Mogadishu, 20 February 2020. Today, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) funded Education Sector Program Implementation Grant handed over 11 vehicles to the Federal Government of Somalia’s Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education (MoECHE) and the four Federal Member States Ministries of Education of Galmudug, Jubbaland, South West and Hirshabelle. The vehicles will improve the operational capacity of the Ministries of Education at federal and state levels, particularly in conducting monitoring and supervision visits to schools to implement quality assurance guidelines.
The GPE funded program also marks a historic milestone: the completion of the distribution of one million Grades 1-8 primary textbooks and associated teacher guides to 1,000 schools across Galmudug, Jubbaland, Hirshabelle, South West and Benadir. This intervention will ensure the consistent availability of teaching and learning materials linked to the new national curriculum thus improving the quality of education and children’s learning outcomes.
“The significant donor support to the education sector calls for better coordination of efforts paving way for better burden sharing among donors and aid effectiveness. The Global Partnership for Education is a good example of a global program that works. In Somalia it serves to expand quality education opportunities for children at a time when state building process is getting traction”, said H.E. Nicolas Berlanga Martinez, EU Ambassador to Somalia.
The Federal Minister of Education, Culture and Higher Education, H.E. Abdullahi Godah Barre, said: “GPE is an important partner for Somalia and their contribution goes a long way to support expand equitable access to education for Somali children and to strengthening the education system”.
“GPE is proud to support Somalia and strengthen the country’s education system, allowing more children to go to school and receive a quality education,” said GPE Chief Executive Officer Alice Albright. “Investing in education is investing in a country’s future. We are convinced that a stronger education system will build Somalia’s human capital and allow the country to progress on the path to sustainable development.”
Background
The GPE funded program is designed to implement the Somali Government’s education sector priorities focusing on the primary education subsector. The program aims to improve the equitable access to education, improve the quality of education outcomes for all Somali children and strengthen the education system capacity for better service delivery. The program supports the provision of school capitation grants, improvement of learning environment and school infrastructure, construction of teacher training institutes, pre-service and in-service teacher training as well as activities aimed at improving institutional capacity at Federal Government (FGS), State, regional, district and school levels.
The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) supports close to 70 developing countries to ensure that every child receives a quality basic education, prioritizing the poorest, the most vulnerable and those living in countries affected by fragility or conflict. GPE mobilizes financing for education and supports developing countries to build effective education systems founded on evidence-based planning and policies.
Somalia has been a GPE partner country since 2012. In 2013, Somalia received its first GPE grant of US$14.5 million for the period 2013 to 2016. GPE’s support to Somalia is nearly US$100 million covering the whole of Somalia, with US$63 million in approved grants and US$37 million in proposed allocations.
The European Union is the GPE coordinating agency for Somalia, and CARE USA and Save the Children USA are the GPE grant agents for GPE support to the Federal Government of Somalia.
Contacts:
European Union: Abdi Abdikadir, Abdikadir.ABDI@eeas.europa.eu; Vicente Selles, Vicente.SELLES@eeas.europa.eu ; and Mohamed Sabul, Mohamed.SABUL@eeas.europa.eu
Global Partnership for Education: Breanna Ridsdel, bridsdel@globalpartnership.org