Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to work with international partners to ensure that United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Four is reached by 2030 and all children are provided with a high quality education, irrespective of their country of origin.

To manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FCDO has adapted its bilateral education programmes in 18 countries as well as providing additional funding, including £5 million to Education Cannot Wait, UNHCR, and UNICEF.

We will be using our G7 presidency this year to champion initiatives in getting SDG4 back on track. This includes our two global objectives on girls' education - 40 million more girls in primary and secondary education, and one third more girls reading by age 10 in low- and middle-income countries by 2025. We will also co-host with Kenya the replenishment summit of the Global Partnership for Education, which is for the world's only partnership and fund dedicated entirely to children in lower-income countries obtaining a quality education, and has an important role in supporting SDG4 and closing the financing gap.