Addis Abeba/Geneva, December 18/2019 – The Government of Ethiopia and a group of international development partners, including the Global Partnership for Education and the governments of Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, have announced a new collaboration aimed at building a strong and inclusive national education system benefiting refugee and Ethiopian children.
The partnership aims to mobilize at least US$60 million in funding to support Ethiopia to realize its ambition to ensure that all children receive a quality education by integrating refugee children into its national school system.
Addressing the Global Refugee Forum as a co-convener, Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Demeke Mekonnen Hassen, reiterated Ethiopia’s commitment to comprehensive refugee response planning and highlighted his country’s efforts to put in place inclusive policies for refugees including those focused on education. This new collaboration will support the Government of Ethiopia to deliver on these commitments.
A combined pledge of US$15 million from Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, along with other possible resources, is intended to enable the Government of Ethiopia to access potential funding from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) comprising of a ‘multiplier’ grant of US$25 million in addition to an accelerated financing grant of US$20 million. The partnership will also provide technical support to enable the Government of Ethiopia to find durable solutions for refugees through their inclusion in a strengthened national education system.
Ethiopia is home to Africa’s second largest refugee population. Coming primarily from neighboring Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, nearly 60 percent of the country’s refugees are children under the age of 18.
This collaboration comes at a critical time. With nearly 26 million refugees around the world, the international community has gathered at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva to bolster its response to refugee situations and discuss solutions to improving quality education for refugees. Dispatch
