The Danish International Development Agency (Danida) and Danish toy company Lego have teamed up to give a boost to some of the world’s poorest children.

 

The trade and development minister, Mogens Jensen, announced today in Brussels that Denmark will contribute an additional 100 million kroner ($18.3 million) to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), bringing Denmark’s total contribution to 400 million kroner ($73 million).

 

“Every single child has the right to a school education, and we should be happy that 90 percent of the world’s poorest children have received the opportunity to go to school,” Jensen said. “But there are still 57 million children that need to go to school, and we need to improve the quality of education for hundreds of millions of children who continue to learn too little.”

 

In addition to the Danish government’s contributions, toymaker Lego is also a contributing partner to the GPE through its Lego Education division.

 

“Lego Education is a natural partner in the effort to educate the world’s children and yet another good example of how we can collaborate with private companies on development projects,” Jensen said. "It’s also a good example to show that we are contributing with something we are really good at in Denmark – learning through play and creativity.”

 

The GPE works with developing nations to foster national education curricula. According to Danida, the partnership has helped put an additional 22 million children in school worldwide, nearly half of them young girls.