Are you a very passionate advocate for education? Do you want to make a difference in the lives of children? The Global Partnership for Education Secretariat (GPE) would like to hear from you.
Who We Are
GPE is a shared commitment to end the world’s learning crisis. It is the only global partnership and fund dedicated entirely to helping children in lower-income countries get a quality education, so they can unlock their potential and contribute to building a better world.
We bring together governments, teachers, civil society, donors, United Nations agencies, development banks, businesses and private foundations to transform education systems so that every girl and boy can have hope, opportunity and agency.
What We Do
GPE helps low- and lower-middle-income countries to build stronger education systems so that all children can get the education they need to thrive. We currently support nearly 90 countries where the needs are greatest and focus on reaching the children who are the most vulnerable, including girls, children with disabilities and those affected by extreme poverty or conflict.
Our unique approach works. Since 2002, 160 million more children in GPE partner countries have set foot in classrooms for the first time, more than half of them girls. GPE is also the largest provider of education grants in the global COVID-19 response, providing partner countries with vital resources to ensure that learning can safely continue.
How We Work
Now, GPE is working to help governments transform their education systems to get the most vulnerable children in school, improve teaching and learning, and build equitable, inclusive and resilient education systems fit for the 21st century. Between 2020-2025, GPE will support transformative change in up to 90 countries and territories, which are home to 1 billion children.
Transforming education is about creating lasting changes and achieving impact at scale. GPE sets out to deliver this transformative change by convening partners, mobilizing funds and catalyzing reforms to help partner countries accelerate access, learning outcomes and gender equality.
Raise Your Hand
In July 2021, the Global Education Summit put GPE firmly on the path to be fully-funded by 2025, by raising a record US $4 billion from donors for GPE’s Raise Your Hand campaign. At the Summit, Heads of State and Government from partner countries made historic commitments to education financing and GPE also mobilized an unprecedented number of pledges from businesses, private foundations and development banks.
A fully funded GPE would support transformed education systems in up to 90 countries and territories, enable up to 175 million children to learn and help get 88 million more girls and boys in school by 2025. In the longer term, this investment could add $164 billion to economies in GPE partner countries, lift 18 million people out of poverty, and protect 2 million girls from early marriage.
Governance And Organizational Arrangements
The GPE Board of Directors includes ministerial-level board members and alternates representing 20 constituencies that reflect the Partnership’s breadth. The Board Chair is HE President Jakaya Kikwete and the Board Vice Chair is Dr Susan Liautaud. The Board of Directors, with its three standing committees, provides policy and strategic oversight and approves or delegates funding decisions.
The GPE Secretariat, with 160 employees and hosted by the World Bank, is responsible for translating the policies and strategies set by the Board into practical support for partner countries, coordinating with diverse stakeholders and galvanizing global support for SDG4. The Secretariat’s headquarters are in the World Bank’s offices in Washington, D.C. and the European office is in Paris with a satellite office in Brussels.
ABOUT THE TEAM
The External Relations team (EXR) responsibilities include donor relations, communications, advocacy, civil society outreach, private sector and private foundation outreach and it has the primary responsibility for overseeing GPE's Financing Campaigns.
ABOUT THE JOB
The position will be based in the GPE office located in Brussels or Paris, but may be subject to relocation if business needs so indicate.
Duties and Accountabilities
The position is part of the External Relations Team (EXR) whose responsibilities include donor relations, communications, advocacy, civil society outreach, private sector and private foundation outreach. The position sits within the Donor Relations Team, which takes a “whole of country” approach managing relationships with government, parliament, civil society, foundations, media and political influencers.
The position reports to the Acting Donor Relations Team Lead with a dotted line to the Donor youth lead and supports the national campaigning and advocacy work of the whole Donor Relations Team.
The overall role of the position is to provide communications coordination within the donor team and support to GPE donor influencing strategies, aimed at protecting, prioritizing and increasing aid to global education and laying the foundations for GPE’s next Replenishment.
An initial identification of tasks includes the following; however, additional tasks may be identified according to the needs of the team and donors’ requests from the Secretariat.
Under the supervision of the Acting Donor Relations Team Lead, this role will work closely with colleagues across the donor team and wider external relations team to develop and implement targeted online and off-line campaigns.
• Work with the donor team and in close collaboration with the communication and global advocacy teams to coordinate, draft and produce campaign and advocacy materials for national and cross-country campaign and influencing strategies;
• In close collaboration with the donor and communications teams, develop and implement campaign strategies in support of national donor country strategies and other priority strategies such as the Team Europe, G7/ G20 and COP;
• Be an active member of the cross team External Relations campaigns group and coordinate the donor team’s comms and campaigns work in close cooperation with the other group members;
• Invent, manage and implement stunts, events and other public facing activities in different donor markets and support EXR priority moments;
• Translate policy recommendations into compelling comms and campaign messages;
• Undertake relevant research of national (social) media chains of key politicians and influencers in different markets and develop social media campaigns using the outreach of these influencers;
• Support the donor team in creating materials tailored to individual donors/potential donors.
• Support GPE youth leaders’ campaign actions;
• Draft communication tools in support of corporate communications and donor visibility, engagement efforts and influencing strategies such as OPEDs, blogs, tweets and follow-up communications with donor/potential donor partners.
• Assemble briefing books for senior staff upon request.
• Cooperate with Communication and Campaign colleagues in relevant national NGOs, national NGO coalitions and networks to strengthen appealing and creative campaigns;
• Support the champions work in donor countries and establishment of national ‘friends of education’ for policy change and resource mobilization.
• Collaborate with other team members in the External relations team and contribute productively to the EXR team's work and output, demonstrating respect for different points of view.