The partnership will provide long-term, multi-year funding to locally rooted and refugee-led organizations supporting public systems to improve education and wellbeing outcomes for millions of children affected by conflict and crisis.
The LEGO Foundation and Co-Impact have announced a new five-year, US$30 million partnership to strengthen public systems in Kenya and Nigeria and to improve learning and wellbeing outcomes for 2.5 million children affected by conflict and crisis.
More than one in six children globally are affected by conflict or crisis (UNICEF 2024). Humanitarian assistance plays a vital role in responding to immediate needs. However, in protracted and recovery contexts, short-term responses alone cannot address the scale or persistence of these challenges.
“Education is about more than what happens in the classroom,” said Tarek Alami, Head of International Programmes at the LEGO Foundation. “Children’s ability to learn and thrive is shaped by their health, wellbeing, and the environments around them. When education is designed to meet the realities of trauma and displacement and when teachers, schools, and families are supported in that process, classrooms and communities can become places of stability, healing, and possibility.”
Across many conflict-affected settings, children who return to school often struggle to learn or feel safe, as education systems are frequently under-resourced and not equipped to address trauma. At the same time, fragmented funding and short-term interventions can limit long-term impact.
This partnership seeks to address these challenges by supporting locally led solutions so that they can be embedded into public systems, strengthening them for the long term. Leveraging a decade of expertise in systems strengthening and local leadership, Co-Impact will provide multi-year, flexible funding and strategic support to local and refugee-led organisations, enabling them to work alongside governments and communities to shape policy, unlock sustainable financing, train teachers, support families, and improve accountability.
“Making systems work for children affected by conflict and crisis is a responsibility and opportunity” said Awo Ablo, President, Co-Impact. “We want to make this opportunity a reality by bringing what we have learnt over the past decade to this issue. We know that when we back local leaders with strategic support and long-term flexible funding, they can work with governments to scale their solutions through public systems. In partnership with the LEGO Foundation, we are applying that approach and investing in local leaders who are widening the aperture of what it means to support children’s education and wellbeing. They understand the systems that shape children’s lives, and they know that a child’s ability to thrive is shaped both inside the classroom and far beyond it.”
Focusing on Kenya and Nigeria
Kenya and Nigeria have been selected due to both the scale of need and strong government commitment to improving education in crisis-affected settings.
In Nigeria, an estimated 17.8 million children are out of school—nearly half in conflict-affected areas—making it the largest education crisis in Africa. Government initiatives such as the Safe Schools Initiative and the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools highlight a clear commitment to addressing this challenge.
In Kenya, more than 250,000 refugee children remain outside the national education system, while climate-related shocks have pushed an additional 2 million children out of school. The government’s pioneering Shirika Plan signals a strong focus on expanding access and inclusion of refugees into national systems.
By aligning with these national priorities, the LEGO Foundation and Co-Impact aim to support sustainable, government-owned solutions that strengthen systems at both national and sub-national levels—moving beyond short-term interventions to lasting impact.
A call for greater collaboration
The partners emphasise that long-term, system-wide change will require broader collaboration. In protracted conflict and recovery settings, children’s learning and ability to thrive are shaped not only by schools, but also by access to healthcare, nutrition, safe water, and community support.
This partnership is intentionally designed as an invitation for other funders to join a shared vision and an integrated approach. By aligning investments across education and complementary sectors such as health, nutrition, and WASH, we can reinforce the conditions across schools, homes, and communities that enable children to learn and thrive while strengthening the public systems designed to serve them.
For more enquiries, please contact:
- Co-Impact – [email protected]
- The LEGO Foundation - [email protected]
About the LEGO Foundation
The LEGO Foundation is a Danish corporate foundation working with partners around the world to support children’s needs and champion the dignity of childhood. The foundation exists to build the conditions – and create the space – for every child, everywhere, to thrive and grow.
About Co-Impact
Co-Impact brings together local changemakers and funders from around the world to make health, education and economic systems stronger and more inclusive. Our commitment to advancing gender equality and women’s leadership is central to this goal. We provide flexible grants and strategic support to locally rooted, predominantly women-led program partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America who have the expertise and relationships needed to deliver sustainable change. Spanning five continents, our team identifies partners that will create lasting progress when supported with the resources to work at scale. By pooling funding, we can support larger, longer-term initiatives that work at the true scale of the problem – creating more inclusive societies and improving millions of lives.