The European Commission and the Member States (‘Team Europe’) recommitted on Thursday 29 July to contribute to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) with €1.7 billion for the period 2021-2027.
The European Commission, as already indicated in June, will contribute €700 million - €100 million per year for seven years - which represents a 30% increase on its last contribution.
The remaining €1 billion will be disbursed by the EU27. “This represents the biggest contribution to the Global Partnership for Education”, the Commission said. However, the UK will lead the way among bilateral donors, with a pledge of £430 million - or just over €500 million - the Partnership’s leaders said in a statement.
The pledges were made at a World Education Summit in London, attended by leaders of governments, businesses, private foundations and development banks.
The event raised US$4 billion for the Partnership. This amount should make it possible to raise the 5 billion needed by 2025, in order to enrol 88 million additional girls and boys in school by that date.
“We have committed not to allow Covid-19 to reverse decades of progress in improving access to education and our acts follow words”, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen assured the summit. “Education is an accelerator of progress towards all Sustainable Development Goals and will have a central role in the recovery” post-Covid-19, she stressed.
In her speech, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, confirmed that the Commission would increase the share of its development aid devoted to education from 7 to 10%. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)