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would like to stay at home and work remotely. Q: Do you collaborate with UNESCO? person doing programming and strategic “We should be in the United Nations because
My staff and I discussed it, and we said that Of course! UNESCO leads our work in development. If you have a weak link in that
we are a crisis fund. So, if the house is on fire Lebanon. They are doing great work! When the house, it can drag the rest down. we have an unaverred desire to deliver on
we go into the fire. With this Covid we went explosion took place in Beirut, UNESCO was the United Nations Charter, serve humanity
into these countries, we put our masks on, we the fastest responder and became a partner for Here I have really worked. I have brought and make the world a better place.”
got our vaccines, followed the protocol for us. They received a major investment together in motivational speakers, some of the best
social distancing and we went to Lebanon, with others. motivational speakers in the United States.
to the Sahel, to Afghanistan, to the Rohingya We have a library of great books on efficiency,
in the midst of Covid 19. We are not going to Whenever we see the competitive advantage, motivational speakers, thinking big, having
run away even if there is a crisis. We go into through the coordination mechanism, we a vision. The United Nations Charter is on
a crisis. work closely with UNESCO, as we do with our walls – understanding why the United I think we should never be in the United
UNICEF, UNHCR or WFP, as well as a number Nations was created, trying to reduce ego. Nations for selfish reasons. We should be
Of course, when member states and donors see of civil society organizations. There is not a We do not allow gossiping; we do not allow in the United Nations because we have an
this, this gives them another incentive to say, single United Nations agency on education internal conflicts. We do not have time for unaverred desire to deliver on the United
“Education Cannot Wait delivers even when or education-related that we don’t work with. that. Everybody is absorbed and passionate, Nations Charter, serve humanity and make
everything else breaks down and collapses. For instance, we work with the World Food driven by the-sky-is-the-limit of the United the world a better place. As a German
Education Cannot Wait, they are not staying Programme. Do they do education? No but Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of philosopher, Goethe, once said, if you make a
at home.” they do school feeding. Great! Human Rights, and the SDGs. commitment, the universe conspires to assist
you. We also say that if you are working very
hard and you are kind - kindness is important
I also think that this is one of the reasons that Q: It is all very impressive. How many hours a I think what we are doing in Education Cannot
we are getting more and more recognition. day do you work? Wait can be done across the entire United – then, amazing things will happen. We are
We are a very fast-growing fund. Our donors Well in the beginning, when you build Nations system. I have seen it in other teams living that now.
told us in the last Executive Committee that something from the scratch, you probably where I worked. We just have to think very big
Education Cannot Wait started out as a two- work 15 to 16 hours a day. You have no choice, because we have massive suffering to alleviate. Upon these points and this positive news, we
seater plane and today it’s a jumbo jet with and you face a lot of challenges. Building, and We have to de-bureaucratize ourselves and leave Ms Sherif run off to her next meeting and
over two billion dollars mobilized or leverage, building credibility, you can only do so by step out of our small box. We have to look wish her and her team more success stories to
and we haven’t even turned 5 years yet. results. It takes time. fear in the face, and remember the fear felt by share with us in the future.
the children and youth in their communities,
Q: Congratulations! It also takes time to build a winning team. in these countries. And finally, not the least,
It’s team-work where everybody is collective Everybody has to be on the same wave- we grow as human beings. If we change, the
– ODA donors, private sector, governments, length. The person dealing with finances and United Nations will blossom. It is already
United Nations agencies, civil society, operations has to be at the same frequency doing so in many parts. I see great colleagues
communities, children. It is all of us. as the person doing advocacy and the across the United Nations.

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