A sharp decline in international education aid is set to push millions of vulnerable children out of school by the end of 2026, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned.
According to UNICEF, official development assistance allocated for education is expected to fall by 24 percent—amounting to $3.2 billion—by 2025 compared to 2023 levels. The agency revealed that nearly 80 percent of this projected drop is tied to reduced contributions from three of the world’s largest donors: the United States, Germany, and France.
If the forecasted cuts take effect, an additional six million children will be denied access to schooling by the end of next year, increasing the global out-of-school population from 272 million to 278 million. UNICEF compared the figure to “emptying every primary school in Germany and Italy combined.”
The repercussions are not limited to those entirely excluded from classrooms. The organization cautioned that nearly 290 million more children are at risk of enduring a steep decline in the quality of their education due to the financial shortfall.
“This is not just a budgetary decision; it’s a child’s future hanging in the balance,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Every dollar cut from education jeopardizes the potential of a generation.”
The crisis is expected to weigh most heavily on regions already facing immense challenges. West and Central Africa could see 1.9 million children lose access to schools, while fragile contexts such as Haiti, Somalia, and the Palestinian territories are also at heightened risk.
Girls are likely to bear the brunt of the funding cuts, with vital programs—such as tuition subsidies and the construction of separate sanitation facilities—threatened. These supports are crucial to ensuring girls’ continued enrollment, particularly in crisis-affected and low-income regions.
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UNICEF has urged the international community to reverse the trend, warning that the future of millions of children—and the progress of entire societies—depends on sustained investment in education.
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