Resource Mobilization

GPE’s target of $8 billion in external aid by 2014 will deliver on the promise of universal quality education.

For many developing countries, aid is critical to meet the Education for All and Millennium Development Goals. External financing is often an important component of overall investment in education, even when developing country governments have dedicated significant portions of their national budgets to the education sector

The Challenge

Resource constraints continue to hamper progress in a large number of developing countries, which do not have the financial or technical means to extend quality basic education to every child in the country. The increasing youth population in low-income countries, the global financial crisis, the impact of climate change and commodity speculation also further exacerbate these challenges and put enormous pressure on governments to fulfill the basic needs and services to their people.

With an estimated financing gap of approximately $8 billion to achieve universal quality basic education in GPE-eligible countries, mobilizing additional resources for education is paramount. Yet many traditional and emerging donors are very careful about where they invest their aid resources.

Our Response

GPE works diligently to encourage partners to increase the overall resource flow to basic education worldwide. The GPE’s replenishment goal focuses on mobilizing $8 billion in additional financing for education between 2011 and 2014.

To achieve this target, the Global Partnership aims to increase funding for its own multilateral GPE Fund with a goal of $2.5 billion.

It is also critical that donors increase their bilateral aid to basic education and contribute the remaining gap of $5.5 billion to enable developing country partners to provide quality basic education to the hardest to reach children. In November 2011, the GPE convened its partners in Copenhagen at its Pledging Conference to initiate the three year replenishment campaign, mobilizing an initial US$1.5 billion in pledges for the GPE Fund, and securing commitments from several donors to increase their bilateral aid for basic education.

Yet as the global financial crisis continues, it will be vital that all our partners work together to mobilize the political will to invest in our common future. The return on this investment is exponential, as we seek to build stable, healthy, and empowered individuals who will be able to break the inter-generational cycles of poverty which currently grip the planet’s bottom billion.

We are actively seeking to increase traditional bilateral aid and domestic spending flows, leverage innovative financing sources and reach out to new partners among emerging economies. Our commitment will ensure that the necessary resources are in place to deliver on the promise of universal quality education and to achieve our target of $8 billion by 2014.