GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION: Statement by the CEO of GPE on the G20 Rome Summit

Full Text Sharing

https://www.globalpartnership.org/who-we-are/ceo

The G20, under the Presidency of Italy, has placed people, planet and prosperity at the center of its pillars of action to ensure a quick response to the pandemic and to build resilience to future shocks.

On October 30th and 31st 2021, G20 leaders met in Rome and their declaration reiterated their belief that education is a human right and a pivotal tool for inclusive and sustainable economic recovery.

I welcome the G20’s commitment to ensure access to quality education for all, especially the focus on women and girls and vulnerable students. The promise to make education systems inclusive, adaptable, and resilient, is key to transforming learning for hundreds of millions of children around the world.

I urge leaders to carry their recognition of the importance of education for sustainable development forward to their COP26 discussions this week.

I was also pleased to see the G20 include the elimination of gender-based violence and a commitment to address the digital divide by promoting universal and affordable access to connectivity for all by 2025. Both these areas are critical to achieving sustainable development goal 4 and ensuring a quality education for every child.

COVID-19 created the biggest disruption to education that the world has ever seen. As we build back from the pandemic and help countries build resilient systems capable of responding to future crises, we must ensure that education remains a political and financial priority.

In July, at the Global Education Summit co-hosted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the UK and President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Heads of State and Government from 19 low- and lower-middle income countries made historic commitments to domestic financing for education.

Relieving, postponing and restructuring debt for low- and lower-middle income countries is critical to create the fiscal space for countries to invest in social sectors, including education, which is why I also welcome the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative.

At the Summit, donors pledged US$4 billion to enable GPE to support education for the world’s most marginalized children. This put us firmly on the path to achieving our target of raising at least $5 billion over the next five years to help transform education in up to 90 countries and territories and enable up to 175 million children to learn.

But there is much more to be done. I urge G20 leaders to continue to prioritize education for the most vulnerable children around the world and invest in transforming education systems for more prosperous, stable and equitable societies.

About GPE

GPE is the largest global fund solely dedicated to transforming education in lower-income countries, and a unique, multi-stakeholder partnership. We work to deliver quality education so that every girl and boy can have hope, opportunity and agency.

For nearly two decades, the Global Partnership for Education has been delivering funds and supporting solutions to build strong and resilient education systems so that more children in lower-income countries, especially girls, get the education they need to thrive and contribute to building a more prosperous and sustainable world.

We bring together lower-income countries, donors, international organizations, civil society, including youth and teacher organizations, the private sector and private foundations to transform education systems so that all girls and boys, especially those who are marginalized by poverty, displacement or disability, can get a quality education.

We support the countries with the greatest need: those with high numbers of out-of-school children and weak school completion rates. We focus on reaching the children who are most marginalized and vulnerable, including girls, children with disabilities and those who live in countries characterized by extreme poverty or conflict.

Our unique model has helped partner countries make significant progress in improving access, learning and equity, and achieve better outcomes for hundreds of millions of boys and girls.

What we do

Our vision

A quality education for every child

Our mission

To mobilize partnerships and investments that transform education systems in lower-income countries, leaving no one behind

Our goal

To accelerate access, learning outcomes and gender equality through equitable, inclusive and resilient education systems fit for the 21st century

Transforming education is about creating impact at scale so that every child receives a quality education. GPE helps governments make systemic changes to deliver education for the most marginalized children, raise learning levels, withstand shocks and adapt to new challenges.

As a partnership and a fund, GPE brings together a unique set of assets, tools and resources to accelerate transformative change.

To create lasting change, we convene partners behind lower-income country leadership and support governments to advance teaching and learning for the 21st century, mobilize more and better financing, and scale solutions for the world’s poorest and hardest-to-reach girls and boys.

HOW WE WORK

Principles

The GPE Charter enumerates 8 principles for the partnership:

Education as a public good, a human right and an enabler of other rights
Focusing our resources on securing learning, equity and inclusion for the most marginalized children and youth, including those affected by fragility and conflict
Achieving gender equality
Enabling inclusive, evidence-based policy dialogue that engages national governments, donors, civil society, teachers, philanthropy and the private sector
Providing support that promotes country ownership and nationally identified priorities, and is linked to country performance in achieving improved equity and learning
Improving development effectiveness by harmonizing and aligning aid to country systems
Promoting mutual accountability and transparency across the partnership
Acting on our belief that inclusive partnership is the most effective means of achieving development results