INEE's 25th Anniversary

INEE25 Geneva Policy Dialogue

Date: Friday, 14 November 2025 at 10:00–12:00 CET

Location: In person - Varembé Conference Centre, Geneva*

Co-hosted by the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies, and the Permanent Missions of Colombia and the Government of Switzerland, this policy dialogue convened leaders from governments, UN agencies, and civil society. Drawing on insights from INEE’s What’s Next for EiE consultations with our membership, we reflected on how the EiE sector can evolve collectively over the next 25 years.

Click to watch the recording.

INEE 25th Anniversary Global Event

This virtual event celebrated INEE’s 25-year journey — from its founding in 2000 to today’s vibrant network of more than 22,000 members. Through storytelling, reflection, and interactive dialogue, members from all regions shared what INEE has meant to them and help shape our collective future. At this event, we also shared INEE’s focused vision designed to meet this moment and guide the network into its next chapter. Building on INEE’s role as the global standard-setter, convener, and knowledge broker for Education in Emergencies, our new vision models an intentional power shift towards locally led and globally backed solutions.

Click here to watch the webinar recording.

#MyEiECommunity Campaign

In celebration of our INEE’s 25th anniversary, we’ve launched the member-led #MyEiECommunity campaign. We want to hear from you about your experiences with the INEE community over the years and how we can better support you. Here’s how to participate in the campaign: 

1. Create: Record a video, share a photo, or write a blog responding to any of these questions: How were you introduced to INEE? How have you engaged with INEE? How would you like to see INEE evolve in the next 25 years?

2. Post: Post your responses on social media using the hashtags #MyEiECommunity and #INEEturns25. Don’t forget to tag us! We’re @INEEnetwork on Facebook, @Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies on LinkedIn and @inee.org on Bluesky. INEE will reshare your posts on our social media channels.

3. Engage: Check out posts from other members of our community! 

Feel free to use this image or this editable template to create a personalized graphic. We can’t wait to hear from you!

INEE Member Stories

We’re excited to share the following video compilation of essays, photos, and videos submitted by INEE members around the world to mark the occasion of INEE’s 25th anniversary.

• Celebrating 25 Years of INEE. 17 November, 2025. Geneva Global Hub for EiE. 
• INEE25: Reflections From Our Partners and Community - Practitioner Edition. 13 November, 2025. Marian Hodgkin, Save the Children International; Emilia Sorrentino, Plan International; Jeffrey Dow, IRC; Constantijn Wouters, NRC.
• INEE25: Reflections From Our Partners and Community - UN Edition. 13 November, 2025. Helena Murseli, UNICEF; Fareeda Miah, UNHCR.
• Towards A World That No Longer Needs INEE. 4 November, 2025. Charbel Chidiac, World Vision.

For more member stories, check out our 25th anniversary playlist. 

Re-centering Education in Emergencies: A Localized INEE

In 2025, INEE launched the Beyond Aid: What's Next for EiE initiative, with the aim of documenting how the EiE landscape is shifting while creating a space for collective reflection and visioning. Across regions and roles, members told us plainly: education in emergencies cannot be sustained by business-as-usual approaches. The center of gravity must shift towards learners’ lived realities, teachers who hold classrooms together, governments that own and finance education as a public good, local organizations trusted to lead not just implement, and toward INGOs and funders who enable rather than direct. To meaningfully shift the center of gravity and challenge power structures in EiE, INEE will adopt a new operating model. Fundamental to this shift is a deeper regional and national focus, to bring the Network closer to the local realities of crisis-affected contexts, and reaffirming INEE’s commitment to remaining the sector’s principal convener and thought leader.

Click here to learn more about INEE's new operating model. 

We would appreciate your feedback on our new operating model! Share your insights in this survey, available in English, Arabic, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.  

Rethinking Humanitarianism podcast: Why emergency education saves lives

This episode from The New Humanitarian podcast features INEE's Director, Faiza Hassan. When aid funding is tight, education is often cut first. But schools offer more than just learning, and communities say education is their priority. "We have to believe that survival means more than just breathing." On this episode: Why disrupted schooling is the norm as climate change worsens, and the argument for prioritizing education in an era of aid cuts.

INEE Meet-Ups

INEE Meet-Ups took place in November, 2025!

Meet-Ups are informal gatherings in all corners of the globe where INEE members and others can network, share experiences, and discuss relevant topics. All people and all themes are welcome! This is a fantastic opportunity for advocacy and awareness-raising and getting to know other members of our network.

*All INEE Meet-Ups are free and open to anyone interested.

INEE History and Timeline

INEE was conceptualized in 2000 at the World Education Forum in Dakar where UNHCR, UNESCO, and UNICEF took forward Strategy Five of the Dakar Framework for Action and convened the first Global Consultation on Education in Emergencies in Geneva. INEE was founded on the basis that the right to quality education is universal and not suspended in times of emergency. 

There has been notable progress within the field of education in emergencies (EiE) since INEE was established in 2000, including the development and adoption of global humanitarian standards for education - the INEE Minimum Standards (2004) - the formation of the Global Education Cluster (2006), and the establishment of the Education Cannot Wait Fund (2016).

INEE has grown to a network of more than 24,000 individual members in 190 countries. INEE has consistently supported those living and working in the field of EiE to improve the quality of education in crisis contexts. 

INEE marks its 25th anniversary in a year when global crises are on the rise and critical funding cuts have destabilized humanitarian aid, with education being particularly affected. Many of the same challenges that led to the formation of INEE still remain, including the deprioritization and underfunding of education in humanitarian responses. INEE and the collective action it generates is more relevant than ever.