Girls’ Education Accelerator

GPE is committed to giving every girl a quality education and helping partner countries achieve gender equality through dedicated funding.

In December 2020, GPE created the US$250 million Girls’ Education Accelerator to support opportunities for girls to attend school and learn, leading to transformational change.

The Girls’ Education Accelerator provides resources to support gender equality in countries and regions where girls’ education has been identified as a main challenge.

How it works

GPE’s engagement in partner countries is based on a Partnership Compact that national authorities prepare with the support of partners. The compact defines focus areas to deliver transformational and sustainable improvements to the education sector. External support – including from GPE – is expected to align with these focus areas.

Eligible countries that have identified gender equality as a focus area in their compact can integrate a request for the Girls’ Education Accelerator in their system transformation grant or Multiplier grant application. Activities to be supported through the Girls’ Education Accelerator’s should align with those identified in these grants by complementing and extending their effects on gender equality.

The Girls’ Education Accelerator is not designed to fund standalone programs or discrete components of broader programs. Instead, the full package of GPE financing a country accesses should support programs that close the gap in outcomes between boys and girls.

Resources:

Eligibility and applications

30 countries where girls lag the farthest behind boys can access this funding:

  • Afghanistan
  • Angola
  • Benin
  • Cameroon
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Comoros
  • Congo, Dem. Rep.
  • Cote d'Ivoire
  • El Salvador
  • Eritrea
  • Ethiopia
  • Guinea
  • Honduras
  • Lao PDR
  • Malawi
  • Mali
  • Marshall Islands
  • Mozambique
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • Pakistan
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Sao Tome and Principe
  • Somalia
  • South Sudan
  • Sudan
  • Togo
  • Yemen
  • Zimbabwe
  • Eligible countries secure support on demand (no specific timeline for requests).
  • For countries eligible for system transformation grants, allocations from the Girls’ Education Accelerator are set at 50% of a country’s indicative allocation, up to a maximum of US$25 million.
  • Countries that are only eligible for the Multiplier and the Girls’ Education Accelerator but not system transformation grants can access the Accelerator on the same terms and based on the level of Multiplier funding they mobilize.
  • Countries are encouraged to apply for the various GPE grants at the same time to maximize impact and alignment.
  • Accessing the Girls’ Education Accelerator does not create new milestones for grant preparation or add more time to the process. The collective financing follows the same quality assurance process as any other grant from GPE.