Paris, December 7, 2017.

The GPE Board of Directors met in Paris, from December 5 - 7, 2017.

This Board meeting took place at a pivotal moment, with less than two months until GPE’s Financing Conference to be held on February 1-2, 2018, in Dakar, Senegal.  The Financing Conference will be co-hosted by President Macky Sall of Senegal and President Emmanuel Macron of France. GPE’s goal is to raise USD$2 billion a year by 2020, to deliver on the ambition of GPE 2020, the partnership’s five-year strategic plan. To reach this goal, GPE is requesting US$3.1 billion in donor contributions for 2018 to 2020. Developing country partners are asked to raise their domestic education spending to 20 percent of their overall budgets.

The prospects of success at the Financing Conference were enhanced by the European Commission announcing at the Board meeting an increased contribution to the GPE Fund totaling 287.5 million euros (approx. US $350 million) for the 2018-2020 period.

Other highlights of the meeting included the Board approving:

• two new education sector plan implementation grants for Burkina Faso and Zanzibar, totaling USD $39.6 million.
• applications to the GPE Multiplier totaling USD $67.5 million for Ghana, Kyrgyz Republic, Nepal, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Zanzibar, and Zimbabwe. This innovative finance mechanism has unlocked an additional US$295.1 million to fund education in these seven countries.
• the design of a new knowledge and innovation exchange mechanism, which will enable new insights and the sharing of best practice on improving education.
• an advocacy and social accountability funding mechanism, which will  further GPE 2020 goals by strengthening civil society’s capacity to campaign for quality education for all.
• a private foundation strategy to respond to increased interest from non-traditional donor partners to collaborate with GPE.
• strengthened grant procedures to incentivize increased domestic investments in education and to respond to emergencies with accelerated funding support.

In addition, the Board approved actions in response to the first comprehensive GPE Results Report 2015-2016 addressing specific areas for improvement.

The Board ended with a report on the gathering global momentum on education, with GPE’s Financing Conference being the first opportunity for the world to show practical new support.