Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding has been allocated from the public purse to support the fulfilment of the UN sustainable development goal of education for all girls and boys; and in which countries that funding was spent.

1. The Prime Minister has publicly stated that education, particularly standing up for the right of every girl in the world to have 12 years of quality education, is a priority for the UK. Between 2009 and 2018, the Government spent £7.08 billion bilaterally from the public purse to support the fulfilment of the UN sustainable development goal on education. This does not include all multilateral spend. Between 2015 and 2019 DFID supported 14.8 million children to gain a decent education, of which at least 5.8 million were girls. UKAid is spent in the countries that need it the most. From 2015 to 2018, the largest number of children supported by DFID education programmes was in Africa, where the majority of out of school children live. Most of the children supported by DFID’s education programmes live in fragile states.