A/HRC/8/10 page 16 A. Priorities for action 69. UNICEF and UNESCO, the United Nations agencies that have taken on the leadership for the area of education in emergencies, are formally committed to the right to education. However, this is not always matched by the educational strategies of large sectors of the international community, including other United Nations agencies, intergovernmental organizations, development banks and private sector and civil society agencies.35 Although some progress has been achieved, especially with the creation of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s Education Cluster, education as a priority in humanitarian assistance will go on being out of reach until this priority is recognized by all, including, primarily, Governments. B. Donors 70. Humanitarian assistance is underfunded, barely receiving two thirds of the amount that is requested.36 Consequently, when priorities are set, education in emergencies is not high on the list. In 2004, only approximately 1.5 per cent of the total humanitarian commitments were intended for educational programmes.37 Also, estimates for the years 2001 to 2005 show that the actual financial contributions made for education averaged 42 per cent of the real needs, as compared with 66 per cent in all the other humanitarian sectors.38 71. There is a steady increase in the literature covering the challenges relating to the financing of education in emergencies. The Special Rapporteur wishes to highlight a selection of those challenges, calling for monitoring, evaluation, dialogue and dissemination of best practices and innovations. Further, the Special Rapporteur repeats his call to the international community that provision of funding for education in times of emergency must be the result of a commitment to a human right, rather than of an exercise in risk avoidance. 72. The challenges that are discussed most often with regard to education in emergencies include the following: (a) The lack of sufficient and suitable funding for education in general and the failure to keep promises, despite the adoption of policies and the support of many donors who promote Education For All and the Millennium Development Goals; 35 UNESCO, informe del Director General sobre el Plan de Acción para alcanzar los objetivos de la educación para todos (doc. 174 EX/9), marzo de 2006, párr. 8. 36 CIDA-INEE, Policy Roundtable in Emergencies, Fragile States and Reconstruction: Addressing Challenges and Exploring Alternatives, CIDA-INEE Policy Roundtable Report, 2006, pág. 36. 37 Winthrop, R. y Mendenhall, M., Education in Emergencies: a critical factor in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, The Commonwealth Ministers Reference Book, 2006. 38 Op. cit. (nota 37 supra), pág. 13.