• The Global Partnership for Education is the largest fund worldwide dedicated to transforming education in poor countries.

Abu Dhabi, July 29, 2021: The UAE government has pledged Dh367 million to the Global Partnership for Education to support education programmes in developing countries over the next five years (2021-2025).

The Global Partnership for Education is the largest global fund solely dedicated to transforming education in lower-income countries. Established in 2003, the programme works in partnership with donors, governments in developing countries, international organisations, the private sector, teacher associations, and civil society institutions.

Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation, made the announcement, during the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Financing Summit that took place on July 28 and 29 in London.

The Summit managed to raise US$4billion of the US$5billion that it had set as a target to transform education for the world’s most underprivileged children.

The Minister affirming the UAE’s keenness and sustained efforts to provide quality education to children around the world, emphasized the country’s determination to work in cooperation with its regional and international partners, to develop the skills women, girls, and youth need for long-term success, in light of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide.

Al Hashemy highlighted the key role of UAE foreign aid in nurturing international partnerships to support key sector development in developing and least developed countries, with education as a priority.

Al Hashemy noted that many partner countries need support to enhance their national education systems, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, which had major implications on the continuity of education in many countries that lack the appropriate infrastructure to provide e-learning.

In 2018, the UAE pledged US$100 million to support the GPE at the 3rd Replenishment Conference in Dakar, Senegal, becoming the first Arab and Middle Eastern member in the GPE.

Taking the initiative forward, this year, the G7 leaders addressed their top priorities where they acknowledged education as a “foundation for success in an ever changing world”.

G7 foreign and development ministers in their early meeting in May announced two new targets on girls’ education:

• 40 million more girls in school by 2026 in low and lower middle-income countries, and
• 20 million more girls reading by age 10 or the end of primary school by 2026 in low and lower middle-income countries.

GPE is calling on world leaders to pledge at least $5 billion for the next five years to help GPE transform education in up to 90 countries and territories, which are home to more than 1 billion children.

Meanwhile, as part of its efforts to further the pivotal role of education in supporting the sustainable development of societies around the world the UAE is to host the RewirEd Global Education Summit in partnership with Dubai Cares and Expo 2020 Dubai and in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

RewirEd will be held at Expo 2020 Dubai with a clear vision to reshape the educational landscape for a prosperous, sustainable, innovative, and accessible future for all while showcasing the country’s development aid.