The Global Business Coalition for Education is a movement of businesses committed to ending the global education crisis. We have made great strides in 2019. More and more businesses are joining our movement to end the global education and skills crisis by achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 — equitable and inclusive quality education for all.
1. Addressing the Skills Gap
2030 Skills Scorecard
During UN General Assembly week in New York City, we worked with the Education Commission to release our 2030 Skills Scorecard. We will release the country-by-country version next year.
In collaboration with Deloitte, we are using insights from our research to create a new city-based program to improve youth skills at the local policy and partnership level. Stay tuned for news on the first wave of Skills Friendly Cities activities in 2020.
Here's a look at the 2030 Skills Scorecard by world region.
South Asia Youth Skills and Solutions Forum
With our partners UNICEF and Generation Unlimited, we brought together leaders from businesses, civil society, and government –including youth leaders – at the South Asia Youth Skills and Solutions Forum forum in Mumbai. In the coming year, we’ll build on the energy of this convening and hope to host a similar summit in another region.
2. Making Education Inclusive
The key to achieving SDG 4 is ensuring inclusivity; all children should be able to access quality education. The world’s 93 million children with disabilities face some of the greatest stigma and barriers. That’s why GBC-Education is forming the Disability and Inclusion Task Force to advise businesses on how they can support inclusive education.
Hear from Dr. Joyce Malombe about the business community’s role in inclusive education.
3. Advancing Innovative Financing
Launching a New Funding Mechanism
We need to creatively work with countries to bridge the multibillion dollar funding gap for global education. With the support of the Atlassian Foundation, GBC-Education contributed to this year’s launch of the International Finance Facility for Education and is building a consortium of companies ready to invest in education. The Facility could help up to 200 million children attend school and get the skills they need. Companies like Reed Smith have supported its development along the way.
Bonds for Education
At this year’s IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings, we launched a discussion memo at a panel of the world’s top financial experts – including Hiro Mizuno, Executive Managing Director and CIO of Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund – to explore how “Education Bonds” could help achieve SDG 4.
In the coming year, we will further explore how bonds and other tools could help businesses invest in education with greater ease and impact.
4. Responding to Emergencies
Refugee Education
Children trapped in wars and other emergencies are often the most likely to miss out on school, yet education receives less than 2% of humanitarian aid. Our team witnessed the intense needs firsthand – and the opportunities for businesses to help – during a trip to refugee camps in Greece this summer with Theirworld in collaboration with our partners at Education Cannot Wait and the Nationale Postcode Loterij.
In 2020, we will put forward a plan to deliver education to refugees in the Greek Islands and highlight opportunities for businesses to make an impact.
Rapid Education Action
The Arconic Foundation and Dubai Cares are working with GBC-Education to make it easier for businesses to support education in emergencies through our REACT initiative, which helped 15,000 children get access to education this year. With a new website at now-REACT.org – supported by RELX Group – and a dedicated set of supporters, we’re looking forward to more progress in 2020.
REACT Takes Action
Through the REACT platform, we are helping Education Cannot Wait more effectively engage with the private sector to transform how education is delivered in crises.
For example, we connected our partners at Education Cannot Wait with HP to deploy the HP School Cloud. This hardware delivers digital educational software from Learning Equality without online connectivity, making it easy to use on laptops and tablets in refugee learning spaces.
Looking Ahead to 2020
We’re excited about building on GBC-Education’s work to do even more in 2020. There’s no time to waste. The deadline to meet SDG 4 is only a decade away. We’re turbo-charging our network of businesses, building new partnerships, and – with the support of the BHP Foundation – investing in new tools and resources to help the business community make stronger and more strategic investments in education.
Let's keep in touch.
In 2020, watch for GBC-Education’s milestones at the World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings, the UN General Assembly, Expo2020 in Dubai, and many times in between!