New RESULTS Publication: 8 Reasons to Invest in the Global Partnership Now

On the heels of the release of the Global Partnership for Education's Case for Investment, which outlines what the Global Partnership will accomplish for children if donors reach the replenishment target of $3.5 billion, we're excited to announce the release of RESULTS' own publication, “Greater Impact through Partnership: 8 reasons to invest in the Global Partnership for Education now more than ever.

Released by RESULTS Education for All campaign affiliates in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US, the piece walks through the importance of education, the unique added value of the Global Partnership for Education, and why June's pledging conference is the turning point for the global community to step up and commit the finances necessary to allow all children to fulfill their right to education.

Worldwide, 57 million children remain out of primary school, and nearly 40 percent of the world's primary school-aged children still don't know how to read, write, or count. If donors fill the financing target of $3.5 billion, the Global Partnership will support education for 29 million of the poorest and most vulnerable children in primary and secondary school, and increase the number of children completing primary school with literacy and numeracy skills by 25 percent in 66 developing country partners by 2018.

And even more impressively, donor contributions of $3.5 billion to the Global Partnership have the power to leverage an additional $16 billion in domestic financing from the Partnership's developing country partners – going a long way towards filling the global financing gap for education.

But we can't do it without ambitious investments from donors. As RESULTS advocates accelerate our advocacy calling for a pledge from the U.S. government of $250 million over two years, this brief provides the outline we need to tell the story to the media, members of Congress, and our communities of the not only the importance of education but the opportunity the Global Partnership for Education's June pledging conference provides to make a difference in the lives and futures of the poorest and most vulnerable children around the world.

Download the full report here, and catch a glimpse of the 8 reasons below.

8 reasons to invest in the Global Partnership for Education now more than ever:

1. We cannot end poverty without investing in education. Education is intrinsically related to our other efforts to reduce poverty.
2. The Global Partnership for Education reaches those in the greatest need – especially those in fragile contexts and humanitarian emergencies. Nearly three-quarters of the world's 57 million primary school-aged children who are out of school live in GPE developing country partners.
3. The Global Partnership for Education complements bilateral efforts in global education. Support for the Global Partnership helps donors reach their own development objectives, including the goals of U.S. bilateral education and development programs.
4. The Global Partnership for Education mobilizes developing country resources towards their own education systems. Developing countries that are part of the Global Partnership increase their own domestic financing for education at a faster rate than developing countries not a part of the Partnership.
5. The Global Partnership for Education gets results. GPE's developing country partners are demonstrating greater educational gains, including in enrollment, completion, and gender parity.
6. The Global Partnership for Education is taking innovate steps to further enhance performance. Having already been cited as an effective model to replicate, the Global Partnership is still working to improve its model by focusing on outcomes, incentivizing results, and closing the data gap in education.
7. Global support to basic education is drastically declining. Overall donor aid to basic education has dropped three years in a row, with aid for basic education to GPE developing country partners dropping even more – a 23 percent cut from 2009 to 2012.
8. Demand for GPE support is on the rise. Demand from developing countries for support from the Global Partnership is only increasing, and donors must equally match the ambition of developing country partners.

Over the next eight weeks, RESULTS affiliates in Australia, Canada, the UK, and here in the US will delve deeper into each of the eight reasons through a series of blog posts. Each piece will be cross-posted on our blog, and will be collected together on our website here. Check back every Monday!