$1.5 billion commitment for education and skills training in lower-middle-income countries
A new $1.5 billion investment, announced on Thursday, will boost education and skills development for millions of the world’s children and youth most in need.
A new $1.5 billion investment, announced on Thursday, will boost education and skills development for millions of the world’s children and youth most in need.
The commitment by the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd) will address the dire but often forgotten global education emergency. Currently, 250 million children do not attend school while more than 800 million young people – more than half of the world’s youth – will leave school without any skills for the modern workforce.
It will also help bridge the enormous education funding gap, pegged at some $97 billion annually through to 2030.
A historic investment
The commitment, which covers the period through 2025, represents “the largest one-off investment in global education and skills in decades,” said UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown, who spearheaded IFFEd’s development.
The public-private, non-partisan international finance facility specifically focuses on education financing for lower-middle-income countries (LMICs), home to 1.2 billion children and young people, or nearly half the global total.
LMICs – which include India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Kenya - are caught in the so-called “missing middle”. These nations are no longer able eligible to receive grants, but non-concessional financing remains unaffordable, while limited domestic resources mean education and skills skills are often hit the hardest.
‘Innovative financing at its best’
IFFEd turbocharges the financing power of multilateral development banks (MDBs) by leveraging a mix of grants and sovereign guarantees in a new way to increase funding for human capital development.
Every one dollar in donor cash will deliver $7 in education and skills financing at the country level. As a result, LMICs will be able to prioritise investment in these two areas, even in the face of competing needs for climate, health, and infrastructure.
Mr. Brown called the $1.5 billion commitment “innovative finance at its best”, saying that “aligning guarantees with grants and loans offers a way ahead to maximise resources for international development generally.”
He called for “governments and private partners to join IFFEd’s financing innovation that turns millions into billions to unlock opportunity for the world’s children and youth who need it most.”
Transforming millions of lives
IFFEd's founding donors Canada, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have committed $342 million in guarantees and paid-in capital, plus $100m in grants.
Several global philanthropic foundations have provided critical seed funding, including the Atlassian Foundation, Jacobs Foundation, Porticus, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the Soros Economic Development Fund (the impact investment arm of Open Society Foundations).
“Inspired by Gordon Brown's vision I am delighted that we have now reached the point that we can bring positive change to the life chances of millions of children and young people worldwide,” said IFFEd’s Board Chair Sir Julian Smith.
“We look forward to working with our first MDB partner, the Asian Development Bank, to begin our programme of delivery.”
Meanwhile, 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region have been approved as eligible for IFFEd financing: Bangladesh, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
IFFEd is also actively engaged in conversations with additional donors and other MDBs including the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
© UN News (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: UN News
Where next?
Browse related news topics:
Read the latest news stories:
- ‘We Need Competitive Elections so Only Truly Committed States Are Elected to the UN Human Rights Council’ Thursday, September 26, 2024
- Rising Temperatures Devastate Agricultural Eden of India's Kashmir Region Thursday, September 26, 2024
- World Governments, NGOs Announce $350m Investments in Sexual and Reproductive Health Services Thursday, September 26, 2024
- Dying for a Cause: Environmental Defenders in the Firing Line Thursday, September 26, 2024
- Flooding and Armed Conflict Aggravates Sudan’s Cholera Epidemic Thursday, September 26, 2024
- Cultivating a Culture of Peace Thursday, September 26, 2024
- ‘This is the moment for peace, progress, equality’: UK Prime Minister Thursday, September 26, 2024
- Haitian leader supports creating UN-led mission to quell country’s gang violence Thursday, September 26, 2024
- $1.5 billion commitment for education and skills training in lower-middle-income countries Thursday, September 26, 2024
- ‘We have failed the people of Gaza,’ Guterres tells ministers Thursday, September 26, 2024
Learn more about the related issues: