GPE Replenishment in the Spotlight at UN General Assembly

“One thing that is palpably different about this UNGA from a few UNGAs ago is that everyone is talking about education”

Alice Albright – Chief Executive Officer, Global Partnership for Education

Financing for education was at the center of a week of discussions during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 2017). With 260 million children still out of school, world leaders, civil society, and academics continue to work to address the downward trend in international financing of education, increase national education budgets, and build momentum in support of the best solutions to close the education financing gap.

In this context, RESULTS launched a Global Partnership for Education (GPE) replenishment brief “Impact, Effectiveness, and Sustainability: Investing in the Global Partnership for Education” during a Global Campaign for Education (GCE) event alongside UNGA 2017. The GCE event highlighted the importance of national financing and international action to deliver education for all.

Why invest in GPE?

“Impact, Effectiveness, and Sustainability: Investing in the Global Partnership for Education” explains the importance of investing in education, highlights the common efforts made so far to achieve education for all, lays out the challenges left to ensure that all children are in school and learning by 2030, and encourages global leaders to invest in GPE if the world is to achieve greater impact, effectiveness, and sustainability in education development.

Established in 2002, GPE is the only global fund dedicated solely to strengthening education systems in the world’s poorest countries. GPE’s partnership model supports national stakeholders to agree on country priorities and develop multi-year nationwide plans to build schools, train teachers, and improve learning. Since 2003, GPE has provided US$4.7 billion towards building and strengthening education systems in developing countries.

IMPACT

GPE and partner countries work together to provide children an opportunity to achieve their full potential. GPE focuses its resources on getting children into school and learning, building and resourcing learning environments, providing education for children in conflict and fragility, empowering girls and young women, and supporting children with disabilities.

• GPE’s support reached an estimated 13.2 million children in 2015 and 2016.
• In 2016, GPE helped deliver over 29 million textbooks and build or restore 3,554 classrooms.
• Since 2015, GPE has benefited 7.2 million children living in fragile or conflict-affected countries.
• Over half of GPE partner countries have achieved gender parity in primary school.
• A third of GPE partner countries are providing targeted support to children with disabilities.

EFFECTIVENESS

GPE’s model coordinates and enhances donor support, accelerates progress by financing results, and facilitates the identification and sharing of best practices and policy solutions.

• GPE’s focus on national education plans ensures alignment with country priorities and helps coordinate donor partner support around a single plan for the development of the education sector. GPE’s approach complements bilateral education strategies, harmonizes support, and reduces fragmentation and duplication of development initiatives.
• GPE’s funding model incentivizes performance and progress. Thirty percent of each grant is linked to performance indicators — such as enrollment of certain marginalized groups, learning assessments, or data management systems — with partner country governments required to meet certain targets for additional funds to be released.
• GPE taps into the knowledge, expertise, and capabilities of its partners to develop policy solutions for the world’s most challenging education problems. GPE’s newly established Knowledge and Innovation Exchange platform will further help the Partnership to identify successful tools and methods, scale up innovation, and share effective solutions.

SUSTAINABILITY

GPE’s development approach puts countries in the driver’s seat, leverages additional resources for education, and builds the political will and accountability necessary for the sustainable improvement of education systems.

• Collaborative in-country processes are at the heart of GPE’s approach. Multi-stakeholder groups consisting of national governments, donors, multilateral agencies, teachers’ organizations, civil society, and the private sector work together to develop national education plans, access GPE funds to support it, and oversee its successful implementation.
• To receive funding from GPE, governments commit to spend at least 20 percent of their national budgets on education. GPE has also recently established the “GPE Multiplier,” a new funding opportunity for developing country partners that further co-finance their education sector plans with additional external resources, with GPE providing US$1 of grant funds for every US$3 a country secures in additional external financing for education.
• GPE builds the political will to invest in education systems, coordinates education financing amongst partners, and ensures accountability in the delivery of programs. As part of this, GPE supports civil society, NGOs, think tanks, and research institutions through a dedicated Civil Society Education Fund and a new Advocacy and Social Accountability platform to ensure long-term commitment and sustained political will to improve education systems.

US$ 3.1 billion for GPE’s third Financing Conference

Earlier this week, GPE announced its next Financing Conference to be co-hosted by Senegal and France and to take place on February 8, 2018 in Dakar. The conference seeks to replenish GPE funds with US$3.1 billion for the 2018-2020 period. These funds will allow GPE to work together with 89 developing countries to:

• Build 23,800 classrooms
• Ensure primary school completion of 9.4 million girls
• Contribute to 10.8 million children in fragility or conflict completing primary school
• Train 1.7 million teachers
• Distribute 204 million textbooks
• Assist in the enrollment of 64 percent of out of school children

RESULTS and our affiliates in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the U.S. call on our respective governments to step up and make the investment in education that will pay dividends of prosperity and peace for the entire world by increasing their total development assistance for education, increasing the amount channeled through multilateral partnerships, and making ambitious pledges at the GPE Financing Conference.

• Australia: We call on Australia to make a three-year AUD$200 million (US$160 million) pledge to GPE’s third replenishment.
• Canada: We call on Canada to continue its much-needed leadership in global education and girls’ empowerment by making a three-year pledge of CAD$260 million (US$209 million) to GPE’s third replenishment.
• United Kingdom: As the largest GPE donor, we call on the United Kingdom to continue its leadership by making a three-year pledge of £392 million (US$500 million) to GPE’s third replenishment.
• United States: We call on the United States to make a three-year US$337.5 million pledge to GPE’s third replenishment.

Take Action, #ShapeTheFuture

RESULTS volunteers continue to work with their government officials and local media to ensure the success of the 2018-2020 GPE replenishment. Get involved with RESULTS to ensure your governments #FundEducation and #ShapeTheFuture.