Today, the Foreign Secretary announced allocations for the next three years of Official Development Assistance, at a pivotal moment for international cooperation and the future of education globally. These allocations come in the context of a 40% reduction to the UK’s development budget in real terms, the lowest level in 25 years and the steepest cut among G7 countries.

While we appreciate the Foreign Secretary’s commitment to putting women and girls at the heart of her approach and protecting vulnerable groups from experiencing disproportionate impacts, reductions of this scale will inevitably most affect those most at risk. The allocations and their accompanying equality and impact assessment suggest that programmes supporting education will face significant reductions, with adverse impacts on children, particularly the most marginalised, including girls and children with disabilities. Greater clarity is urgently needed on education-specific allocations, especially in light of previous statements that the sector may be deprioritised.

We warmly welcome and celebrate the maintenance of UK funding for Education Cannot Wait (ECW) for its next four-year strategic period and commend the Government for protecting this vital fund. ECW provides critical support for children in emergency contexts so they can continue learning in safe environments, preserving hope for a better future. In the context of proliferating conflicts and climate-related emergencies, this funding is more important than ever.

We now urge the Government to protect the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) at the same relative level as other multilateral organisations. GPE plays an indispensable role in strengthening education systems and reaching children in the poorest countries. The Foreign Secretary said today that, in non-crisis contexts, the UK will support education largely by working through partner governments to strengthen national systems. A strong commitment to GPE’s next five-year strategy is the best way to deliver this approach in practice. 

We are pleased to hear the Prime Minister and Chancellor remain committed to returning to spending 0.7% of GNI on development assistance and urge the Government to provide clarity on the fiscal conditions to allow this. We also welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statements about the importance of addressing unsustainable debt and supporting countries to raise progressive taxes for investment in public services, which are essential to the realisation of the right to education for all. We insist that action on these issues is ambitious and in alignment with calls from Global Majority Governments to make the international financial system fairer. 

At a time of growing global instability and deepening inequality, investment in education is not only a matter of justice and fairness, but also of long-term peace and security. We urge the Government to ensure that education funding, including for multilateral partnerships such as GPE, is protected and aligned with its stated priorities to support the most marginalised and deliver lasting impact.