British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the coronavirus pandemic could leave a “lasting legacy of wasted talent” as he prepares for a London summit to raise funds for the Global Partnership for Education.
Mr Johnson wants world leaders to dig deep to prevent Covid-19 ruining the life chances of millions of children.
The UK last month pledged £430 million to the project, which aims to raise at least $5 billion (£3.6bn) in five years.
The campaign is designed to help 175 million girls and boys in up to 90 countries to learn.
“We have a fight on our hands to ensure Covid-19 does not scupper the life chances of millions of children, leaving a lasting legacy of wasted talent," Mr Johnson said.
“Too many children around the world, girls in particular, were already out of school before the pandemic.
“Enabling them to learn and reach their full potential is the single greatest thing we can do to recover from this crisis and build better, greener and fairer societies.
“Today I am urging governments, businesses and philanthropists to invest in the future by fully funding the transformative work of the Global Partnership for Education.”
Speaking to The National on the eve of the summit, a former president of Tanzania said wealthy countries had a moral duty to invest in education.
Jakaya Kikwete said Africa's large youth population could become a disaffected cohort if they do not receive the education they need.
"If you have young people who are not employable … civil strife, civil instability. It becomes a social and political problem," he said.
Mr Johnson’s commitment to the partnership in June came as his government pushed ahead with a £4bn aid cut, despite warnings that it would affect education projects.
The UK government is allocating 0.5 per cent of gross national income on official development assistance rather than the 0.7 per cent pledged in the Conservative Party campaign for the 2019 general election.
It says the reduction is temporary and has been introduced because of the economic damage from Covid-19, although charities fear the cut could be indefinite.
Mr Johnson will be joined by Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and Julia Gillard, the former prime minister of Australia who chairs the GPE, at the event on Thursday.
Meeting Mr Kenyatta on the eve of the summit, Mr Johnson announced that Britain would share nearly a million vaccine doses with Kenya as part of its first shipments to developing nations.
In a recorded message, former UK prime minister Gordon Brown said 300 million children would not be going to school even after the pandemic subsides.
"Tragically for millions of children, total education aid globally is down $2bn already from its pre-pandemic peak," said Mr Brown, a UN special envoy for education.
"Total aid translates to only $8 per year per African pupil – hardly enough to pay for one second-hand textbook. That’s why we must prioritise investment in education now."
Pakistani education campaigner Malala Yousafzai — who has criticised the UK’s aid cuts — will also be among the speakers at the summit.
THE BIO
Favourite author - Paulo Coelho
Favourite holiday destination - Cuba
New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field
Role model - My Grandfather
Dream interviewee - Che Guevara
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
|
1.
|
United States
|
|
2.
|
China
|
|
3.
|
UAE
|
|
4.
|
Japan
|
|
5
|
Norway
|
|
6.
|
Canada
|
|
7.
|
Singapore
|
|
8.
|
Australia
|
|
9.
|
Saudi Arabia
|
|
10.
|
South Korea
|
More coverage from the Future Forum
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key features of new policy
Pupils to learn coding and other vocational skills from Grade 6
Exams to test critical thinking and application of knowledge
A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis for Holistic Development) will form the standard for schools
Schools to implement online system to encouraging transparency and accountability
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
