THE UK government launched a girls’ education drive aimed at developing countries, including India to mark International Women’s Day.
The government will work with UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited (GenU) to implement the new Girls’ Education Skills Partnership which will be funded by Accenture, Standard Chartered, Unilever, Microsoft, and United Bank for Africa.
The UK will contribute an initial £9 million, with businesses providing £11m in total towards the initiative.
The funding will help expand GenU’s Passport to Earning (P2E) platform, a digital skills platform designed to provide girls with free, certified education and skills training. India is among seven countries identified for the P2E platform, alongside Brazil, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Niger and Egypt.
British prime minister Boris Johnson. (Photo by KIRSTY O'CONNOR/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“The UK has long been a proud and mighty champion of this fundamental cause and today we take one leap further through our first Global Partnership of its kind — opening the opportunity for one million girls across the developing world to have access to high-quality skills training,” said UK prime minister Boris Johnson as he hosted the business leaders involved in the initiative at Downing Street in London.
“Ensuring every girl and young woman across the globe receives 12 years of quality education is the greatest tool in our armoury to end the world’s great injustices. Delivering on this mission will be one of the best defences against ignorance, ensure the greatest protection from prejudice and put a rocket booster behind our hopes and dreams for global development in the years to come."
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss arrives for a regional cabinet meeting at the Rolls-Royce factory on October 15, 2021 in Bristol, England. (Photo by Steve Parsons-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
UK foreign secretary Liz Truss said: “Supporting women and girls is at the heart of UK foreign policy. We want women to have agency over their own lives and to be free to succeed. “Investing in girls' education is vital for a more sustainable, peaceful and prosperous future. That’s why we are partnering with the private sector to help girls in developing countries access education and job opportunities.”
Under the new partnership, businesses, charities, schools and colleges will shortly be able to bid for funds from the programme. It wants to support projects that will improve access to education for girls, with a focus on providing the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills needed to find work in key sectors such as technology and manufacturing.
This could include funding new skills training programmes, improving teaching or redesigning training to make it more relevant to business needs.
Some of the businesses involved will be contributing books, computers and other technology, mentors, advice and access to their networks, skills and training programmes.
According to official estimates, the pandemic has created even more barriers to education, with a peak of 1.6 billion children around the world having faced school closures.
Helen Grant
“Every girl everywhere deserves to have an education. From school right the way through to the workplace, our partnership will help give women and girls the skills they need to reach their full potential,” said Helen Grant, the UK prime minister’s special envoy for Girls’ Education.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said the UK plays a leading role in the education sector globally and that between 2015 and 2020, it supported at least 15.6m children in developing countries to gain a decent education, including 8.1m girls.
(PTI)
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)