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Stockholm, June 13, 2019 – The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Board of Directors has decided to open a new office in France, adding a European base to its Washington DC headquarters. GPE already has a satellite office in Brussels, Belgium.
This decision will strengthen the visibility of the partnership in Europe, and in France in particular. The Paris office will host some of the Secretariat's staff in the coming months, enabling it to work even more closely and efficiently with its many European and African partners.
"France is proud to strengthen this team effort by hosting some of the Global Partnership for Education teams in Paris in the coming months" said Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, the State Secretary of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. "France is pleased with this decision, which will increase the performance of GPE to ensure that children from each partner country have access to a quality basic education. These priorities are those that France currently holds at the top of the international agenda as part of its G7 presidency."
Since 2005, France has been a key partner of GPE, through the provision of experts coming from different divisions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Secretariat and a significant financial support to the GPE fund.
In February 2018, President Macron co-chaired with his Senegalese counterpart President Sall the GPE financing conference held in Dakar. During the event, Emmanuel Macron announced a contribution of 200 million euros to the GPE fund for the period 2018-2020, multiplying by ten the contribution of France compared to the previous GPE replenishment period.
Since 2005, GPE has received a total of US$145 million (129 million euros) from France.
"We are very pleased with the Board's decision to establish an office of the GPE Secretariat in Paris", said Alice Albright, CEO of the Global Partnership for Education. "Relocating some of our staff to France will enable us to forge closer links with our partners such as the French Development Agency, UNESCO and the International Institute for Educational Planning, and to respond more quickly to the needs of African developing country partners. We also warmly thank the Danish and Swiss governments for their generous offers."
France sits on the GPE Board of Directors, representing the group of donors including Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland. France also chairs GPE’s Finance and Risk Committee, whose mandate is to advise the Board of Directors to ensure that GPE's resources are managed efficiently and in line with the partnership's mission, objectives and policies.
France, through the French Development Agency, has been chosen to serve as grant agent in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Guinea, Niger and Senegal. In this context, its role is to oversee GPE grants in these countries. France also assumes the role of coordinating agency for education partners in the Comoros and Mauritania.
In February, Alice Albright was invited to sit on the Gender Equality Advisory Council established by President Macron as part of the French G7 presidency.
The GPE Board met in Stockholm from June 11 to 13, 2019 for its bi-annual meeting.
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About the Global Partnership for Education
The Global Partnership for Education is working with nearly 70 developing countries to ensure quality basic education for all children, with priority given to the poorest, most vulnerable and those living in countries affected by poverty, fragility and conflict.
GPE funds education and supports developing countries to build effective education systems based on evidence-based planning and policies.
Contact: Chantal Rigaud, + 1 202 203 0750, crigaud@globapartnership.org
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