Italy has pledged 25 million euros to the Global Partnership for Education’s “Raise Your Hand” financing campaign, half of which will go to towards funding girls' education in Africa, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
“Italy will be contributing €25 million for the next five years. Half of our contribution will be dedicated to girls’ education in Africa, which is a top priority area for Italian Cooperation," deputy foreign minister Marina Sereni told a webinar organized by Save the Children-Italy.
“We strongly believe that investing in education and especially in girls’ education means investing in the future of countries and in peaceful, just and inclusive societies," Sereni said.
The money will go to to GPE’s 'Raise Your Hand' financing campaign. The campaign seeks to raise at least five billion dollars to help transform education systems in up to 90 low-income countries and territories, which are home to more than 1 billion children, according to the foreign ministry.
Teacher training, design of new, innovative curricula and finding new ways of delivering education to the children most at risk of being left behind are priority funding areas for the campaign, the ministry said.
"There is still so much to be done and this is why Italy decided to increase its political and financial support to the Global Partnership for Education," said Sereni.
Italy's new pledge to the GPE is a significant increase from Italy’s previous contribution of 12 million euros in 2018, the foreign ministry noted.
"The contribution confirms Italy as a key GPE partner and highlights the priority that Italy is giving to development cooperation in education worldwide," said the statement.
Covid-19 has drastically worsened education prospects for millions of children. At the height of pandemic-related closures, 1.6 billion children were shut out of schools, with an estimated 24 million students at risk of dropping out permanently.
The Coronavirus pandemic is increasing the chance that children will be sent to work instead of school and girls, children from poor families, and children with disabilities face the greatest risks of dropping out, the statement warned.
