Despite the noise and bustle of classmates packing up, nine-year-old Wisam is focused on the picture she is bringing to life from her desk. When she’s finished, she puts her beloved pencils back into her bag.
Third grader Wasim with her class in Port Sudan.
Needs are escalating
To date, ECW support has reached 135,000 crisis-affected girls and boys inSudan. ECW investments in the country total $33.7 million and support the building and rehabilitation of classrooms, provision of learning and teaching materials, teacher training, improvement of access to drinking water, gender-sensitive water and sanitation facilities and improvement of access to quality, inclusive and child-friendly education.
ECW has also provided more than $20 million in response to the regional refugee education needs, with grants announced in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda.
But, the needs in Sudan, and in crises around the world, are only escalating. A recent report by ECW finds that 234 million school-aged girls and boys are affected by crises and need urgent support to access quality education. This is an increase of at least 35 million over the past three years.
For Wisam, her new backpack, once a reminder of everything she was forced to leave behind, now carries the weight of all she hopes to achieve. With each lesson, she’s stepping closer to the future she deserves, a future the nine-year-old is determined to create.