“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, 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

“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, Director, Education Cannot Wait

“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, 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