GRADE Project - Government Revenue and Development Estimations

19/08/2026

A proud moment for GTQF!

Our submission on “The International Financial Architecture, Debt and the Right to Education” has been published by the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and will inform the annual thematic report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, to be presented at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly opening on September 8, 2026.

This was a joint submission by the GRADE Project - Government Revenue and Development Estimations (GRADE) at the Universities of St Andrews and Leicester, the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), and The Grown Too Quick Foundation (GTQF).

For a grassroots organisation like GTQF, this is a powerful reminder that local evidence, research and youth voices can contribute to global policy conversations.

Learn more: https://gtqfoundation.org/2026/08/01/gtqf-contributes-to-united-nations-education-advocacy/

Read the submission and other contributions under “Academia”:
https://www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2026/call-inputs-international-financial-architecture-debt-and-right-education

12/05/2026

Education funding isn’t a ‘nice to have’- It’s a human rights obligation.

A compelling new think piece by the Executive Director of Center for Economic and Social Rights María Ron Balsera, writing for UNESCO, shows why 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹.

Read the article here 👉 https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/financing-education-through-fiscal-justice-human-rights-imperative

Fair taxation, better public spending, and accountability can unlock access to education worldwide.

02/04/2026

🔥EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT🔥

Hear from Zambian debt and climate activist Precious Kalombwana in person this April 📢

Join us in London, Manchester and online 👇

🙌 RSVP London and online: act.debtjustice.org.uk/life-debt-conversation-precious-kalombwana

🌍 RSVP Manchester: debtjustice.org.uk/manchester

Precious is one of the leading voices for debt cancellation and climate action in her region.

Join us in April to hear how activists like Precious are resisting the twin crises of debt and climate - and what you can do to be part of the campaign.

21/03/2026

📢DID YOU KNOW?
Africa paid $163 billion in debt interest in 2024 alone. Not schools. Not hospitals. Just interest❗️❗️.
Africa is the only region where debt is growing faster than GDP. Interest rates on African bonds have reached 10%, while the USA pays just 2.5%. The system isn’t broken. It was intentionally built this way. Expert advice keeps piling up. Leaders keep on ignoring it- meanwhile, debt keeps rising, with it the high cost of living.
Read “Towards the Next Frontier in Sustainable Debt Advocacy in Africa” and find out why political will - not more policy papers - is the real missing piece.
🔗https://shorturl.at/y1qgY

28/02/2026

🚨PRESS ALERT 🚨

With Africa’s public debt reaching $2.1 trillion and external debt servicing projected to hit $90 billion by 2026, the continent is at a breaking point. We cannot continue to prioritise debt repayments over basic human rights like clean water, sanitation, and climate adaptation.
As our Interim Executive Director, Dr. Theophilus Yungong, emphasises in the article: "The G20 Common Framework has proven insufficient. We need a transparent, inclusive, and multilateral legal framework under the United Nations to ensure debt sustainability and economic justice for all Africans." It is time for Africa to be a rule-maker, not a rule-taker. Read the full coverage on GhanaWeb here:➡️http://bit.ly/46Kt7zw

15/02/2026

"From colonial accounting tricks to modern tax havens, Nkrumah understood how capital escapes, and why political independence was never enough." Blog by Rachel Etter-Phoya, originally posted by Africa Is a Country. https://taxjustice.net/2026/02/10/what-kwame-nkrumah-knew-about-profit-shifting/

30/01/2026

After the G20: Can the Spirit of Ubuntu Survive?
For the first time ever, the G20 was hosted in Africa, and the GRADE team made a meaningful contribution to the dialogue.

In this new blog, we reflect on what the outcomes mean for solidarity, shared humanity, and equitable global governance.

Link to the blog:

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24/01/2026

Protecting Freedom from Billionaire Power

22/01/2026

This is the Oxfam campaign that utilised the GRADE MODEL.
Numbers in green were simulated by GRADE and are realistic.

Today we’re launching the Davos Billionaire Wealth Tracker.

While leaders gather at the World Economic Forum, billionaire wealth is projected to keep growing — even as millions of people struggle with rising costs, climate impacts, and underfunded public services.

This tracker estimates that projected wealth growth during Davos week and puts it into real-world terms: what this level of money could fund if it were invested in people instead of piling up at the top.

The tracker is grounded in our latest report on how extreme wealth drives inequality and undue political influence.

👉 Explore the tracker here:
https://www.oxfam.org/en/oxfam-billionaire-wealth-tracker

22/01/2026

Oxfam has just launched the Billionaires Wealth Tracker, timed to coincide with the Davos meeting. The tracker sheds light on the scale and dynamics of billionaire wealth, and what it means for public resources and inequality.
Link to the tracker: https://www.oxfam.org/en/oxfam-billionaire-wealth-tracker

Notably, the tracker makes extensive use of the GRADE model, demonstrating how evidence-based tools can help communicate the real-world impact of increasing or decreasing government revenue. In a companion blog, Oxfam describes the model as “a game-changer for those who want to communicate the impact of changes in government revenue.

This is a powerful example of research translating directly into public debate and policy-relevant advocacy.

Link to the blog: https://www.equals.ink/p/the-numbers-behind-oxfams-billionaire