It was launched to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2015.
In 2013, Alice P. Albright joined as Chief Executive Officer and Julia Gillard, former Australian Prime Minister, was appointed Chair of GPE's Board.
[5] In 2021, ahead of the G7 Summit, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union would pledge €700 million for the Global Partnership for Education.
[7] Since 2002, there are 77 million more children in school in GPE partner countries and US$5.3 billion in grants have been allocated since 2003, including US$2.4 billion to partner countries affected by fragility and conflict.
[8] Partner countries include Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Dominica, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, FS Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.