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Media Contact: Taylor Royle, taylorroyle@gmail.com, +1 504.232.5399

Bilateral Aid and Domestic Spending Increases Among Major Outcomes to Benefit Millions of Children

November 8-Copenhagen, Denmark – Today at the Global Partnership for Education pledging conference in Copenhagen, representatives from 52 countries committed substantial resources that will transform the lives of millions of children. Leading donors pledged an initial $1.5bn for the multilateral Global Partnership for Education from 2012-2014 and pledged to increase bilateral funding over the next three years; developing countries attending the pledging conference promised to raise domestic basic education spending by more than $2bn.

“Today in Copenhagen, we have seen a transformative outcome for the world’s children,” said Carol Bellamy, Chair of the Global Partnership for Education. “Without education, our efforts to save lives, empower women, grow economies and promote stability will fail in the long run. Developing country leaders understand this and today promised to significantly increase domestic education budgets. Leading donors answered the call by raising their bilateral commitments and kick-starting multilateral financing for the Global Partnership for Education.”

Over the next three years, funding dedicated to the Global Partnership for Education will help put 25 million children into classrooms for the first time, train 600,000 new teachers and significantly reduce illiteracy for primary school aged children. Education is vital for child and maternal health – and the long-term impacts of Global Partnership’s support during this period include saving the lives of 350,000 children and 14,000 mothers.

Leading up to the pledging conference, many advocates feared a sharp downturn in bilateral funding for education. While this remains a concern in some countries, five leading donors –France, European Commission, Germany, Australia and United Kingdom – have reversed this trend and promised significant increases in their bilateral support to education. Multilateral pledges came from all corners of the globe, with the United States making its first ever pledge to the Global Partnership and a number of other countries increasing their funding.

Finally, global teachers’ unions, civil society and private sector organizations made strong auxiliary pledges. Education International, an organization dedicated to advocating for educators, promised to train an additional 1.8 million teachers over the next three years, a pledge addressing the critical shortage of well-prepared teachers in developing countries. Private sector members of Global Partnership’s board pledged to spend $687mn on education programs – ranging from establishing success metrics to installing computer labs – by 2014. Civil society organizations and coalitions, including Save the Children, Plan, The Elders, Oxfam and Action Aid, pledged to provide teacher training and school construction, fight for girls education and eliminate child marriage, monitor donor country delivery on pledges and support developing country colleagues in holding their governments to account for improved access to education and minimizing corruption in education spending.

The $1.5bn raised at Global Partnership for Education’s first pledging conference kicks off a funding cycle that will raise an additional $1bn by 2014 to support 25 million children entering school for the first time. Countries also pledged to focus on Global Partnership’s policy priorities: girls’ education, improved quality and children in fragile or conflict-affected states. The pledging conference in Copenhagen was attended by nearly 300 people from 52 countries, including 28 Education Ministers from developing countries.

“Our model works because it mobilizes donor funding to support ambitious and effective developing country-owned education plans,” said Bellamy. “Today in Copenhagen we saw a truly global partnership of governments, civil society, private sector and multilateral institutions coming together to make education a reality for all children.”

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More than $1.5 Billion Pledged to the Global Partnership for Education