Earlier last month, representatives from more than 50 countries met in Copenhagen at the first ever Global Partnership for Education Pledging Conference. With so much on the line for out of school children in low income countries, education advocates around the world collectively held their breath to see what these world leaders would deliver. I am pleased to report that this step toward providing a quality education for all children was a big one. I invite you to browse the Pledging Conference Summary Report (English | French) and speeches from 58 representatives as they pledge their support progress towards Education for All between 2011 and 2014 in low-income countries.

In case you are short of time, here are some highlights:

• Donors committed an initial $1.5 billion for Global Partnership’s multilateral efforts over the next three years
• Many countries pledged to increase their bilateral funding for education over the next three years, bucking the trend to cut this financial support that millions of children depend on
• Developing countries showed up in force and promised to increase domestic education budgets and provide policy reforms focused on quality teaching, measurable results and access to education for girls and children in fragile states
• Civil society advocates pledged to hold all parties accountable for their promises and promised to spend their own resources supporting marginalized children get access to school
• Teachers’ unions pledged to train at least 1.8 million new teachers over the next three years
• Private sector and foundation leaders pledged to spend $687mn on education programs – ranging from establishing success metrics to installing computer labs

At the Global Partnership, we are celebrating and reflecting on the impact of the Pledging Conference. 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.

Certainly there is more work to be done and indeed more funding to be raised. The $1.5bn raised at the pledging conference kicks off a funding cycle that will raise an additional $1bn by 2014.

We’re already getting back to work to keep our promise to children around the world. We know we will get there because 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.