Authors: Nafisa Binte Shafique and Said Yasin*
Every morning, a child somewhere in the world wakes to a day shaped by choices they did not make. For millions of children living in poverty or conflict, those choices determine whether they will ever step into a classroom, sit beside their peers, or learn from a teacher.
Education is not a luxury. It is a right, and a lifeline. It is the foundation of every child’s future, yet today, this right is under threat.
Globally, an estimated 272 million children and adolescents remain out of school. In West and Central Africa alone, nearly one in four primary-aged children are excluded. These numbers are not just statistics — they represent millions of futures at risk.
Across the world, a growing humanitarian funding crisis is undermining progress for children. Global crises — from conflict to climate shocks — have deepened poverty and widened inequalities. At the same time, budgets for humanitarian and development programmes are shrinking. When funding is cut, it is the children who pay the highest price. Classrooms go empty. Teachers go unpaid. Futures are lost.
This is not fate. It is a choice — and your call to act.
For more than a decade, UNICEF and the Education Above All Foundation (EAA) have made a different choice — one that puts children first. Together, we have worked to expand access to quality primary education for the hardest-to-reach children, and to help them stay in school and thrive, supported by teachers who deliver quality learning despite the most difficult of circumstances.
In The Gambia, the recently concluded project as part of EAA Foundation’s Zero Out-of-School Children approach — implemented under the leadership of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education of The Gambia with support from UNICEF— enrolled over 74,000[1] children. The project tackled the root causes of exclusion — poverty, disability, distance, and harmful social norms — through a holistic approach: constructing classrooms, training teachers, distributing bicycles, and supporting children with literacy and numeracy classes. With a 96.7% retention rate, the initiative proved that sustained investment and community engagement can drive transformative changes. None of this progress would have been possible without the leadership and commitment of national and local governments.
These are not statistics. They are stories of resilience — of children who refuse to give up and of partners who refuse to let them be left behind. The Gambia’s experience shows that progress is possible, but only if we continue to invest more in children’s education. Girls, especially those in rural areas, face additional barriers — from early marriage to gender-based violence. Addressing these gaps requires targeted strategies and sustained investment in safe, inclusive learning environments.
But even the strongest gains can slip away if we stop investing in children.
Around the world, cuts to education budgets and humanitarian assistance threaten to undo years of progress. A generation of children now faces the very real risk of being denied their right to education. When we fail to invest in learning, we are not just failing children, we are undermining our shared future. Without education, cycles of poverty deepen, economies stagnate, and societies lose their most powerful engine for peace and progress.
Education must stay at the heart of every humanitarian and development response. It is one of the most powerful investments any society can make — one that strengthens communities, builds resilience, and protects children’s futures. When we invest in children’s learning, we invest in a more stable, just, and sustainable world.
This World Children’s Day 2025, as children around the world say “My Day. My Rights.”, together, we call on governments, partners and the international community to act with urgency — to protect every child’s right to education and ensure that children remain a global priority, not a global casualty.
The Education Above All Foundation and UNICEF have shown that even in the most challenging settings, progress is possible when the world stands with children. The choice before us could not be clearer: allow the global funding crisis to rob millions of children of their education — or act now to ensure that every child, everywhere, has the chance to learn.
On World Children’s Day, let us choose the future. Let us choose education. Let us choose each and every child.
*Said Yasin, Executive Director, Educate A Child (EAC) programme of Education Above All Foundation
[1] Data at Q2, 2025
