Former President Dr Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete recently held high-level talks with senior South Korean government officials, thanking the country for its continued commitment to advancing global education through the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). 

During the meetings, Dr Kikwete met South Korea’s Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kim Jina, Vice Minister for International Cooperation Chang Wook-jin, and Members of Parliament Jae Jung Lee, Kyung-sook Kang and Geong Kim, who oversee education and international development cooperation. 

Dr Kikwete expressed appreciation for South Korea’s longstanding partnership with GPE, noting that the country’s support extends beyond financial contributions to sharing its globally recognised expertise in mathematics, science and innovation.  

South Korean officials reaffirmed their government’s commitment to GPE and announced that the country’s new financial pledge will be unveiled during the GPE Replenishment Summit on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on 23 September 2026. 

The summit will launch the GPE 2030 campaign, which aims to mobilise US$15 billion between 2026 and 2030 to support basic education, including pre-primary, primary and secondary schooling, for approximately 750 million children in more than 90 countries. 

Tanzania has received more than US$207.3 million in GPE support to strengthen its education sector and is expected to benefit from increased funding under GPE’s performance-based financing approach for countries demonstrating strong education sector management and successful government-partnership programmes.