 75 million children living in 35 crisis affected countries who need urgent educational support. World leaders including UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres and campaigners such as David Beckham, endorsed the call to strengthen the protection of education worldwide.

Folly Bah Thibault, our founding president, was the Master of Ceremony for the Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict (PEIC) 10-year anniversary celebration.
The event was held at Qatar’s iconic museum of Islamic Art and was the opportunity to celebrate a major milestone achieved by PEIC – a programme of the Education Above All Foundation- in its tireless mission to protect education at all costs during times of conflict.

A notable panel of guests and education experts from around the world, shared their insights and experience into how education and the right to learn can be protected in conflict zones.

UNESCO Special Envoy and Academy-Award winning actor, Forest Whitaker, delivered the keynote speech shedding light on the work of the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, a global peacebuilding network with hubs in South Sudan, South Africa, Uganda, Mexico and the US. He also stressed the need to include the voices of young people for countries and communities to achieve peace and prosperity.

The event was held on the sidelines of the World Innovation Summit for Education or WISE. It was also the opportunity to unveil PEIC’s mandate and vision moving forward, as we count down to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Our founding president attended the World Innovation Summit for Education, or Wise, held in Doha from November 19-21.

In the 10 years since its founding, WISE has established itself as a global reference in new approaches to education. The 2019 summit was held under the theme “Un-learn, relearn, what it means to be human”, focusing on challenging conventional ways of thinking about education.

Folly Bah Thibault moderated the plenary session on the second day of the summit, during which Her Highness Moza Bint Nasser, Chairperson of the Education Above All Foundation, announced a new strategy to ensure that the number of out-of-school children (OOSC) in selected countries reaches zero. While Education Above All Foundation has achieved its objective of securing the enrollment of 10 Million out of school children, there are still challenges keeping them and the global education community from achieving the ultimate goal of ensuring that every child has access to quality primary education.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Grammy Award artist Shakira, a champion of children’s right to education, shared before the crowd of policy-makers, educators and global influencers, the significant changes that have happened in the lives of children and families since her organization, the Barefoot Foundation, started building school in the most remote areas of Colombia.

The conference drew a record attendance of more than 3000 participants from 110 countries including social entrepreneurs, innovators, educators, researchers, policy makers and renowned artists.

Our founding president, Folly Bah Thibault, attended the Nairobi Summit on the 25^th anniversary of the International Conference on Population Development, ICPD25.

The groundbreaking meeting sought to accelerate the Programme of Action adopted in Cairo 25 years ago, that recognised reproductive health, women’s empowerment and gender equality as the pathway to sustainable development.

Folly hosted a signature session of the summit, Let’s Talk, inspired by Russian supermodel and Philanthropist Natalia Vodianova. Let’s Talk is about using the power of conversation to break down the stigma and taboo around women’s health. All too often, stigma and taboo around sex, menstrual hygiene and reproductive health, prevent individuals and communities from talking about these important issues that are so crucial to women’s empowerment.

The session was attended by some of the most influential people in the fashion and media industry including Polish Supermodel Anja Rubik, Irish designer Natalie B. Coleman and the Ghanaian editor of Glitz Africa Magazine Claudia Lumour, who gave their insights on how we can use the power and influence of creative industries to tackle stigma and taboo.

As part of the pledges made at the session, Folly pledged to provide all the girls of Elle ira à l’école Foundation, a monthly period pack that includes sanitary towels, wet wipes, hand sanitizer, a disposable bag and a change of underwear in case of emergency.