Standing alongside senior government officials, civil society, the private sector, and youth leaders, Laura Frigenti, CEO of GPE, kicked off the “Multiply Possibility” campaign in the UK—celebrating the country’s record of making quality education a reality for millions of children around the world.
London, December 8, 2025 – The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) today launched the UK chapter of its new financing campaign, Multiply Possibility, co-hosted by the Prime Minister of Italy, Georgia Meloni, and the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. With more than $320 million already pledged by sovereign donors, foundations and philanthropists, the global campaign aims to mobilize $5 billion and unlock an additional $10 billion to transform learning for almost 750 million children in over 90 partner countries. The campaign will also help countries grow their own domestic education budgets, driving a shift towards sustainable, nationally-led education financing.
The launch event brought together Ms. Laura Frigenti, CEO of GPE, parliamentarians, GPE youth leaders, and partners from the private sector, foundations, civil society, teachers’ unions and other education champions, underlining broad national support for placing education at the heart of the UK’s global development efforts.
The UK is a founding member of GPE and plays an active role on its Board. Since joining GPE in 2005, UK investments through GPE have helped the partnership reach hundreds of millions of children with better education. In 2021, the UK and Kenya co-hosted the landmark Global Education Summit in London, raising over $4 billion in pledges for GPE, including a UK pledge of £430 million for 2021-2026.
“The UK-GPE partnership has been a driving force for global progress. As millions of children, particularly girls, face barriers to learning, our shared commitment to education and gender equality has never been more urgent,” said Laura Frigenti, CEO of GPE. “Now is not the time for international partners to slow down—by boosting collaboration, we can unlock opportunities for every child and accelerate progress toward a fairer future for all.”
Education is one of the smartest investments a country can make, and a multiplier that accelerates progress across all development goals, from health and equality to climate action and economic growth. Over the past four decades, education has contributed to half of global economic growth and 40% of global extreme poverty reduction.
“The belief in education as a force for justice is deep and enduring. It is woven into our history, into our values, and into our vision of a fairer world,” said Bambos Charalambous, Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom. “We have always argued that opportunity should not be determined by the circumstances of birth—not in Britain and not anywhere else.”
The GPE financing campaign comes at a pivotal moment. The largest generation of young people in history is coming of age. By 2040, nearly 900 million young people across 91 current GPE partner countries will enter the workforce. This represents an unprecedented opportunity—a quality education can equip these young learners with the knowledge and skills they will need to drive global growth, stability, and innovation. Yet more than 270 million children remain out of school, two thirds of whom are in GPE partner countries. Almost 90% of 10-year-old children in low-income countries cannot read and understand a simple text.
Education is a powerful driver of peace. One extra year of education can reduce the risk of conflict by up to 20 percent, with particularly powerful effects when girls and women learn equally. Quality learning helps tackle the drivers of violence, build resilience to extremism, and foster more cohesive, equal, and stable societies. A fully funded GPE would have transformative effects. $5 billion directed to education through GPE would catalyze better education resulting in:
- $840 billion added to the global economy,
- 23 million people lifted out of poverty,
- $7.7 billion saved in climate-related damage,
- 204 million more children in school, half of them girls,
- 105 million children learning better.
These gains deliver returns that boost productivity, widen tax bases and create fiscal space for countries to reinvest in public services and build resilience to shocks. GPE is making this possible by driving a fundamental shift in how education is financed—away from fragmented projects and toward long-term, nationally led investment that strengthens and sustains public education systems.
###
Notes to editors
Read the GPE Case for Investment
Initial pledges to the campaign total over $320 million, with commitments from:
- Germany, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
- JBJ Foundation, Inherent Foundation, and Dovetail Impact Foundation.
- Jannik Sinner Foundation, Ms. Duong, Vice Chairwoman and CEO of KN Holdings.
For more information:
Tamara Kummer, GPE Head of Communications @email Tel: +1 202 948 5395
About the Global Partnership for Education
GPE is a shared commitment to ending the world’s learning crisis. We mobilize partners and funds to support over 90 countries to transform their education systems so that every girl and boy can get the quality education they need to unlock their full potential and contribute to building a better world.