Resources

The Business Case for Investment in the Early Years

October 2023

The Business Case for Investment in the Early Years

Our report, based on research across the U.S. and around the world, makes an urgent case: The business community needs to broaden its focus to the youngest children to help transform not only their education, but their health, employability, and all-around contribution to their communities and the wider world.

Explore the report

Popular resources

The Journey of a Girl: Opportunities for Business Investment in Girls’ Education

Strategy and Guides

The Journey of a Girl: Opportunities for Business Investment in Girls’ Education

Released on the International Day of the Girl Child, ‘The Journey of a Girl’ shows how businesses must invest at every stage of a girl’s education journey to overcome the many barriers that keep her from reaching her full potential. This working paper, commissioned by GBC-Education, surveyed 32 companies investing in girls’ education, and found that while there is a strong focus on empowering girls in the secondary years, less than 10% of corporate education budgets are directed to pre-primary education. (more…)

Strong Schools and Communities Initiative: Working Together to Build Safe Schools and Protective Learning Environments

Strategy and Guides

Strong Schools and Communities Initiative: Working Together to Build Safe Schools and Protective Learning Environments

In partnership with UNICEF and A World at School, the new Strong Schools and Communities Initiative will explore opportunities for school communities, national authorities, and the private sector to strengthen programs that protect learning environments and promote an open dialogue among communities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. This report documents the plight of school children in the region, home to the highest rate of armed violence in the world, and identifies how the initiative will inform policies and programs that the government can utilize to create safe schools. (more…)

Scaling Up to Reach One Million Refugee Children: Accelerating Progress on Education for Syrian Refugees in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon

Strategy and Guides

Scaling Up to Reach One Million Refugee Children: Accelerating Progress on Education for Syrian Refugees in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon

In collaboration with the Global Business Coalition for Education, A World at School, and Theirworld, education experts unveiled a sweeping plan to get more than one million Syrian refugee children into school in Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon. To read the individual reports:

  • Click here for Turkey
  • Click here for Jordan
  • Click here for Lebanon

Investing in Education: Lessons from the Business Community

Strategy and Guides

Investing in Education: Lessons from the Business Community

To help provide insights on the variety of ways businesses can support the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda, GBC-Education and the UN Global Compact developed this publication featuring a diverse set of responsible investments in education by six GBC-Education member companies and a new framework that combines and builds upon two guidance documents. It also shares lessons that can inspire other businesses to support the education targets for the next 15 years. (more…)

Safe Schools Initiative: Protecting the Right to Learn in Pakistan

Strategy and Guides

Safe Schools Initiative: Protecting the Right to Learn in Pakistan

Over the past four decades, Pakistan has experienced more attacks on education than any country in the world. As the Pakistani government works to ensure schools are safe for all children, this paper outlines 15 best practices building on global expertise and experience. The best practices are intended to complement and support current government activities; to highlight proven measures to make schools safe; and to serve as a basis for a framework to build school and community based interventions to promote safe schools in Pakistan with support from the international community. (more…)

Ebola Emergency: Restoring Education, Creating Safe Schools and Preventing a Long-term Crisis

Strategy and Guides

Ebola Emergency: Restoring Education, Creating Safe Schools and Preventing a Long-term Crisis

Education has been one of the first casualties of the Ebola outbreak. Nearly five million children were out of school due to Ebola-related school closures in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - many indefinitely. Students who fall behind for a year or more are significantly more at risk of dropping out of school and this increased risk of drop out, coupled with the trauma of loss and greater poverty, could mean that large numbers of children will never return to the classroom. (more…)

Toward a Global Education Platform: Potential Models for Harnessing Technology to Promote Education as a Global Public Good

Strategy and Guides

Toward a Global Education Platform: Potential Models for Harnessing Technology to Promote Education as a Global Public Good

The paper provides a discussion of five potential models for using technology to deliver education to the most marginalized. It also provides an overview of the current context and use of technology to situate these models. Based on a careful analysis of the needs of potential students, educators, and employers, this discussion paper identifies several opportunities to add value to the existing education ecosystem by synthesizing the conversations and consensus points to date. The paper is a product of GBC-Education’s Global Education Platform initiative. (more…)

Planning for Impact: Measuring Business Investments in Education

Strategy and Guides

Planning for Impact: Measuring Business Investments in Education

Working in collaboration with Coalition member PwC US and partner A World at School, this report was produced to help organizations begin to better measure their investments' impact in education. It helps organizations to identify the impact it wants to achieve and also provides a sampling of indicators, tools, and resources. Ultimately, organizations may use this report to strengthen their narrative arc as they construct their niche in social impact investing. (more…)

The Smartest Investment: A Framework for Business Engagement in Education

Strategy and Guides

The Smartest Investment: A Framework for Business Engagement in Education

Business benefits from high-quality education systems and has an interest to give all children, youth, and adults the opportunity to reach their potential. UNESCOUNICEF, the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Global Education, and the UN Global Compactjointly developed a business engagement resource for global education that is a broad-based and action-oriented tool aimed at helping business align their investments in education to promote shared value. (more…)

Investment in Global Education: A Strategic Imperative for Business

Strategy and Guides

Investment in Global Education: A Strategic Imperative for Business

The 21st century is marked by global inter-connections. People, capital, information, and goods all flow across borders at ever increasing rates. By 2030, not only will emerging economies contribute 65 percent of the global GDP, but they will also be home to the majority of the world’s working age population. Business will increasingly seek to recruit the talented employees it needs from these economies, located largely in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Ultimately, the youth in these regions will be the engines of our future growth and prosperity. In this report, it is argued that global education is a strategic issue for business and companies can no longer afford to support it only through corporate social responsibility initiatives. (more…)