The Secretary-General met with youth activists carrying a clear message from 1.5 million young people who signed a petition calling for more and better funding for education to achieve their full potential.
 
The Secretary-General welcomed youth engagement and said, “Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims for equitable, quality education for all – including, and especially, those children still being left behind. But, today, there is insufficient emphasis on education worldwide, and not enough funding – for educators, for facilities, for our children’s futures.  I welcome this petition, and encourage support for a new International Finance Facility for Education to mobilize new and additional funding.”
 
The International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd) put forward by the Secretary-General will help countries achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4, which calls on governments to deliver equitable, quality education for all. SDG4 is also key to realizing the ambitions set out by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
 
According to UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown who accompanied the youth activists, “The human faces behind the statistics are the most heartbreaking. Instead of being in school, children will be trapped as laborers, brides, soldiers, and victims of trafficking.”
 
IFFEd will use innovative financing to unlock USD 10 billion in new funding for education in its initial phase by working with the World Bank and regional development banks. The Facility is intended to make aid more effective by leveraging and maximizing the impact of donor resources.  Countries will be asked to be founding guarantors and provide financial support to make the Facility operational.