The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) welcomed 100 million Danish Kroner (approximately US$15 million) in new pledges from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and the LEGO Foundation.
The new funding will go to GPE’s Girls’ Education Accelerator, a specialized fund dedicated to getting more girls into school and learning. The Girls’ Education Accelerator is part of GPE’s new strategic plan, GPE 2025, which seeks to transform education systems and advance gender equality.
Denmark and the LEGO Foundation announced their respective DKK 50 million (approximately $8 million) pledges during an online event on achieving gender equality through increased investments in girls’ education.
“I am proud to announce a Danish contribution of 50 million DKK to GPE’s new financing mechanism for girls education in poor and often fragile countries, lacking the most behind. And I am in particular proud to say that the contribution is matched by LEGO Foundation as part of our joint efforts to advance gender equality in and through education. This initiative is a concrete example of Denmark’s wish to mobilize increased financing through public-private partnerships as part of our new development strategy,” said Flemming Møller Mortensen, Minister of Development Cooperation of Denmark.
The new pledge from the LEGO Foundation – GPE’s largest foundation donor – adds to the US$7 million it committed at the Global Education Summit in July 2021, bringing its total commitment to the Girls Education Accelerator to $15 million. This marks a strong engagement from foundations in supporting GPE’s work towards equal education opportunities for all girls and boys. Through the GPE Match, GPE will double the LEGO Foundation’s pledge, magnifying the impact of the foundation’s contribution on getting more girls into school and learning. The GPE Match is an incentive mechanism that matches contributions from the business community or foundations.
“At the LEGO Foundation, we believe that all children have the right to quality education and the opportunity to learn through play,” said Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, Chief Executive Officer of the LEGO Foundation. “In many parts of the world, there is a need for a special focus on girls’ access to quality education. With this joint commitment to the Girls’ Education Accelerator, we can help make a real impact on girls’ lives.”
“This new funding comes at a critical time for girls’ education,” said Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer of GPE. “An estimated 20 million girls may drop out permanently because of the pandemic, with the latest variant likely to make this bleak situation far worse. This landmark matching contribution from Denmark and the LEGO Foundation illustrates the power of partnership to spur transformative change so that millions of girls can get back into the classroom and get 12 years of quality education.”
The new contributions from Denmark and the LEGO Foundation bring the total amount of funding available in the Girls’ Education Accelerator to $176 million. Created in December 2020, the Girls’ Education Accelerator provides resources to support girls’ education in 30 countries where girls lag behind boys in accessing primary and lower secondary school and where early marriage rates are the highest.
