On Thursday 18 November 2025, IIEP-UNESCO, in partnership with ADEA, the Global Education Cooperation Mechanism (GCM), and the Learning Equity Initiative, convened the fourth edition of its Virtual Strategic Debate series: “Planning Funding Approaches to Address Learning Inequalities in a Time of Change.” The high-level dialogue brought together global education leaders to examine how countries can design financing reforms that deliver fairer, more effective education systems in an era of rising inequality and constrained budgets.

Opening the session, Martín Benavides, Director of IIEP-UNESCO, warned that education systems must “innovate to ensure resources reach the learners who need them most,” stressing that reliable data remains “the foundation for evidence-driven policymaking.”

Representing Africa’s perspective, ADEA Executive Secretary, Albert Nsengiyumva, set a decisive tone. He urged governments to treat education as an investment rather than a cost if the continent is to reverse its deepening learning crisis. Albert identified three essential reforms: stronger accountability, more efficient and transparent resource use, and rigorous learning assessment to guide spending decisions. He underscored the need to scale up interventions already showing impact—teacher coaching, contextually relevant EdTech, mother-tongue instruction, and instructional leadership.

“Our challenge is not a shortage of strategies,” he said. “It is the consistency, coordination, and political will to invest in what works. Equity and efficiency must go hand in hand if we want every African child to learn.”

Albert also announced the Foundational Learning Initiative for Government-Led Transformation (FLIGHT)—a new continental mechanism to support countries in implementing large-scale, evidence-based reforms in foundational learning.

Bringing the global policy perspective, Anna Cristina D’Addio, Chief Education Policy at the UNESCO GEM Report, argued that equity in education is both “a moral commitment and an economic imperative.” She highlighted evidence showing that better-targeted spending reduces dropout, strengthens transparency, and directs resources “to where they matter most.” She pointed to ongoing GEM work, including country financing profiles and tools for monitoring SDG indicator 4.5.2, designed to help governments build fairer financing systems.

Equally, Data Analyst at the GEM Report, Yuki Murakami, outlined five channels through which public financing can advance equity including formula-based transfers, targeted school support, direct student assistance, school meal programmes, and other instruments that close persistent disadvantage gaps. 

“Well-targeted financing simultaneously reduces inequalities and improves learning outcomes,” she noted.

Turning to the earliest years of learning, IIEP-UNESCO Senior Programme Specialist Diane Coury emphasised the outsized returns of early childhood education (ECE). Early investment, she said, boosts readiness, reduces repetition and dropout, and improves lifelong outcomes—yet the children who stand to gain the most remain the least likely to access it. Coury called for “smart financing” solutions, including legal guarantees for free pre-primary education, dedicated budgets, and targeted support for marginalized children.

Adding a regional comparison, Mariana Huepe Follert of the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) decried chronic underinvestment in Latin America and the Caribbean—where spending per student is nearly five times lower than OECD averages. She argued for expanding fiscal space, establishing minimum investment standards, strengthening accountability, and mobilising multisector resources to ensure financing directly supports learning.

Across the debate, a central conclusion emerged: equity and efficiency are not competing priorities but mutually reinforcing goals. Reliable data is essential for identifying where needs are greatest and which interventions provide the highest returns. Stronger monitoring and fiduciary controls are vital, especially amid declining donor funding. And cross-sector action—linking education with social protection, health, and finance—can help governments stretch scarce resources further while addressing the complex barriers facing disadvantaged learners.

Speakers also agreed that early and foundational learning deserve greater priority, given their exceptional long-term impact, and that countries must accelerate the scale-up of proven solutions—from teacher coaching to purposeful EdTech and instructional leadership.

As the fourth session in the IIEP-UNESCO and ADEA debate series, the dialogue reinforced a shared global view: by combining smart financing, evidence-driven reforms, and stronger collaboration, countries can build more equitable and resilient education systems—and ensure that the learners who need support most are not left behind.