The cost of inaction: A generation at risk

The cost of inaction: A generation at risk

Children growing up in GPE partner countries today will shape tomorrow’s world. If we fail the 900 million young people across 91 GPE partner countries who will enter the workforce by 2040, their potential will be lost.

270+ million children are out of school today

270+ million children
are out of school today

44 million teachers are missing in today’s schools

44 million teachers
are missing in today’s schools

$3.3 trillion per year in lost productivity due to the learning crisis

$3.3 trillion per year
in lost productivity due to the learning crisis

If countries fail to address today’s learning crisis, they risk being caught in a vicious cycle: low learning weakens human capital, limiting economic growth and constraining public spending, leaving them more vulnerable to shocks and reliant on external aid.

Failing to invest in education now is not just a missed opportunity; it is a direct threat to global development for us all.

Children in 96 GPE-eligible countries and territories live at the intersection of the education crisis and other global challenges.

Fragility status

Climate risk

Fragility status: Data from the Fund for Peace’s Fragile States Index, which ranks 178 countries based on their vulnerability to conflict or collapse.

Climate risk: Data from the UNICEF Climate Risk Index, which ranks countries by exposure to climate and environmental hazards and child vulnerability, reflecting access to essential services (water, sanitation, health care, nutrition, education).

There is no climate risk data for Cabo Verde, Comoros, Dominica, Fiji, Grenada, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, FS Micronesia, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, West Bank and Gaza.