Opening Segment for Education Financing Day Education: An Investment for a Sustainable & Prosperous скачать в хорошем качестве

Opening Segment for Education Financing Day Education: An Investment for a Sustainable & Prosperous

Moderator: Irina Bokova, former Director-General of UNESCO Speaker Panel: 1. H.E. Kersti Kaljulaid, Former President of Estonia 2. H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, Global Partnership of Education (GPE) Board Chair and former President of the United Republic of Tanzania 3. H.E. Dr. Dipu Moni, Minister of Education, Bangladesh 4. Amir Abdulla, Deputy Executive Director, World Food Programme Video Message: Filippo Grandi, High-Commissioner, UNHCR Summary: The onset of the Decade of Action should have ushered in accelerating progress towards the achievement of sustainable development goals. However, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to not only undo hard-earned development gains, but also the looming possibility of regression to decades past in many countries and c Contexts unless immediate action is taken. From a financing point of view, the challenge was already daunting before COVID-19. The early 2020 estimate of the financing gap to reach Sustainable Development Goal 4 in low and lower-middle-income countries was a staggering $148 billion annually. It is estimated that the COVID-19 crisis will increase this financing gap by up to one-third, or US$30 to US$45 billion. According the Education Finance Watch (2021), two-thirds of low- and lower-middle-income countries, have cut their education budgets since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. In comparison, only a third of upper-middle and high-income countries have reduced their budgets. There is a danger that future cuts will be larger, as the pandemic continues to take its economic toll, and fiscal positions worsen. These differing trends, imply a significant widening of the already large spending disparities seen between low- and high-income countries. Similarly, when it comes to international aid, donor countries are likely—and some have already begun—to shift their budgets away from aid to domestic priorities related to unemployment and support packages to businesses. In addition, changing donor priorities may shift funding to health, climate change and other emergencies. Overall, some estimates predict that aid to education may fall by US$ 2 billion from its peak in 2020 and not return to 2018 levels for another six years (UNESCO 2020). The impact of the pandemic on household incomes is likely to reduce their ability to support the costs of education, and unless these declines are actively addressed, they will most probably lead to higher school drop-out rates in low- and lower-middle-income countries, as households tend to contribute a greater share of total education spending in these countries than those in upper-middle and high-income countries. According to UNICEF, some 23.8 million additional children and youth (from pre-primary to tertiary) may drop out or not have access to school next year due to the pandemic’s economic impact alone. The World Bank estimated that 6.8 million children and adolescents of primary and secondary school age are at risk of dropout, while UNESCO estimated that 11 million children may not return to school at all, with girls particularly at risk (2020). The economic loss might reach $16,000 of lost earnings over a student’s lifetime, translating over time into $10 trillion of lost earnings globally. In order to ensure an education that is fit for purpose and truly rewired, there must be political commitment to change, funding backing that commitment, and data and evidence to unlock effective solutions. Greater political leadership – both national and international – is required to ensure adequate public education financing coupled with predictable and unrestricted development financing to support pandemic recovery, maximize their human capital potential and strengthen their competitiveness. This high level opening panel on Education Financing delved deeply into the importance of political leadership in ensuring education is prioritized, through a keynote by the UN Special Envoy for education to set the scene for the challenge head, but also the possible solutions – more and improved education financing mechanisms; followed by a discussion between former heads of state and Ministers on the levers that drive progress, evidence-based policymaking with learning outcomes at the centre. The panel discussed how such commitments can lead to impact, sharing the lessons learnt from perspectives, and drawing lessons for applying solutions in other contexts.