Senegal and France to Host Global Partnership for Education Financing Conference

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 (Bernama) -- Global Partnership for Education (GPE) has announced that the governments of Senegal and France will co-host its financing conference in Dakar, Senegal on Feb 8, next year. The announcement was made by President Macky Sall of Senegal and President Emmanuel Macron of France at a high-level event on education financing held at the United Nations. "The Global Partnership for Education has made substantial investments in education helping to get 72 million more children into primary school since 2002, including in Senegal. “We are honoured to host the next GPE Financing Conference in Dakar and look forward to continuing our close partnership with GPE,” said Sall, in a statement here, Thursday. He said this would be the first time a donor and developing country co-host a GPE financing conference, symbolising the spirit of true partnership. Meanwhile, Macron also stressed that one of his top priorities was to invest in education. "I call on the international community to join us in February 2018 in Dakar for the Global Partnership for Education Financing Conference, which France will co-host with Senegal,” he said. The event in Dakar will bring together donor and developing country governments, the private sector, philanthropic foundations, civil society and international organisations to announce commitments to support education in developing countries. GPE's financing conference seeks to raise US$3.1 billion for 2018 through 2020 to support the education of 870 million children in 89 developing countries that are home to 78 per cent of the world's out-of-school population. Currently, 264 million children and youth around the world are not in school and six out of ten children and youth while a total of 617 million are in school but not learning at the level they need to break the bonds of poverty, poor health and social disadvantage. “Though the share of overseas development aid to education has declined over the last six years, leaders around the world are now recognising the urgency of turning that trend around,” added the statement. --BERNAMA