FY2026 International Basic Education Request

September 23rd, 2024 | Action and Advocacy | GCE-US

On September 23, 2024, GCE-US and 28 of its members sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) at the White House regarding FY26 funding for International Basic Education.

OMB helps the President develop their annual budget request for government programs, including International Basic Education. Advocating for International Basic Education is crucial to ensuring that education programs including literacy, education in emergencies, safe schools, and more are adequately funded.

September 23, 2024

The Honorable Shalanda Young
Director, Office of Management and Budget
Executive Office of the President
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
1650 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20503

Dear Director Young,

On behalf of the Global Campaign for Education-US, we are writing to share with you our funding recommendations for International Basic Education for fiscal year 2026. We are asking for no less than $970 million for the Nita M. Lowey Basic Education Fund – including at least $130 million for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and at least $30.4 million for Education Cannot Wait (ECW). This funding amount would reinstate FY2023 enacted funding levels to ensure the US Government can maintain its leadership in global basic education.

International basic education paves the way for successful economic development and national security. Yet, the concurrent global challenges of climate change, humanitarian crises, and sustained learning losses jeopardize children’s access to quality, inclusive education. In September 2023, UNESCO estimated that 250 million children were out of school. The World Bank estimates that 7 in 10 children in low- and middle-income countries are in “learning poverty,” which is defined as the inability to read and understand a simple text by the age of 10. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the rate of learning poverty is as high as 89%. If unaddressed, these learning challenges will have severe long-term ramifications, including diminished economic opportunities and health outcomes.

Investments in US international basic education provide children with foundational reading, math, and social and emotional learning skills, preparing youth for successful careers. Education is an essential lifeline in times of crisis. Investments in improving the resiliency of education systems help mitigate the harmful effects of conflict, crises, and climate change, which typically impede access to safe, quality learning.

US support for multilateral partnerships, including GPE and ECW, complements our bilateral programs and leverages additional resources for this important work. GPE supports 90 lower income partner countries to develop their own pathways to transform their education systems. Between July 2022 and June 2023, implementation grants financed the distribution of 48 million textbooks, the training of 481,000 teachers, and the construction or rehabilitation of 6,664 classrooms. ECW, the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, provides refugees, internally displaced persons, and other affected populations with comprehensive and context-specific assistance to access learning opportunities through first emergency rapid response and multi-year funding platforms. Since its inception, ECW has reached 8.8 million children and youth, trained more than 140,500 teachers, and worked in 43 crisis-affected countries/contexts.

Given the growing numbers of learning poverty and multiple humanitarian crises around the world, this is not the time to step back from supporting a generation of learners. Experience has shown that when the US Government retreats from critical development and humanitarian programs, it leaves gaps that other influences will fill. We urge you to support a fiscal year 2026 request of no less than $970 million for the Nita M. Lowey Basic Education Fund – including at least $130 million for GPE and at least $30.4 million for ECW. We encourage the next Administration to make this commitment as part of a larger effort to invest strongly in global development and humanitarian assistance.

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Suzanne Berman at sberman@gce-us.org. Thank you very much for your leadership.

Signed by:

1. Adama Women with Disability Association, Ethiopia

2. American Jesuits International

3. Association du Développement et de la Promotion de Droits de l'Homme

4. Association pour l'Integration et le Developpement Durable au Burundi (AIDB)

5. Basic Education Coalition

6. Building Tomorrow

7. ChildFund International

8. Childhood Education International

9. The Children's Policy and Funding Initiative

10. Educate the Children-Nepal