UK announces contribution of £180 million to the International Finance Facility for Education during UN General Assembly SDG Summit

19 Sept 2023/NEW YORK CITY – In a significant move to bolster education and skills development, UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the Rt Hon James Cleverly, announced today a series of funding commitments targeted at enhancing the international financial system and supporting developing countries to work toward achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Among these commitments, a notable contribution of £180 million will be made to the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd). This substantial allocation includes up to £95 million in grants and paid-in capital, along with a contingent guarantee of up to £85 million. As a founding sovereign donor to IFFEd, the UK’s generous and timely contribution is expected to help IFFEd catalyze $1bn in new financing through the Asian and African Development Banks to address the learning and skills crisis in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs), which collectively are home to a staggering 80 percent of the world’s children and youth.

Established earlier this year as a non-profit foundation in Switzerland, IFFEd is currently in the advanced stages of finalizing its financial and legal mechanism and is set to begin financing education and skills projects in Asia and Africa in 2024.

Secretary Cleverly said:

“Together with our international partners, we are going faster and further, to change the international financial system and make sure no one is left behind. The voice of the poorest and most vulnerable countries must be heard at the heart of the multilateral system.”

Endorsed by the G20 Capital Adequacy Review, and highlighted as a key innovation by the Independent Expert Group to strengthen multilateral development banks, IFFEd’s financing engine aims to unlock a generation of possibilities for the world’s poorest and marginalized students and youth.

Learn more about the UK’s recent funding commitments.

Learn more about how IFFEd’s financial mechanism works here.