As world corporate and political leaders gather in Davos for the World Economic Forum, GPE Chair Julia Gillard and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus advocate in a joint opinion piece that what creates a shared future is to invest in people's education and health. They have seen this firsthand having both been involved in the running of large countries, as prime minister of Australia and as health and foreign minister of Ethiopia, respectively. They strongly believe that such investments are essential to solving the enormous challenges the world is facing over the coming years.
Investing in education and health is not charity. For low-income or conflict-affected countries that cannot finance health and education from their own coffers, donor funding can help to strengthen health and education systems. We need to focus on education — not “sometime in the future,” but right now. The costs associated with inaction are as devastating as this return on investment is impressive. Donors stepping up and supporting GPE’s Financing Conference this February is an essential investment.