This past Saturday an estimated 250,000 people, some of the world's most influential leaders, and several top musicians came together at Global Citizen Earth Day in Washington D.C. to build momentum toward protecting the planet and having a world without extreme poverty. Energetic musical performances were peppered with important announcements, commitments and calls to action to support these ambitious goals. The spotlight turned to education several times during the day, with both political leaders and musicians reminding the audience that education is absolutely essential to ending poverty.

Charles Tapp from the Global Partnership for Education explains what happened

Denmark rallies other donors to fill the education financing gap

Danish Minister for Trade and Development Cooperation, Mogens Jensen, explained that Denmark has increased support for the Global Partnership for Education by 30%.

Five members of the United States Congress call for increased U.S. support to the Global Partnership for Education

US Representatives Nita Lowey (D-NY), Judy Chu (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA) , and Joseph Crowley (D-NY) announced their commitment to securing $125 million in 2016 for the Global Partnership for Education.

Belgium reaffirms commitment to Global Partnership for Education

Alexander de Croo, the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Cooperation, Digitization, Telecommunications and Postal Services called on governments to commit 50% of their official development assistance to the world’s least developed countries. He also reaffirmed his country’s commitment of €36 million to the Global Partnership for Education between 2015 and 2018.

Award winning musician, Usher, sums it all up in one quote