Media Release – Thursday, July 29, 2021
AUSTRALIA COMMITS $180 MILLION TO AID IN GLOBAL EDUCATION AMIDST COVID19 PANDEMIC
On July 28, world leaders gathered in London, United Kingdom to make financial pledges toward the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) which works to make sure every child has a quality education. Australia’s pledge of AU$180 million over the next five years brings the total we have committed to GPE to $680 since 2011.
Leading advocacy organisations, including Results International and Oaktree, have been calling for $350 to fully fund the ambition of the GPE, transforming education systems for more than 1 billion girls and boys in up to 90 countries and territories.
“Results International welcomes Australia’s commitment, a significant increase from the $90 million pledged in 2018, however we must go further. Australia’s pledge of $36 million per year over the next five years will struggle to address the impact of COVID-19 on global education.” Negaya Chorley, CEO.
Ms Chorley said “Over the last year, millions of children have had their education disrupted. Where safe to do so, we need to get children back to school and invest in quality education. Education lifts the prospects of children and their communities. Put simply, education is transformative, it helps build a world that is more peaceful, equitable, healthy and environmentally sustainable.”
“COVID-19 has highlighted more than anything that we are all in this together. Things that affect people in our region more broadly, whether that be in the Asia Pacific or around the world, can so easily affect us here in Australia.” says Thenu Herath, CEO of Oaktree.
Ms Herath said “Increasing education outcomes has proven time and time again to create more stability within nations, within communities and that severely increases the stability of regions more broadly.”
The closure of schools as COVID-19 spread across the globe impacted nine in ten students worldwide. Never before have so many children been out of school at the same time.
Emily Abbott, UNICEF Australia Young Ambassador said “Education is a front of mind issue for young people. Ultimately children and young people are the experts of their own lives. We should be listening to them to create policies for their future.”