Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Evennett and Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Wednesday 15th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

What steps her Department is taking to help children in developing countries return to education after the covid-19 pandemic.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Anne-Marie Trevelyan)]

The UK is committed to ensuring a safe return to school for children all around the world. We are taking decisive action through our education programmes and will throw our diplomatic and development weight behind global efforts, including the UNICEF-led campaign to support children’s return to school. On Monday, we announced £5.3 million of new funding to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to enable over 5,000 teachers to provide education in 10 refugee hosting countries.

[Sir David Evennett [V]]

I thank my right hon. Friend for her response and commend the work that she is doing in the Department. How will the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office assist the Global Partnership for Education replenishment next year?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

The UK is proud to be the largest bilateral donor to the Global Partnership for Education, with a commitment of up to £225 million over a three-year period. As a major education multilateral, it has a key role in tackling the global learning crisis. That is more crucial than ever given the covid pandemic, which is having a profound effect on education systems across the world. The GPE is flexing about £400 million to support education stability, and the UK is keen to play an active part in the 2021 replenishment. We are presently exploring the possibility of how we could co-host that replenishment