Dublin, Ireland, December 6, 2018 --- Building on the growing international momentum to support children’s education in developing countries through the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), Denmark and Germany have each announced new financing for GPE.
The announcements, made today at the opening of the GPE Board of Directors meeting in Dublin, follow another recent pledge from the Netherlands and signal continuing strong donor investment in response to the increased demand for GPE funding by developing countries.
With these new announcements, the total new donor commitments since GPE’s Financing Conference rose to almost US$250 million. At the Conference, which was held in Dakar, Senegal in February 2018, donors pledged US$2.3 billion for 2018 to 2020. Since then, education has been more prominent on the global development agenda and the number of new GPE grants in support of children’s education has grown at record pace.
“GPE is grateful for the significant additional financing received since the Financing Conference in Senegal,” said Julia Gillard, Chair of GPE’s Board of Directors. “It demonstrates continuing confidence in GPE’s unique partnership approach to improving education outcomes in developing countries.”
“Many developing countries are investing more of their own resources in education, but they need additional support to drive large-scale change,” said Alice Albright, GPE’s Chief Executive Officer. “GPE provides essential support to expand and improve the quality of their education systems so more children can get the schooling they deserve.”
Denmark will add 32 million Danish kroner (US$4.9 million) to the 1.2 billion Danish kroner (US$210.1 million) it announced at the Financing Conference, which represented a 50% increase over Denmark’s previous contribution to GPE. This makes Denmark GPE’s fifth biggest donor.
Germany announced new financing of 28 million euros (US$31.8 million) bringing the total for 2019 to 37 million euros. This follows a doubling of its 2018 contribution from 9 million euros to 18 million euros.
In September, The Netherlands announced a contribution of 100 million euros (US$113.6 million) in support of GPE.
Also, in March, the United States Congress approved an additional US$87.5 million on top of the United States’ Financing Conference commitment of US$75 million to GPE.
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The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) works with more than 65 developing countries to ensure that every child receives a quality education, prioritizing the poorest, the most vulnerable and those living in countries affected by fragility and conflict. GPE mobilizes financing for education and supports developing countries to build effective education systems founded on evidence-based planning and policies.
As the only multilateral partnership focusing exclusively on education, GPE brings together developing country and donor country governments, international organizations, civil society, the teaching profession, foundations and the private sector. At the successful GPE Financing Conference in Senegal in February, donors pledged US$2.3 billion for 2018 through 2020, with further commitments continuing to be announced.