I woke up this morning at 4:45 AM with my mind whirling with disappointment. Last night I learned the U.S. had pledged $20 million for one year to the Global Partnership for Education at its replenishment conference. Remember the primary goal of RESULTS over the last three months has been to build support for international education, especially for the GPE. RESULTS was advocating a pledge of $375 billion to the GPE over three years. That the U.S. pledged a little more than 5% of that amount was frustrating enough to wake me up and keep me from sleeping. (Perhaps that’s more a comment on how I get emotionally wrapped up in the issues of international development.)
To put that $20 million into perspective, the U.K. pledged $352 million, Australia $278 million, Denmark $201 million, the Netherlands $165 million, and Canada $45 million. Spain has an unemployment rate of 21%, but they pledged $27 million. The developing nations as a whole pledged to increase their domestic spending on education by more than $2 billion. Considering that most of their education funding comes from sources within their own countries, that pledge is a significant commitment of their own scarce resources.
To help put the U.S. pledge of $20 million in perspective with another education program, I discovered the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan’s report Transforming Wartime Contracting: Controlling Costs, Reducing Risks. On page 81 the report mentions a USAID health and education construction program in Afghanistan to which $57 million was allocated and uses that program as an example of mismanagement.
While researching for this post, I came across a letter written by Lt. Col. Michael Fenzel in response to a Nicholas Kristof opinion piece. In the letter, Fenzel writes:
I have served two tours in Afghanistan that amounted to nearly 2.5 years on the ground. As an infantry battalion commander my number one priority was education. As visitors and congressional delegations moved through our little corner of the country in Eastern Paktika (where the literacy rate is at 2%) there was typically disbelief that this was a legitimate counterinsurgency priority. Normally, after hearing of our perspective and efforts, there were converts.
Fenzel’s letter goes on and provides an illuminating glimpse into the challenges and misconceptions of global education and its place in U.S. national security. I strongly encourage reading his letter.
I first heard about the U.S. pledge through an e-mail sent out by Jen Maurer. Jen is the Senior Policy Associate for RESULTS in the area of global development. She was at the GPE replenishment conference in Copenhagen representing RESULTS volunteers. She wrote an excellent e-mail to RESULTS volunteers who have spent much time and effort meeting with and writing letters to members of Congress, their staffs, newspaper editorial boards, and other decision makers and “trim tabs“.
In the e-mail Jen reminded us of several things we actually won while getting the Administration to pledge $20 million to the GPE:
- For the first time ever, the U.S. has finally pledged to give more than $0 to the GPE.
- In order to get that pledge, we’ve begun building solid support for global education policy with many more members of Congress.
- The World Bank is feeling renewed pressure to contribute to the GPE and may be forced to live up to its own pledges.
- RESULTS staff generated 50 pieces of media, including 18 editorial and op-eds.
All this reminds me of the term “dirt work” which I wrote about some weeks ago. The achievements above are the sprouts of seeds RESULTS volunteers have been planting and caring for over a long time. RESULTS has been advocating for improved international education for several years, so the results above are not the first shoots from the seeds we’ve been planting–they are the latest.
In her e-mail, Jen relayed some very complimentary things she heard about RESULTS at the conference. She wrote how Carol Bellamy, the chair of the GPE board:
… publicly thanked RESULTS during a pledging round. Senior replenishment staff thanked me continuously for what you [RESULTS volunteers] did. Other Global Partnership staff invited me to speak to UNICEF and at a mini-panel about how to do effective advocacy — all because of how fantastic your effort has been. Your work is noticed around the world — and the world thanks you.
Jen also wrote how, “Senior State Department staff told Global Partnership that our [RESULTS’s] advocacy was sophisticated, intelligent, and effective. They never felt bullied, but respectfully pressured. They said your [RESULTS’s] advocacy was persistent, constant, and built at the end for a powerful impact.”
Thanks, Jen. Both for your words and the insight that I and other volunteers would need the pick-me-ups expressed in your e-mail after the discouraging announcement. Jen’s an example of why I think RESULTS has some of the brightest and most thoughtful staff working in the non-profit world. Actually, I’d include public and private worlds as well.
While I’m greatly disappointed in the amount USAID pledged on behalf of the U.S., I’m heartened by several things:
- The reminders from Jen and the realization that we as RESULTS volunteers did some really great work.
- The pledge was for one year and is only a pledge–not an actual contribution. RESULTS can and will continue to work with House and Senate members of Congress to get higher funding levels actually appropriated for the GPE.
- That all foreign aid programs (at least those that I’m aware of) have always started out small and if supported enough by champions have grown closer to actually satisfying their actual needs.
There’s an enormous amount of work for RESULTS and the American people at large to influence prudent investment in global education, but the seeds have sprouted. Now we need to keep watering and protecting them from pests of ignorance and apathy!