European Commission
MEMO
Brussels, 6 June 2014
MEDIA ADVISORY – European Commission and Global Partnership for Education – Pledging Conference
26 June 2014
What
The Global Partnership for Education and the European Commission are co-hosting the Second Replenishment Pledging Conference of the Global Partnership for Education, a multilateral body committed to ensuring every child has access to a quality, basic education.
It will bring together more than 500 key players in education to show their commitment to education by making solid pledges at the conference.
Why
To ensure that the right of all children to a basic education is fulfilled! The benefits of education to health, economic development and stability are clear, yet aid funding for education has fallen by an average of five percent each year since 2010.
Still, 57 million children do not go to school and more than half of them are girls. A further 250 million children drop out of school or are unable to perform basic literacy and numeracy tasks by the time they reach grade four.
Girls are more likely than boys to drop out, and girls from poor families in rural areas are least likely to have access to education.
When
June 26, 2014, from 9.00 to 18.00
Where
The Egg, Rue Bara 175, Brussels, Belgium
Participants
Julia Gillard, Chair of the Global Partnership for Education and former Prime Minister of Australia
Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Augustin Matata Ponyo;
Education ministers of more than 40 developing countries, including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Niger and Senegal;
Ministers from donor countries, including Australia, Denmark, Norway, Ireland and the United Kingdom;
Representatives of the United Nations, including UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova and UN Special Envoy for Education, Gordon Brown;
Representatives of the European institutions, including EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, and EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva.
Media Opportunities
Media are welcome to attend all sessions on the agenda and will be able to follow commitments made in the pledging zone via a live feed.
A media workspace with wifi will be available
A press conference will take place after the closing session (at 16.30), with EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs and Julia Gillard, Chair of the Global Partnership for Education and former Prime Minister of Australia.
A media briefing by UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova, announcing the new global figures on out-of-school children (at 10.15)
Possibility to request interviews with other participants in advance
Please complete the online registration by June 16, 2014, here. After that date, please contact GPE-Replenishment@globalpartnership.org or Alexandra Humme
The agenda of the event is available here
Media contacts
From the Global Partnership for Education: Alexandra Humme or Katy Cronin
From the European Commission: Stacey Vickers or Maria Sanchez
Background
The Global Partnership for Education aims to raise US$3.5 billion (€2.57bn) during 2015-2018. Developing country partners are being asked to pledge to increase domestic financing for education towards 20 percent of their domestic budgets. A successful replenishment will enable the Global Partnership for Education to support the schooling of 29 million children in 66 countries and to increase the quality of the education being provided
The Global Partnership for Education is made up of nearly 60 developing country governments, as well as donor governments, civil society and non-governmental organizations, teacher organizations, international organisations, and the private sector and foundations.
For more information on the Global Partnership for Education, click here
For more information on the European Commission’s work on education in developing countries, click here