The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), an initiative of Qatar Foundation (QF), has held a series of New York-based roundtables and workshops with education stakeholders, with the aim of accelerating progress towards the fourth UN Sustainable Development Goal for Education (SDG 4).
The discussions took place in the build-up to WISE@NY, a forum held by WISE in New York City as part of the UN Global Goals Week, which saw over 350 innovators, education experts and thought-leaders gather to discuss key topics and challenges facing education on a worldwide scale.
With funding being a major element of ensuring that SDG 4 – which reflects that quality education is the foundation of sustainable development - is met by 2030, WISE believes that connecting the right stakeholders is pivotal to generating productive outcomes in this area. According to a report by the Education Commission, the average annual expenditure on education for low- and middle-income countries is $1.3tn, which represents only a third of funding required to achieve SDG 4.
The organisations involved in the New York discussions hosted by WISE included the Education Outcomes Fund, the International Education Funders Group, and members of the Global Partnership for Education. Funders who participated in the roundtables and workshops helped to lead discussions about increasing and improving methods of education financing.
“The roundtable discussions organised by WISE enabled conversations to take place on new and better ways of financing education, with the objective of achieving SDG 4,” said Zineb Mouhyi, Policy and Partnership Development officer, WISE.
“Hosting these discussions in New York City, a day ahead of WISE@NY, enabled a wide range of global expertise and insight to be applied to this issue, with the aim of identifying potential solutions and pathways for progress, and helping to ensure that children around the world have access to the quality education which improves their lives, strengthens their societies, and equips them with the tools to innovate,” added the official.
