At a high-level event, Financing the Future: Education 2030, held during the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, heads of state and global education leaders committed to tackling the global education crisis holding back millions of children and threatening progress. They have acknowledged that every development success story starts with education and the current status quo risks trapping children in cycles of poverty and depravation. And, despite some progress in achieving gender equality in the world’s poorest countries, far more girls than boys still do not have access to quality education.
The European Union, Denmark, France and Norway have promised to increase their global commitments to education in emergencies and the Education Cannot Wait Fund. However, country ownership is at the crux of the 2030 Agenda and countries hold the reins to making education equitable, inclusive and transformative. Senegal and Malawi have committed to allocating more in their national budget to education.