The United Kingdom and Kenya will co-host a high-level summit next year to lead global action to educate every child, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Uhuru Kenyatta announced on 12 October.
Coronavirus has worsened the global education crisis, with 1.3 billion children – including 650 million girls – out of education at the peak of school closures. Experts warn that many children will never return, particularly as countries experience an economic contraction in the wake of the pandemic.
Missing out on education does long term damage to individuals and communities, with girls particularly at risk. The benefits of schooling are transformative and multi-generational – a child whose mother can read is 50% more likely to live past the age of five and twice as likely to attend school themselves. With just one additional school year, a woman’s earnings can increase by a fifth.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has championed girls education as the key to preventing exploitation and unlocking potential around the world, and the UK is the top donor to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Next year’s summit will raise funds for GPE’s vital work in developing countries helping to get children into school, lift communities out of poverty, and prevent girls being forced into child marriage.
“Since coronavirus struck, the number of children out of school around the world soared past 1.3 billion. It is a toll of wasted potential and missed opportunity that is a tragedy not just for those children, but for each and every one of us. That’s why I am delighted that the UK will co-host the replenishment of the Global Partnership for Education in 2021. I urge the global community to come together, dig deep and ensure we fund their vital work to give every child the chance at an education,” said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The Government of Kenya has made education a central part of their strategy to become a newly industrialised nation by 2030. A GPE partner since 2005, Kenya has made impressive gains, achieving universal primary education and breaking down gender barriers to get as many girls as boys enrolling in school.
The summit will take place in the UK in mid-2021 and will convene key global players and decision-makers, with the aim of getting all children into school and learning.
Original source: FCDO
