Kenya and the U.K. will co-host a two-day conference on global partnership for education financing on July 25 and 26, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced on Saturday.

Kenyatta said the conference will seek to raise $5 billion to go towards the provision of quality education to all children, particularly those from developing counties.

He noted that many children in such countries had been forced out of classrooms due to job losses by their caregivers.

"You will all agree with me that our children received the harshest brunt of the (COVID-19) pandemic; the lockdowns resulted in significant loss of income of the caregivers."

"We need to show up and hold our governments accountable in setting aside the adequate resources to ensure that all children, both girls and boys and those in vulnerable situations, can go back to school and complete their studies," President Kenyatta said.

Kenyatta's plea was part of his submission at the virtual 34th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU whose theme is “Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want".

"Our children, are the future of this continent and we, as leaders, must guarantee a better tomorrow for them. We, as leaders today, must preserve and protect their wellbeing," he said.