GPE and the COVID-19 pandemic

During the crisis, GPE is keeping its focus on vulnerable and marginalized children who will suffer the most from school closures and the social and economic impacts of the pandemic.

Situation as of March 27, 2020

Partner countries with confirmed cases: 57

Source: UNESCO

GPE is committed to supporting partner countries to cope with the impacts of the pandemic. Long-term school closures have the potential to exacerbate inequalities and expose the most vulnerable children to additional risks.

It is vital that we continue to support education systems, including by:

• Ensuring learning can continue and providing cross-sector support so the poorest and most marginalized are not left behind.
• Supporting education systems, teachers and schools to ensure that education can resume safely.
• Providing financial support to governments and ensuring that multilateral and bilateral financing is aligned behind government priorities.

Multi-country contingency and response planning grant

GPE has approved US$8.8 million in emergency funding, managed by UNICEF, for 87 eligible countries. The funding will support planning, preparedness and resilience of education systems in countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funding can be used to kick-start education systems’ response to COVID-19 in three key areas:

• Coordinated response planning
• Communication around safe school operations
• Sharing knowledge and building capacity for current and future pandemics.

The partnership with UNICEF is an important first step in GPE’s mobilization to provide financial support to its partner countries to cope with impacts that disruptions to education will have on children.

GPE is swiftly moving to make additional funding available to developing country governments to keep children safe and learning.

Alignment and coordination

GPE is working with all its partners, using our network to share information, learning and experiences on how to respond to the pandemic. GPE also promotes coordinated responses to the pandemic and support local education groups to meet education needs in partner countries.

• GPE’s response to COVID-19: Rapidly mobilizing to face an unprecedented challenge

  March 27, 2020
  By GPE Secretariat

• The impact of COVID-19 and other infectious disease outbreaks on international students

  March 20, 2020
  By Peter Anti Partey, Acting Head, Institute for Education Studies, Ghana

• Education in the time of COVID-19

  March 18, 2020
  By Justin van Fleet, Global Business Coalition for Education

• Affected countries and school closures

  UNESCO regularly updates the list of countries that have partially or completely closed their education systems, including the number of children affected.

• Distance learning resources

  Compiled by UNESCO, the list includes website, apps, systems, MOOCs, and resources for learning using on mobile phones and offline, as well as tools to create digital content.

• National distance learning platforms

  A list of available distance learning site by country.

• Free access to learning services

  Partners in the Global Business Coalition for Education are making access to some of their learning and collaboration services free for students, teachers and parents.

• Sierra Leone: The power of great teaching

  The Ebola crisis that plagued the country in 2014-2016 had an unexpected consequence: the renewed discovery that providing the best teachers possible will ensure that children learn.

• Rebuilding Liberia through education after Ebola

  The Ebola virus that struck Liberia in 2014-2015 left more than 4,800 dead and thousands more were affected. In this video you will meet Miatta, Bendu, Elizabeth and Fazam who share their stories on how they are coping after the Ebola crisis.

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with "COVID-19" in the subject line.