UK launches £20M partnership for girls’ education in Bangladesh, other developing countries
UK government will launch a new £20 million business partnership with the private sector to improve girls' access to education and employment in developing countries.
Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, made the announcement at 10 Downing Street in London on Sunday (7 March), reads a press release from the British High Commission in Bangladesh.
Businesses, charities, schools and colleges will shortly be able to bid for funds from the programme.
The partnership wants to support projects that will improve access to education for girls, with a focus on providing the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills needed to find work in key sectors such as technology and manufacturing.
Initially, bids will be encouraged for projects in Nigeria and Bangladesh.
The UK government has joined forces with the private sector partners namely Unilever, Pearson, PwC, Microsoft, Accenture, Standard Chartered, United Bank for Africa, Coursera, Vodafone, BP and Cognizant.
The UK Government will be working in partnership with UNICEF's Generation Unlimited (GenU) to help deliver the programme, with key partners funding GenU being Accenture, Standard Chartered, Unilever, Microsoft, and United Bank for Africa.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, "The United Kingdom has long been a proud and mighty champion of this fundamental cause and today we take one leap further through our first Global Partnership of its kind - opening the opportunity for one million girls across the developing world to have access to high quality skills training."
Ensuring every girl and young woman across the globe receives 12 years of quality education is the greatest tool to end the world's great injustices, he added.
Funding from the programme will also help expand GenU's `Passport to Earning' (P2E) platform.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said, "Supporting women and girls is at the heart of UK foreign policy. We want women to have agency over their own lives and to be free to succeed."
Helen Grant, UK Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Girls' Education, said, " Every girl everywhere deserves to have an education. From school right the way through to the workplace, our partnership will help give women and girls the skills they need to reach their full potential."
Generation Unlimited Chief Executive Officer Kevin Frey said, "The Girls' Education Skills Partnership exemplifies the commitment of the UK government and the private sector in addressing the critical gap in skilling girls for 21st Century opportunities."