At World Education Forum, Julia Gillard, Board Chair of the Global Partnership for Education, says ambitious, new sustainable development goal for education will not be met without much stronger political will, financing and commitment to partnership over the next 15 years.

Incheon, Republic of Korea. May 19, 2015 – Julia Gillard, former Australian Prime Minister and Board Chair of the Global Partnership for Education, has urged global leaders, governments and private donors, civil society and the private sector as well as developing countries to take bold steps to secure the financing needed to achieve the new education sustainable development goal by 2030.

“We need to be audacious to address the enormous challenges we face. With 58 million children still not in primary school and the desire to lift ambition to achieve more years of better quality education for all, business as usual is nowhere near enough. We need to not only aim higher but we must be bolder on financing and embracing better ways of working to achieve our shared goals.” Ms. Gillard said.

According to UNESCO’s Global Monitoring Report, there is an estimated annual funding gap of US$22 billion. This is the level of new funding that experts say is required to achieve quality, universal pre-primary, primary and lower secondary education for every child by 2030.

Speaking at the opening session of the World Education Forum, Ms. Gillard said: “The new sustainable development agenda for education is ambitious - and it should be. But it cannot succeed unless we are equally ambitious about our financing goals. Securing the necessary resources will be key. In 15 years, I want to look back at today and be able to say: ‘This was the day we committed to the plan and created the momentum to deliver the financing needed to unlock the talent of generations to come’.”

The case for investing in education has never been stronger. Recent OECD evidence shows that investing in the achievement of universal basic skills can leverage a significant increase in gross domestic product. Nations around the world, but particularly the world's poorest, cannot afford the loss of economic output due to poor educational policies and practices. The example of the Republic of Korea, the nation hosting the World Education Forum, proves the economic might of education.

Despite this evidence, the world under invests in education.

Donor aid to basic education in developing countries has dropped by 7 percent between 2010 and 2013, while overall development aid increased by more than 9 percent over the same period.

Ms. Gillard stressed that it is equally important to ensure that education funding is spent effectively. “Every dollar spent has to work to maximum effect. This requires rigor in sharing best practice, leveraging knowledge and undertaking inclusive planning as well as the courage to embrace new ways of thinking and working,” she said.

"At the Global Partnership for Education we understand these challenges. Through the Global Partnership, we are able to leverage financing, technical expertise and advocacy from all our partners to strengthen education systems in developing countries. We are ambitious to do more. To advocate for new resources and to drive better access, learning and inclusion through constant improvement in our ways of working.” Ms. Gillard said.

The World Education Forum, organized by UNESCO, is a milestone event for education bringing together over 100 education ministers, as well as policy-makers, representatives of civil society, teachers, experts and the private sector from 150 countries. Together, they are reflecting on the outcomes of the Education for All Goals and education-related Millennium Development Goals, which expire this year. The delegates will also refine a framework for action for the next 15 years, which lays out how to realize the education agenda that will be embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Through the inclusive partnership approach of the Global Partnership for Education, developing countries are increasingly embracing effective policies, and allocating more resources to the education sector. About one year ago, at the second Global Partnership for Education replenishment conference in Brussels, GPE developing country partners collectively pledged to increase their domestic financing for education by an extraordinary $26 billion between 2015 and 2018. Donors pledged $2.1 billion over the same period, including the first direct pledge from private philanthropy.

“The Global Partnership for Education proves every day the power of partnership. Together we are stronger. Let's use the combined strength of the global education community as to raise our level of ambition and to rapidly accelerate progress towards achieving our goals,” Ms. Gillard said.

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The Global Partnership for Education mobilizes global and national efforts to achieve quality education for all children, prioritizing the poorest and most vulnerable, through inclusive partnership, financing and a focus on effective education systems. The Global Partnership is an independently governed multi-stakeholder partnership with 60 developing country governments, as well as donors, civil society/non-governmental organizations, teacher organizations, international organizations, the private sector and foundations. Fifty percent of GPE's work is in fragile and conflict affected countries.