Historic investment into female education announced

At the G7 Summit last week Canada, the European Union, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the World Bank announced a historical investment into education for women and girls in crisis situations.

The investment is the single largest investment of its kind and has the potential to improve the lives of millions of women and girls living in vulnerable situations.

The announcement followed the summit’s focus on gender equality and empowering women and girls across the world by providing them with equal access to quality education and opportunities. A key message of the summit was the significant role gender equality has on economic prosperity.

The investments priorities are to: provide women and girls with the skills needed for future jobs; improve training for teachers; improve availability and quality of data on female education; promote gender coordination between humanitarian and development partners; support innovative education, especially for hard top reach groups such as refugees; and support developing countries to provide equal opportunities for girls to complete at least 12 years of education.

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, commented on the investment:

“We need to work together to ensure all women and girls have access to quality education and modern skills training. From primary school to secondary school and beyond, women and girls in crisis and conflict situations must have the same opportunities to succeed. Investing in their education is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do. Given the chance, we know women and girls will drive positive change, and help build better lives for themselves, their families, their communities, and, in turn, the world.”

The funding investment equals $3.8 billion Canadian Dollars (CAD).

Canada will invest $400 CAD over three years, in addition to the $180 provided by the country in January 2018.

The European Union will invest €72 million over three years, with Germany individually contributing €75 million and the UK individually contributing £187 million. The UK’s contribution further builds on the £212 million pledged by the country at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April earlier this year.

Japan will invest $200 USD and the World Bank will contribute $2 billion USD over five years.

Quality education and Gender Equality are two of the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG4 and SDG 5.

Last week The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has launched a new global education initiative to support educations systems in India and sub-Saharan Africa.

At the end of 2016 over 65.5 million people were forcibly displaced, over half of whom were under 18 with little or no education. There is a vast gender disparity in access to education during crisis situations as girls are more likely to be taken out of school and forced into early marriage, and are disproportionately affected by gender and sexual violence.

Our 10th Annual AIDF Global Summit returns to Washington D.C, USA this September and will cover key issues in global development.

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Image credit: grandmothersadvocacy.org