Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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108. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide an update on Ireland's contribution to the 'Global Partnership for Education'; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12643/23]

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Government believes that education is a human right, and that it is fundamental to sustainable development. Through our international development programme, Ireland supports the strengthening of education systems, and focuses in particular on education in emergencies and on girls’ education. The Government's international development policy, A Better World, commits to scaling up support for education, guided by the overarching principle of reaching the furthest behind first.

In line with this commitment, Ireland pledged to contribute €60 million over the period 2021 to 2025 to the Global Partnership for Education, Ireland’s most significant global education partner. This represented a 44% increase on previous levels of funding. The mandate of the Global Partnership for Education is to contribute to equitable, quality education and learning for all. It is a multi-stakeholder partnership that aims to strengthen education systems in developing countries in order to increase the number of children in school, with a specific emphasis on girls’ education. During 2022, grants by the Global Partnership for Education supported more than 106 million students and the training of more than 675,000 teachers. It is a key partnership for Ireland’s support to building resilient education systems.

Since 2021, Ireland has provided €22 million of the €60 million pledge. For 2023, we will provide a further €13 million.

Of Ireland’s €60 million pledge, €10 million is ring-fenced for the Girls’ Education Accelerator. This aims to advance gender equality in education in regions and countries where girls’ attendance and learning has been identified as a key challenge through provision of dedicated resources.

Earlier this year on the International Day for Education, Minister Sean Fleming took part in the Raise Your Hand campaign, reaffirming Ireland’s support to the Global Partnership for Education and to championing education that has a transformative impact on gender equality.