• by Yasmine Sherif (new york)
• Monday, July 14, 2025
• Inter Press Service

NEW YORK, July 14 (IPS) - On the first International Day of Hope, we are all responsible to #KeepHopeAlive for the children impacted by the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. Perhaps the strongest responsibilities lie with those entrusted to lead the world and make the right moral and legal choices. This is especially so today, when we have led the world into an abyss of excruciating pain for nearly a quarter of a billion innocent children now suffering brutal conflicts and violence, forced displacement and punishing climate disasters – without quality education.

Now is the time for genuine empathy and profound maturity among all of us who were privileged to access quality education. We are all connected, and we are all responsible for the young generation. We must serve as role models and pave the way for a better future.

Our investment in their education is an investment in peace, an investment in sustainable development, an investment in economic prosperity, and an investment in the unique potential of the world’s children and youth. Just like we once enjoyed such investment or made such investment in our own children.

Our world is changing fast. Across the globe – in Gaza, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, Sudan and beyond – children and adolescents have no access to education and are losing hope. To make matters worse, we have a compounding climate crisis directly impacting the education and lifelong trajectories of every girl and boy on Earth.

To keep hope alive, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and our global strategic partners go full force together to make whatever difference we can make in the life of each child we meet, providing them with safe, quality education that brings them hope, builds self-reliance and an ability to survive and thrive with dignity.

As we actively embrace the UN80 Initiative, we all must work together, comply with the UN Charter and stand by the promises made in 1945. By working together, we can and must ensure that every child and adolescent calling for help to reclaim hope is heard. We cannot turn a deaf ear to their desperate cries.

By investing in their potentials and by recognizing their extraordinary resilience, quality education will change their lives and their entire world view. This is the time to #KeepHopeAlive and not turn away as their hopes crumble. They live through darkness. We must kindle their light.

© Inter Press Service (20250714042310) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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