ODA Spending

How much ODA does Italy allocate to education?

Italy spent US$604 million of its ODA on education in 2022, or 8% of its total ODA, above the 7.2% DAC average. Italy was the 5^th-largest DAC donor to education in 2022 and the 9^th-largest in terms of relative share, moving from the 19^th place in 2021. Although this sector was a lower priority for Italy than for other DAC donors, Italy's ODA spending on education has increased both in 2021 and 2022, indicating that it is increasingly prioritizing education as a sector.

How is Italian educational ODA changing?

Italy’s funding for education saw an increase in 2022, following an increase in 2021 despite remaining as a small proportion of ODA. Italy’s overall funding for education has generally followed an upward trend and has increased by 70% between 2021 and 2022.

Italy is increasingly favouring multilateral spending for education.

How does Italy allocate educational ODA?

Bilateral Spending

Italy sees investments in providing scholarships and support for student costs in donor-countries, spending 20% of its bilateral education ODA towards this.

In 2022, Italy spent US$214 million or 71% of total education ODA as bilateral funding. It included US$11 million or 2% of earmarked funding through multilaterals. The top three sub-sectors receiving the most bilateral education ODA were 'education policy and administrative management' (54%), 'higher education' (21%), and 'education facilities and training' (9%).

Multilateral Spending and Commitments

In 2022, Italy provided 29% its ODA for education through multilateral organizations, decreasing from 40% in 2021.

Top multilateral recipients of Italy's education ODA are EUI (24%), followed by the IDA (4%), and the UNRWA (1%).

Funding and Policy Outlook

What is the current government's outlook on educational ODA?

Gender equality plays a prominent role in Italy’s recent education programming guidelines. The GPE is mentioned as a key partner in the guidelines, providing support for girls’ education in fragile and conflict-affected states and addressing quality of learning, as well as teacher training.

In January 2024, Italy hosted the Africa-Italy Summit to launch the pilot programs of Italy's flagship foreign policy initiative, also known as the Mattei Plan for Africa. The Mattei Plan identifies education and training as a priority area of intervention. Interventions will be aimed to promote training teachers, adjusting curricula, launching new vocational and training courses in line with the needs of the labor market, and collaborating with enterprises, particularly involving Italian operators and the Italian SMEs model.

Key Bodies