Press Release
21 April 2006
Hilary Benn announces extra £100 million to get more children into primary school in developing countries
Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State for International Development, today announced an additional £100 million ($170 million) from the UK over the next two years to help ensure faster progress towards the Millennium Development Goal of getting every child in the world into primary school by 2015.
The £100 million will help fill nearly a quarter of the current funding gap
in the Fast Track Initiative (FTI) for education, a global partnership between
donors and developing countries. This support will be additional to the £50
million from the UK for the FTI announced in 2005. The money will go to support
both the preparation and implementation of plans by developing countries to get
more of their children into school.
Hilary Benn said:
“Last week, Gordon Brown and I announced that the UK will spend at least £8.5 billion ($15 billion) on aid for education over the next ten years. This £100 million contribution represents a downpayment to meet our share of the Fast Track Initiative’s current financing gap. We call on other donors to come forward with their contributions to help fill the rest of this gap.
“Putting money into education is one of the best long-term investments that a country can make. The FTI has shown the progress that can be made when donors and developing countries work together.”
Launched in 2002, the FTI encourages donors to work together to provide more effective aid for education in support of plans prepared by the countries themselves. 54 low-income countries currently receive financial and/or technical support through the FTI. 40 more countries are expected to join the FTI by 2008, enabling the FTI to help enrol more than 70 million out-of-school children by 2008.
Note to Editors
1. About 70 per cent of all children not in school are in Africa and South Asia. Nineteen countries have more than 1 million children out of school. Forty-four countries, 23 of which are in Africa, are making good progress but will not achieve universal primary education by 2015 at current rates. In Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Rwanda and Ethiopia, less than 40 per cent of children finish primary education.
2. The FTI currently provides financial support to: Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritania, Moldova, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Tajikistan, Timor Leste, Vietnam and Yemen.
3. These countries need a total of US$1.1 billion annually. Donors are providing US$490 million through regular channels and US$115 million through the FTI Catalytic Fund, leaving an annual gap of around US$500 million.
4. The financing gap for the FTI Catalytic Fund for 2006 is $305 million and in 2007 will be $408 million. The UK’s contribution of an additional £100 million ($170m) over the next two years will cover nearly a quarter of this funding gap.
5. For further information please contact the Department for International Development press office in London on 00 44 20 7023 0600
