Scaling up education financing in developing countries to help hundreds of millions of children to learn

WHAT:          

Presidents Macky Sall of Senegal and Emmanuel Macron of France are convening global leaders to revitalize global education financing and transform school outcomes and opportunities for millions of children.

The Global Partnership for Education Financing Conference “An Investment in the Future” will be held in Dakar, Senegal, on February 1-2, 2018.

Education is a foundation for prosperity, security, social stability and good health, but in many developing countries education is significantly underfunded and donor support has declined in recent years.  An estimated 264 million children are out of school and many millions more are going to school but not learning. Without change, it is estimated that half of all young people in the coming decades will barely have primary school level skills.  They will be ill prepared for the job market of the 21st century.

“The Conference is set to mark the beginning of a new era of education financing, building on a growing political commitment to improve learning outcomes for girls and boys everywhere,” said Julia Gillard, GPE Board Chair.

Leaders from donor and developing countries are expected to commit to substantially increase financing to accelerate progress towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal for education.

The Conference was announced by President Sall and President Macron in September at the United Nations where they were joined by other global leaders calling for a renewed commitment to education financing.  See the announcement here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI8RzGap3Wk

“The Global Partnership for Education’s Financing Conference is our first opportunity to turn political commitment into tangible support,” said António Guterres, UN Secretary-General. “Financing education is indeed the best investment we can make.”

WHY:

To start the scale-up in global education financing, the Global Partnership for Education seeks to grow to US$2 billion a year by 2020 – up from approximately US$500 million currently – as recommended by the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity.

To reach this goal will require all partners to increase their financing, with donor governments providing US$3.1 billion over 2018-2020, developing country governments allocating at least 20 percent of their expenditure to education, and philanthropic foundations and private sector donors stepping up targeted contributions.

Approximately 870 million children, including almost 80% of the world’s out of school children, live in the 89 developing countries that are eligible for GPE support. GPE mobilizes financing for education and supports developing countries to build effective education systems founded on evidence-based planning and policies.

WHEN:          

February 1-2, 2018
There will be a press conference on February 2, 2017 (tbc)

WHERE:        

February 1, 2018: Radisson Blu Hotel, Dakar, Senegal
February 2, 2018: Centre International de Conférences Abdou Diouf (CICAD), Dakar, Senegal

WHO:             

Macky Sall , President of the Republic of Senegal (co-host)
Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic of France (co-host)
Julia Gillard, Board Chair, Global Partnership for Education and former Prime Minister of Australia
Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer, Global Partnership for Education
Other delegates will include heads of state, ministers, corporate, philanthropic and civil society leaders and prominent global advocates. Additional details will be released as available.

MEDIA REGISTRATION

GPE welcomes media for on-site coverage, including interviews. Please contact Alexandra Humme to receive the registration details.

MEDIA CONTACT:

For more information, please contact:  Alexandra Humme, ahumme@globalpartnership.org, Tel: +1 202 492 8890

BACKGROUND:  

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) brings together developing country governments and donor governments, multilateral agencies, civil society organizations, and private sector representatives to plan and build strong education systems to achieve equitable and quality learning outcomes. It prioritizes support to vulnerable communities and countries.

Since its founding in 2002, GPE has provided more than US$4.7 billion to help more than 60 developing countries build and strengthen durable, resilient national education systems, including in 31 countries affected by fragility and conflict.

As a result, developing countries supported by the Global Partnership for Education have shown measurable results:

• 72 million more children in primary school in 2015 compared to 2002.
• 76% of students completed primary school compared with 63% in 2002.
• 74% primary school completion rate for girls, up from 57 % in 2002.
• GPE developing country partner governments have increased their own investments in education and they do so at a much faster rate than countries outside the partnership.

MORE INFORMATION:

GPE’s replenishment: http://replenishment.globalpartnership.org/en/home/
GPE: http://www.globalpartnership.org/
Photo resources: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gpforeducation
Videos: https://www.youtube.com/gpforeducation