“Improving the quality of learning and tackling skills gaps in developing countries is a key objective for the UK. As a founding partner of the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd), we are working with Sweden, Canada, partner governments and philanthropies to work on this challenge in lower-middle income countries (LMIC). This is how we work at scale and have the biggest impact.

The UK has issued a £100m guarantee and disbursed an £80m grant. In its start-up phase, IFFEd has already unlocked $1bn in additional funding for education, with $1 of ODA unlocking $7 in new MDB finance.

Over the past year, IFFEd has moved rapidly to delivery. We welcome the World Bank joining the Asian Development Bank as a partner in 2026, and the first projects being approved in the Philippines, India and Uzbekistan. We are also seeing expansion into Africa, and the development of the new first-of-its-kind philanthropic guarantee window.

We are proud to support this ambitious initiative, as innovative finance instruments like this get more finance into education in developing countries, as part of our modern approach to development.”

The Rt Hon. Baroness Chapman of Darlington, UK Minister for Development

“Canada knows that education is the foundation for a brighter future for every young person. That’s why we are partnering with IFFEd to unlock new funding for quality education and skills building, and the potential to support the hardest to reach children, so no one gets left behind.”

Ahmed Hussen, Former Minister for International Development, Canada

“Education is a human right and a prerequisite for economic development and greater prosperity. Sida’s guarantee to IFFEd will increase domestic resource mobilization for education to serve the most marginalized. Improved quality education is a priority for Swedish development cooperation.”

Jakob Granit, Sweden SIDA Director General

“The UK Government is proud to be a founding donor of IFFEd, which will support access to quality education for millions of children across the Global South. This will unlock human potential, build the skills of the global workforce, and contribute to growth in partner countries by allowing lower-middle-income countries to prioritise investment in education and skills.
Our support also has a huge multiplier effect. For every $1 the UK contributes, IFFEd leverages $7 of additional funding, meaning our support has the potential to transform many more lives.”

Rt Hon Anneliese Dodds MP, Former United Kingdom’s Minister for Development

“Education is the cornerstone of modern, prosperous, and inclusive societies, and we are pleased to announce this partnership with IFFEd. By pooling catalytic and concessional financing, this initiative means our lower-middle-income Developing Member Countries can scale up their investments in education and skills – vital to building knowledge-based economies – along with other sectors at the same time.”

Fatima Yasmin, Asian Development Bank Vice-President for Sectors and Themes

“At the Jacobs Foundation, we are excited to support IFFEd’s $1.5 billion initiative to address the dual challenges of inadequate funding and insufficient use of evidence in education. This historic commitment showcases the visionary leadership of donor countries, multilateral development banks, and philanthropic foundations dedicated to transformative change. To drive meaningful progress, we must integrate evidence into both education policy and financing. We call on other governments and foundations to join us in this bold effort to ensure that every child receives the evidence-based education they need to thrive.”

Fabio Segura, Jacobs Foundation Co-CEO

“Investing in education is one of the best ways to brighten our shared future. That’s why The Rockefeller Foundation is proud to support IFFEd, a big bet that will transform the lives of children most in need. By leveraging an innovative financing tool, mobilizing unlikely partners, and measuring its results, IFFEd will help more students access the opportunities they deserve.”

Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, The Rockefeller Foundation President

“The International Finance Facility for Education is aimed at getting financing to lower-middle-income countries – home to half the world’s children and youth – and to the majority of the world’s displaced and refugee children. I congratulate Special Envoy Gordon Brown and all the countries and institutions involved in getting this facility off the ground. And I urge all international donors and philanthropic organizations to back it.”

António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations

“If the Sustainable Development Goal on education is to be achieved, African leaders’ commitment must be matched by commensurate support from the international community. Children in countries on the pathway to progress, which are committed to invest and reform in their education systems, should not become trapped at pursuing their ambitions because of lack of finance. The International Finance Facility for Education is an important tool to help countries advance to the next level of growth by investing in the skills and opportunity of young people.”

Jakaya Kikwete, Former President, Tanzania and Board Chair, Global Partnership for Education

“Children caught up in emergencies, crisis and conflict, will some day return home or need to rebuild their communities. In many countries across the world, there simply is not the finance necessary to bridge the gaps and invest what is needed in people today, to promote peace, growth and development tomorrow. Education Cannot Wait welcomes the International Finance Facility for Education and looks forward to a productive collaboration – harnessing our collective value-added contributions for the future of humanity.”

Yasmine Sherif, Former Director, Education Cannot Wait

“As the former Chair of GAVI, I know how the power of innovative finance and front-loading investments in health has allowed the international community to vaccinate over 640 million children and save more than 9 million lives. As a former finance minister of an African country, I know how important the International Finance Facility for Education will be to generate similar advances in learning for the next generation of young people.”

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization and former Minister of Finance, Nigeria

“The scope of today’s education challenges are enormous. 264 million children and youth are out of school; 387 million children in school are not learning the basics and 753 million adults have no literacy skills. Countries are facing significant education financing gaps to meet Sustainable Development Goal 4. We must find new ways to expand countries’ capacities and resources to provide equitable quality education and lifelong learning. The International Financing Facility for Education (IFFEd) is therefore a highly welcome innovation as it can stimulate increased funding for education. UNESCO looks forward to working with IFFEd in synergy with other education financing mechanisms and in close alignment with the SDG-Education 2030 Steering Committee – to ensure that no one is left behind.”

Audrey Azoulay, Former Director General, UNESCO

“In sub-Saharan Africa, only two out of 35 countries have gender parity in education. While 75 percent of girls that live in sub-Saharan Africa start school, only 8 percent finish secondary school. The levels of dropout are huge. This is an intergenerational crisis that must end. That is why the innovation of the International Finance Facility for Education is so important. It will allow eligible countries to invest up front to address some of the most urgent needs – especially for young women and girls. It is imperative for the international community to come behind this initiative.”

Graça Machel, Founder, Graça Machel Trust

“As a civil society leader on the frontlines of delivering education in some of the most challenging places in Pakistan, I believe the International Finance Facility for Education offers hope to children that they too can realize the right to education. In countries like Pakistan, the Facility will allow governments to access a new financing stream to invest in the urgent needs of today while increasing domestic resources that will be essential to sustaining education into the future. I welcome this innovation for the thousands of young people and activists in our country who are campaigning for the Sustainable Development Goals and the right to education.”

Baela Jamil, CEO, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA)

“Education is a basic right that truly transforms lives, everywhere. Investing in inclusive, equitable and quality education empowers people, lifts them out of poverty and builds the foundation for prosperous and peaceful societies. It is an urgent imperative that we invest in the full cycle of education, SDG 4, from childhood development to youth skills and adult learning. We must reach all people, with a special focus on girls and those caught up in crisis situations and left behind. Success depends on funding that is predictable, sustainable and at scale. We look to the International Finance Facility for Education to help bridge the enormous financing gap and make quality and relevant education a reality for all.”

Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations

“I view the International Finance Facility for Education as an encouraging initiative that will provide much needed additional funding for education in countries committed to reform and enhance investment in that field…Believing that it is incumbent upon the international community to seize this moment, to avoid an education crisis and create a generation of children who will transform education across the world, I am firmly convinced that greater investment in a reformed education sector is critical to Indonesia and to the world.”

H.E. Joko Widodo, Former President, Indonesia

“People often say young people are the future leaders of tomorrow. But that future will not be bright if the present does not equip us with the tools to succeed. We must all come together and adequately fund quality and inclusive education. The International Finance Facility for Education will give us a full package of support for countries, alongside strong allies like the Global Partnership for Education, the Education Cannot Wait fund, and UN agencies, to significantly expand education funding so that more children than ever before – whether they are refugees, child soldiers, or girls in low- or middle-income countries – will have a shot at a bright and hopeful future that education provides.”

Mohamed Sidibay, Youth Panelist, Education Commission and Education Advocate, Global Partnership for Education

“How will we pay to get all children in school and learning? The key will be innovating the way we finance education. It’s time for leaders in Africa and beyond to take a serious look at how IFFEd could revolutionize education. We need to embrace innovation—in terms of how we educate children and how we pay for it— to make sure that Africa’s youth generation lives up to its enormous promise.”

Strive Masiyiwa, Executive Chairman and Founder, Econet

“The International Finance Facility for Education multiplies donor dollars to achieve a much greater impact, and could generate enough funds – an additional $10 billion USD – to enable quality education for children around the world. We have the possibility to transform the way education is financed and accelerate meaningful reform with the creation of the Facility. Among the many critical issues we face today, few are as urgent as giving our children the future they deserve, a better future than the one we live in.”

Felipe Calderon, Former President, Mexico

“We are not going to ignore those 263 million kids who can’t access an education. Right now if the investment in education holds, by 2030, 800 million – that’s half of the young people of the world will drop out of school or lack the necessary skills for employment. That’s more than half of the next generation and we can’t afford that. We need to greatly increase investment in education as it is key to breaking the cycle of poverty in which millions and millions are trapped. Today we have the solution in the form of the International Finance Facility…it could mean $10 billion for education. That could change the game for millions of kids around the world. There are too many kids at risk of missing their only window of opportunity. We can’t press pause and ask them to wait to grow up until we have it all figured out.”

Shakira Mebarak, International Artist Founder, Fundación Pies Descalzos

“Canada understands that strong education and skills training are essential to inclusive economic growth. Through our partnership with IFFEd, Canada is helping to mobilize public and philanthropic funding to unlock new financing that strengthens education systems and equips young people with the foundational and job ready skills they’ll need in the future.”

Randeep Sarai, Canada’s Secretary of State (International Development)