Hundreds of millions of children and youth across the developing world are denied the opportunities to get a quality education. To date, U.S. government investment in global education is one tenth of what is spent on global health. In this article, Rebecca Winthrop, director of the Center for Universal Education makes a strong case that the next U.S. Administration should make education a centerpiece of America’s foreign assistance strategy.

In order to achieve this, the U.S. should leverage bilateral and multilateral mechanisms in support of quality early childhood development, better schooling, and youth workforce development programs. Among the multilateral mechanisms that the author mentions is the Global Partnership for Education, which kicks off a new strategy and replenishment cycle in 2017. The ready-made global platform provided by the GPE replenishment means U.S. leadership would be catalytic for the sector. 

Now is an optimal time for strong U.S. leadership on global education and the next U.S. administration has a chance to make a significant difference for the education of young people around the world, specially for girls and women. 

Read the article in the Brookings' website