GPE announces COVID-19 funding to diminish impact of global school closures

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) will provide US$250 million to help partner countries mitigate both the immediate and long-term disruptions to education being caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, GPE has provided US$8.8 million to UNICEF to kick-start COVID-19 education response planning and response in up to 87 countries.

The US$250 million has been made available by repurposing uncommitted funds. The move was approved on March 31^st, at an exceptional virtual meeting of the GPE's Board of Directors in which the European Commission was represented by Marjeta Jager, the Deputy Director General of DG International Partnerships (DEVCO).

The COVID-19 pandemic is creating an education emergency that could have devastating impacts on children all around the world. Ensuring that learning continues, and that no child’s education is left behind are priority. This funding will be available immediately to support coordinated and country-driven responses in up to 67 countries and meet both urgent and longer-term needs.

Ministries of Education and local education partners can use the funds to ensure learning can continue, particularly for the poorest and most vulnerable, for example by producing educational radio and television programs and distributing equipment such as radios and textbooks to the poorest households. The funds can also be used to support teachers, ensure children with special needs and disabilities are included; collect data to know that learning is happening; mitigate poverty and gender barriers to learning, which will be exacerbated by economic shock; and ensure that teachers and schools are equipped to re-open when it is safe to do so.

67 countries eligible for COVID-19 funding are:  Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Republic of), Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Dominica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Micronesia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.