New York — May 27, 2026 — The LEGO Foundation and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) have announced a groundbreaking five‑year, $97 million initiative to support more than five million children affected by conflict and crisis across East Africa and the Middle East. The partnership will embed play‑based early learning into national education, health, and childhood development systems, offering children the chance to thrive despite disrupted schooling and humanitarian challenges.
Globally, over 400 million children live in or are fleeing conflict zones, where toxic stress, food insecurity, and limited access to education threaten their development. Yet less than 4% of aid to crisis‑affected countries supports early childhood development. This new commitment aims to close that gap by scaling proven approaches such as PlayMatters, Ahlan Simsim, and Play to Learn, which have already demonstrated measurable gains in children’s learning and resilience.
The initiative will strengthen pre‑primary and primary education systems, improve teaching quality, and integrate playful learning into classrooms for children aged 3–12+. For younger children aged 0–8, the program will expand nurturing care, responsive caregiving, and psychosocial support from pregnancy through early childhood. By embedding these interventions into national systems, the partnership ensures continuity even during crises such as conflict, drought, or flooding.
Implementation will prioritize countries with large populations of crisis‑affected children, including Ethiopia, Lebanon, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Uganda. The model is designed to be locally led yet globally connected, integrating child development interventions into education, health, nutrition, and social protection systems for long‑term sustainability.
Since 2019, the IRC and LEGO Foundation have collaborated on play‑powered pathways to development, reaching more than seven million children across 12 countries. This new partnership builds on that evidence base, aiming to deliver impact at scale while inspiring other philanthropists to invest in early childhood development.
