Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Accepted
Paragraph: 31
Poor health drives people into and traps them in extreme poverty.
Conclusion
Poor health drives people into and traps them in extreme poverty. Withdrawing funding from programmes that fight AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases not only puts lives immediately at risk, but impacts wider objectives on education, gender equity and poverty reduction. While we were encouraged to see the UK Government finally make a pledge to the Seventh Replenishment of the Global Fund, we were disappointed that our contribution has fallen by nearly £500 million since the previous cycle. The UK Government must reassume its position as a leader on global health. The UK Government must prioritise funding for health, both in bilateral programming and support for effective multilateral schemes, as one of the most effective interventions in extreme poverty reduction.
Government Response Summary
The FCDO will redouble its efforts to ensure that all girls are supported to go to school and learn through the UK’s Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) programme.
Paragraph Reference:
31
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
As set out in the 2021 Girls’ Education Action Plan, we will redouble our efforts to ensure that all girls are supported to go to school and learn. This requires both strong education systems that are inclusive and deliver the skills girls need to fulfil their potential, and targeted support to address other barriers faced by the most marginalised. The UK’s Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) programme is the world’s largest programme dedicated to girls’ education, reaching up to 1.6 million marginalised girls through a cumulative investment of £855m over 13 years. Designed as a ‘challenge fund’, the GEC works to tackle barriers to education, and find better ways to get girls into quality education and learning. FCDO’s work to address the barriers to girls’ education is not limited to our education sector investments. For example, our investments in gender-responsive social protection, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and ending violence including child marriage also support girls’ education outcomes by addressing barriers to girls’ access and retention in school. The UK’s Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) programme is the world’s largest programme dedicated to girls’ education, reaching up to 1.6 million marginalised girls through a cumulative investment of £855m over 13 years. Designed as a ‘challenge fund’, the GEC works to tackle barriers to education, and find better ways to get girls into quality education and learning. The UK has committed £430m to the Global Partnership on Education (GPE). The GPE supports nations with high numbers of out-of-school children and weak school completion rates and focuses on reaching the children that are most marginalised and vulnerable including girls, children with disabilities, and those who live in countries that are characterised by extreme poverty and/or conflict. The GPE prioritises primary and lower secondary education because the returns of investing in these stages of education benefit the greatest number of poor children. Since its creation in 2002, the GPE has contributed to the largest expansion of primary and lower secondary schooling in history. Between 2015 and 2019, the GPE supported the education of 24.8 million children. There are now 82 million more girls in school in GPE partner countries and primary enrolment Extreme poverty and the Sustainable Development Goals: Government Response 5 for girls has increased by 65%. Almost three-quarters of partner countries have achieved gender parity in school completion rates.