Today, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and GPE Chair Julia Gillard visited a classroom in England, and connected with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was also visiting a school in Nairobi. The event raised awareness about the global education crisis and girls’ education, and restated the new G7 goals to get 40 million more girls in school and 20 million more girls reading by the age of 10 by 2026.

The G7 foreign and development ministers also committed to “mobilize financial and technical resources, including through the Global Partnership for Education, and to work with national governments to protect domestic spending on education.”

Boris Johnson and Uhuru Kenyatta will co-host GPE’s Global Education Summit in London on July 28-29, 2021, which aims to raise $5 billion over the next five years for GPE.

During the school visit, Boris Johnson announced a £55 million new program, ‘What Works Hub for Global Education’, to support lower-income countries with their education reforms through new research. He also launched the Girls’ Education Action Plan, which sets out the steps needed to reach the girls’ education targets.

“Supporting girls to get 12 years of quality education is one of the smartest investments we can make as the world recovers from Covid-19. Otherwise we risk creating a lost pandemic generation,” said Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister. “Across the world there is a vast untapped resource – girls whose education has been cut short or denied altogether, who could be leading efforts to pull their communities out of poverty. I’m going to be working throughout the UK’s G7 presidency to ensure leaders invest in those girls and boost children’s life chances around the world.”

“Protecting domestic education budgets and ensuring that we do not lose education momentum because of the COVID-19 pandemic will enable us to create more prosperous and resilient economies,” said Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya. “We need to make smart investments in education technology to help close the digital divide and leapfrog infrastructure deficits in schools. The Global Partnership for Education provides critical catalytic funding that promotes education quality and equity and maximizes the value of government investment in education. That’s why I have teamed up with Prime Minister to raise US$5 billion for GPE.”

“COVID-19 has worsened the global education crisis and hit children in lower-income countries the hardest, with life-changing consequences for millions,” said Julia Gillard, GPE Board Chair. “Now, we are at a decisive junction. When the world builds back from the pandemic, ensuring that every girl and boy has the opportunity for a quality education is the single best investment we can make for a more sustainable, peaceful and resilient future. The Global Education Summit this July, co-hosted by the United Kingdom and Kenya, is a critical opportunity to fully fund the Global Partnership for Education and help transform education systems to make them more equitable and effective.”

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• Read the UK press release
• More information on the Global Education Summit