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Theirworld Campaigns Director Ben Hewitt hands the letter to Christos Stylianides, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, in Brussels
By the year 2030, more than half of the world's 1.6 billion young people will never have been to school, dropped out of school or left education without even the most basic skills needed for employment.
If that doomsday scenario is going to be avoided, action is needed. Now.
That's why a group of major charities and organisations - including Theirworld, Save The Children, ONE, Avaaz and Global Citizen - is calling on world leaders to help launch a new way of providing the funding needed to educate those millions of children and give them a better chance in life.
They have asked the G20 countries to make education financing a top priority - by calling on the World Bank, regional development banks and donors to establish an International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd).
That mechanism would mobilise $10 billion or more of additional funding each year by 2020 and upwards of $20 billion by 2030.
"A transformational shift is needed in the way we invest in education systems if we want a safe, secure and prosperous future for the next generation," says a joint call to action sent to G20 finance ministers and representatives.
Apart from Theirworld, the letter was signed by ANCEFA, Avaaz, Camfed, FinnChurchAid, Freedom United, Global Citizen, Global Education Monitoring Report, International Rescue Committee, Islamic Relief, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, Malala Fund, ONE, Save the Children, SHOFCO, Plan International, Right to Play, University of Arizona, VSO, World Vision and Youth Envision.
They said a major finance gap exists that "requires us to mobilise funding beyond traditional donors". The group said the IFFEd will go "a long way to bridging this gap" and asked for it to be in place by the G20's 2018 meeting in Argentina.
The G20 countries - including the United States, United Kingdom, China, Russia, India, Brazil and also the European Union - will meet in Germany in July.
The countries in the G20 account for two-thirds of the world's population and 85% of global GDP (gross domestic product).
How IFFEd could help to get every child in school
