[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 160 (Thursday, October 5, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6367-S6368]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 286--SUPPORTING THE ROLE OF THE UNITED STATES IN 
  ENSURING CHILDREN IN THE POOREST COUNTRIES HAVE ACCESS TO A QUALITY 
         EDUCATION THROUGH THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION

  Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Mr. Rubio) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 286

       Whereas access to quality education reduces poverty, 
     advances economic prosperity, improves peace and security, 
     and strengthens public health;
       Whereas the 2016 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, 
     the globally recognized annual accountability tool on the 
     status of education internationally, found that an estimated 
     263,000,000 children and youth are out of school worldwide, 
     with girls still more likely to be out of school than their 
     male peers in most of the developing world;
       Whereas a 2015 GEM Report found that two-thirds of the 
     world's out-of-school children live in countries affected by 
     fragility and conflict;
       Whereas a 2016 GEM Report found that sub-Saharan Africa 
     remains the region with the highest out-of-school rates for 
     all age groups and of the 61,000,000 out-of-school children 
     of primary school age, 33,000,000, or more than half, live in 
     sub-Saharan Africa;
       Whereas the 2011 World Health Organization's World Report 
     on Disability has found an estimated 90 percent of children 
     with disabilities under age 18 in the developing world do not 
     attend school;
       Whereas a 2012 GEM Report found that 250,000,000 primary 
     schoolchildren are failing to learn basic literacy and 
     numeracy skills, 130,000,000 of whom have attended at least 
     four years of school;
       Whereas a 2011 GEM Report found that educating all students 
     in low-income countries with basic reading skills could lead 
     to 171,000,000 people lifted out of poverty, a 12 percent 
     drop in global poverty;
       Whereas a 1999 World Bank study on conflict found every 
     year of school decreases the chance of male youth engaging in 
     violent conflict by 20 percent;
       Whereas a 2011 GEM Report reported that an educated mother 
     is more likely to have her children vaccinated, and girls in 
     school are three times less likely to be infected with HIV 
     than their peers who are not in school;
       Whereas the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is the 
     only public-private global partnership exclusively dedicated 
     to education in the world's poorest countries;
       Whereas GPE eligible countries are home to approximately 
     870,000,000 children and youth, which represent 78 percent of 
     out-of-school children;
       Whereas GPE support resulted in 72,000,000 more children in 
     primary school in 2015 than in 2002 and a 10 percent increase 
     in primary school completion over that same period in GPE 
     partner countries;
       Whereas GPE support to partner countries has achieved a 71 
     percent primary completion rate for girls in 2014 compared 
     with 56 percent in 2002;
       Whereas 60 percent of GPE's spending is in countries 
     affected by conflict or fragility and helped these countries 
     to increase their primary school completion rates from 56 
     percent in 2000 to 69 percent in 2015;
       Whereas GPE incentivizes developing country governments to 
     increase their own domestic financing for education, which 
     has resulted in partner countries pledging $26,000,000,000 
     for their own domestic financing during GPE's 2014 
     replenishment conference;
       Whereas support for GPE complements the United States 
     Government's bilateral basic education programs by fostering 
     coordination among all key partners, ensuring the development 
     of national education sector plans, and building on the 
     commitment of developing country governments;
       Whereas, on April 20, 2017, GPE called on donors and 
     developing country partners to fund a $3,100,000,000, three-
     year plan to support 89 developing countries in improving the 
     quality of and access to education for 870,000,000 children 
     and youth and provide education plan implementation grants to 
     67 developing countries, covering 64 percent of out-of-school 
     children;
       Whereas GPE is urging developing country governments to 
     allocate 20 percent of government expenditure to education 
     and philanthropic and private sector donors to increase their 
     contributions; and
       Whereas, with support from donors, GPE will be able to 
     ensure 19,000,000 more children complete primary school, 
     6,600,000 more children complete lower secondary school, 
     1,700,000 more teachers are trained, 23,800 classrooms are 
     built, and 204,000,000 textbooks are distributed, bringing 
     new hope to a generation of children and youth: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) affirms the leadership and commitment of the United 
     States Government to improving access to quality education 
     for the poorest and most marginalized children and youth 
     worldwide, which is critical to global stability, economic 
     prosperity, and poverty elimination;
       (2) supports the mission and goals of the Global 
     Partnership for Education (GPE) to mobilize global and 
     national efforts to contribute to the achievement of 
     equitable, quality education and learning, with a focus on 
     effective and efficient education systems and strong 
     education financing;
       (3) recognizes that United States Government investments in 
     bilateral basic education are complemented by GPE's education 
     systems approach and convening authority; and
       (4) encourages increased commitment and investment by the 
     United States Government, international donors, private 
     foundations, and private sector donors through the GPE to the 
     global effort to ensure children and youth are in school and 
     learning throughout the world.

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