On April 26, 2022, the Global Campaign for Education-US hosted its April coalition meeting during the Global Action Week for Education. For a week every April, Global Campaign for Education chapters around the world, including GCE-US, mobilize around a common theme in the fight for quality, education for all. 2022’s theme, Protect Education in Emergencies Now!, called upon states, civil society organizations, and policymakers to protect the fundamental right to education for the most vulnerable students living in emergencies.
In 2019, over 127 million primary and secondary-school aged students lived in crisis or conflict zones, and the triple threat of conflict, climate change, and COVID-19 threatens to rob millions of students of their right to quality, inclusive, public education. Even when governments take measures to increase the access to safe schooling for students, the voices of youth and students whose education is disrupted by conflict are often left out of the decision-making and policy planning process.
This year, the Global Campaign for Education-US centered its April coalition meeting on youth perspectives in emergency settings. Yasmine Sherif, the director of Education Cannot Wait!, the United Nations’ global fund for education in emergencies, spoke about ECW’s EmpowerHer Brief and the importance of advancing gender equality and girls’ education in emergencies and protracted crises. Carron Mann, Research and Policy Manager at the Malala Fund, spoke to the key calls to action to protect girls education in Afghanistan from the Afghanistan Policy Brief. The event was co-moderated by GCE-US Student Fellows Anny Lin and Pierina Anton Lopez and featured an inspiring panel of youth activists from Palestine, the Philippines, Nigeria, and Honduras. Discussions focused on the importance of psychosocial support for youth, students, and teachers living in conflict settings, the unique and compounded challenges girls face in accessing safe schooling, and the necessity of ensuring that the voices of historically marginalized and underrepresented communities are included in national policies.
As part of the lead up to the event, GCE-US launched its #YOUthLead social media campaign to further amplify youth and students who are making real change for their communities. Paola Umaña, a Contextos youth leader, advocates for her community in El Salvador, inspiring Salvadoran young people and students through her commitment to education. 
