What Michelle Obama, Didier Drogba, Malala, Youssou N'dour, world leaders and education activists are saying about GPE

Celebrities, leaders and activists know the importance of ensuring that all girls and boys around the world get a quality education, giving them the chance to thrive and create a more sustainable future for all. Read what they have to say about GPE.

June 29, 2021 by GPE Secretariat

9 minutes read

Children raising their hands to reply to a question in their school in Chad. October 2012. Credit: Educate a Child — Children raising their hands to reply to a question in their school in Chad. October 2012.

Credit: Educate a Child

For nearly 20 years, GPE has been helping partner countries get all girls and boys in school and learning. We convene the development community behind partner country leadership to finance and support solutions that leave no child behind.

Now, GPE has launched a bold strategic plan for 2021–2025 and is seeking funding of at least $5 billion over five years to catalyze real change and transform education systems in up to 90 countries and territories, where 1 billion school-aged girls and boys live.

GPE’s work has been praised and recognized by many around the world, including Former First Lady Michelle Obama in this video:

Global celebrities like Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, international football star Didier Drogba, singer Youssou N'dour, model and actress Naomi Campbell, and Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge, have raised their hand to support our campaign:

“The COVID-19 crisis is exposing how tenuous education is for millions of girls. With 130 million girls out of school before the pandemic, we know that the number could rise by tens of millions in the next year. I am asking leaders to renew their commitment to education and invest in GPE. If we don’t prioritize education now, we will risk losing hard-won progress and sacrificing a brighter future for everyone.”

Malala Yousafzai

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Co-Founder, Malala Fund

“The Raise Your Hand campaign is an opportunity to transform education and unlock a brighter future for more than a billion girls and boys. The stakes have never been higher. More than a quarter of a billion children were out of school before the COVID-19 pandemic, and millions more could lose the chance to learn if world leaders don’t step up to invest in education. Raise your hand, fund education.“

Didier Drogba

President, Didier Drogba Foundation

“Global solidarity is needed if we are to succeed in rebuilding a better future for our daughters. That's why I'm raising my hand for GPE and for their education finance!”

Youssou N'dour

Ministerial Advisor, artist, author, composer

“Every change starts with a powerful act. Unlocking the future we want begins by investing in the generation that will build it. Join me and #RaiseYourHand to support @GPforEducation”

Naomi Campbell

Model, actress, cultural innovator, activist

“To protect the future of our children, we must ensure that we break down barriers to learning. Today I raised my hand for @GPforEducation – I call on you to do the same at http://raiseyourhand.net.”

Eliud Kipchoge

Olympic champion

Heads of state from Ethiopia to Norway, from Senegal to Sierra Leone and France, have expressed their views on the importance of education and the crucial work that GPE does.

Boris Johnson and Uhuru Kenyatta, the co-hosts of our “Raise Your Hand” campaign, have also called for support to GPE:

“GPE is so much greater than the sum of its parts. As genuine partners to progress, together we have made major strides on the path to realizing education for all. The road to success is a long one, but it is the most important journey a country can take. GPE’s replenishment will enable us to continue the transformation we so urgently need.”

Sahle-Work Zewde

President of Ethiopia

“Just as health systems must be strong to support our survival, education systems must be resilient enough to form the foundations of our future. Now more than ever GPE has an important role to play in strengthening the synergies between health and education to ensure that even the most marginalized children both survive and thrive.”

Erna Solberg

Prime Minister of Norway

“The result of a good education system lies in a relevant learning process and that learning is enabled by GPE. Being resolutely focused on ‘equal learning opportunities,’ GPE is planting the very roots that guarantee equitable growth in education for decades to come, across social, digital and economic divides.”

Macky Sall

President of the Republic of Senegal

“While the economic impact of COVID is putting a strain on our national economies and budgets, education is key to the pandemic response and recovery. Providing quality education for every child, boy and girl, can be the foundation for expanding opportunities, transforming our economies, fighting intolerance, protecting our planet and achieving the AU Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals. For those of our countries supported by GPE, this is a pivotal moment to commit our leadership and call for global solidarity to keep education financing a top priority.”

Julius Maada Bio

President of Sierra Leone

“We stand at a crossroads regarding the role we want education to play for the future of young generations - and GPE’s replenishment is the decisive moment to ensure we choose the right direction. As the world is experiencing a period of uncertainty, never has there been more urgency to raise our hand for education.”

Emmanuel Macron

President of the Republic of France

“I am delighted that the UK will co-host the replenishment of the Global Partnership for Education in 2021. I urge the global community to come together, dig deep and ensure we fund their vital work to give every child the chance at an education.”

Boris Johnson

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

“We must use the opportunity of GPE’s financing conference to make ambitious pledges to invest in quality education so our children and young people have the skills and knowledge they need to seize the opportunities of the 21st century.”

Uhuru Kenyatta

President of the Republic of Kenya

Other political figures from Cambodia, Germany, Denmark, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, and leaders at the United Nations, Econet, Dubai Cares, FAWE, Islamic Development Bank, and the African Union have spoken up to support GPE:

“Cambodia has received support from GPE since 2006 which has catalyzed investment in our education system. GPE funding has helped increase access to education for children from disadvantaged backgrounds including through the provision of free schools and education in the language of ethnic minorities. At least $5 billion from donors to GPE over the next five years will make a huge impact in Cambodia but also in other GPE countries.”

Dr Hang Chuon Naron

Minister of Education of Cambodia

“GPE’s rapid response to COVID-19 was unprecedented in terms of both scale and speed. Without the partnership’s response, the damage to education systems could have been far more extensive, with dramatic consequences across the globe.”

Gerd Müller

Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany

“We will not at all manage to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 if we are not focusing more strongly on education and especially girls’ education. I will do my utmost to build a strong coalition in parliament advocating for a strong commitment from Denmark for GPE.”

Ulla Tørnæs

Danish member of Parliament

“We strongly believe that investing in education and especially in girls’ education means investing in the future of countries and in peaceful, just and inclusive societies. Italy recognizes the impressive results achieved by GPE to ensure quality education for millions of children all over the world, especially those in the most fragile and vulnerable contexts. Despite all our efforts, there is still so much to be done and this is why Italy decided to increase its political and financial support to the Global Partnership for Education."

Marina Sereni

Italian Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

“Our vision for the future is a world built on tolerance, equality and peaceful coexistence. In order to achieve this, we must actively invest in the cultivation of these practices. To finance GPE is to fuel the engine of hope. On the road to the RewirEd Summit at the World Expo in Dubai, where over half of the 192 participating countries will prioritize the future of education in their program, the GPE replenishment is a game-changing opportunity for donors to be the architects of a better future for all."

Reem Bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy

Cabinet member and Minister of State for International Cooperation for the United Arab Emirates

“As the world continues to battle the pandemic, education — as a fundamental right and a global public good — must be protected to avert a generational catastrophe. Even before the pandemic, some 258 million children and adolescents were out of school, the majority of them girls […]. In 2021, we must seize all opportunities to turn this situation around. We must ensure the full replenishment of the Global Partnership for Education fund and strengthen global education cooperation.“

António Guterres

Secretary-General of the United Nations

“Financing education is the bedrock of just, equal and inclusive societies and a driver of sustainable development. Securing adequate resources for education now will prevent a learning crisis from turning into a learning catastrophe. It is time to reimagine education, accelerate change and ensure robust education systems for equitable learning. GPE and its replenishment are key to delivering this.”

Amina J. Mohammed

Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations

"Supporting GPE's efforts in a sustainable way through the continuous renewal of financial resources is a shared responsibility that requires a bold vision, close cooperation and enduring commitment. If education isn’t given the attention it deserves now, an entire generation on this planet could miss out on their education; hence lose hope for a brighter future. We are now at this tipping point.”

His Excellency Dr Tariq Al-Gurg

Chief Executive Officer at Dubai Cares

“Innovation is indispensable in this crisis. GPE’s work creating active partnerships with private sector players in Africa is a highly valuable way of compounding innovation in education.”

Strive Masiyiwa

Founder and Group Chairman, Econet

“If the G7, emerging donors and businesses match the scale of the challenge with their ambition, GPE’s new strategic plan could be a game-changer for the most left behind children and young people, especially girls.”

Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang

Chairperson for the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and former Minister of Education for Ghana

“The ISDB is proud to support the GPE’s financing campaign to raise at least $5 billion for the transformation of education systems over the next five years […]. On this historic occasion, I call upon you to rally behind the GPE campaign for mobilizing and leveraging public and private financing to advance education.”

Dr Bandar M.H Hajjar

President, Islamic Development Bank

“A vaccine might save our lives, but that is not enough; we want lives worth living. I’m asking every world leader to raise their hand for GPE so that young people in Africa and elsewhere have the chance of a safe and quality education with dignity.”

Aya Chebbi

Former African Union Special Envoy on Youth

The Global Education Summit: Financing GPE 2021-2025 will be a key moment for the global community to come together and support quality education for all children. We hope you will join us.

Focus areas: Financing 2025, SDG 4

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