UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning to receive €8 million from France over the next four years

13/11/2023

The UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO) is receiving a contribution of 8 million euros in additional funding from France for the period 2024-2027, including support for the Gender at the Centre initiative.

The new multi-year commitment was announced by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs on 10 November 2023 after IIEP-UNESCO’s 60th Anniversary Symposium on the Future of Educational Planning, on the margin of UNESCO’s General Conference. The contribution will give the Institute the means to support ministries of education in their reforms and the transformation of education and training systems. 

This exceptional contribution from France will strengthen our collaboration with education ministries and their partners worldwide, enabling us to enhance educational planning and management for improved learning, equity, transparency, financing, resilience, innovation, and future-ready skills.

Martín Benavides
IIEP-UNESCO Director

France's additional funding will contribute to the implementation of the second phase of the Gender at the Centre initiative (GCI) in 2024, coordinated by IIEP-UNESCO and the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI). Launched in 2019 under the impetus of the French presidency of the G7, GCI now offers full support to ministries of education in a partnership-based approach to integrating gender issues into their education and training systems.

Since its creation in 1963, IIEP-UNESCO has benefited from the support of its host country, France, which became its largest donor in 2019. Through funding from the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the French Development Agency, the Institute is fulfilling its mission of strengthening the capacity of UNESCO Member States to plan and manage their education systems - in particular through research, the dissemination of knowledge, context-specific technical cooperation and training programmes for policy-makers and planners.

Through this renewed support, France is also encouraging greater consideration to be given to girls' education and gender equality in and through education, right from the planning stage of public policies and the preparation of budgets by ministries.

©IIEP-UNESCO Caption: IIEP Director Martín Benavides with speakers of the panel session on equity at IIEP's 60th Anniversary Symposium. From left to right: Fabricia Devignes (IIEP), H.E. Ms Mariatou Koné (Minister of National Education and Literacy, Côte d'Ivoire), Martín Benavides (IIEP), Adama Momoh (Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Sierra Leone), Elspeth McOmish (UNESCO), and Pauline Rose (IIEP Governing Board member, REAL Centre, University of Cambridge)