The United Nations plans to raise $ 10 billion in education funding to be donated to poor countries. According to the UN, the current education crisis is still ongoing and has the potential to trigger a disaster.
"More than 260 million children around the world are not in school and the numbers can jump if nothing is done," said UN special envoy for education Gordon Brown during a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York, United States on Friday (11/5 ).
He assessed that if no initiative is made, 400 million children worldwide are at risk of not going to education beyond the age of 11 by 2030. Whereas in that year the UN has targeted all children in the world to get primary and secondary education.
Brown, who is also a former British prime minister, highlighted the educational conditions of children in conflict-affected countries. He said 75 million children in conflict areas could not go to school. Meanwhile another 10 million fell into refugee status.
"We can not escape the fact that there is an educational crisis, this division has disastrous consequences, and instead of being in school, children will be trapped as laborers, soldiers, brides and trafficking victims," Brown said.
Therefore, the UN, supported by the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd), the World Bank, and four regional development banks, hopes to provide loans and grants worth 10 billion US dollars to poor countries for educational purposes. These funds can then be used to build schools and hire teachers there.
"IFFEd can also help end child labor, early marriage, and child trafficking by offering free universal education in developing countries," Brown said.
He said at the moment, he has been in contact with representatives from 20 countries. He hopes they can support the education fund plan. Brown also claimed to have asked donor countries to act as guarantor on low-cost loans for educational projects.