Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, chairwoman of the partnership, said the donations are on track to meet her goal of raising $ 5 billion over the next five years.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who spoke with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at the conference, has made girls’ education a showcase for his Conservative government and is pushing for 40 million more girls to go to school around the world by 2026.
He told conference delegates that education “is the panacea that can solve virtually any problem affecting humanity.”
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The UK has pledged £ 430 million (US $ 600 million) to the Global Partnership for Education. However, Johnson has come under fire for cutting the UK’s international development budget from 0.7% of national income to 0.5% and cutting around £ 4 billion ($ 5.6 billion) from projects that target the most vulnerable help the world.
The government says the cut is temporary and necessary because of the economic blow caused by the pandemic.
(Copyright 2021 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)