July 13th - As countries are expected to shift funds in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak, the global pandemic threatens to cause an additional gap of at least 6.2 billion dollars in investments in education in Sub-Saharan region over the next 18 months, Save the Children warned in a new report launched today. Globally, the gab in education spending could be as high as $77 billion. Deep budget cuts to education combined with rising poverty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could force millions of children out of school forever, with millions more falling behind in learning. Girls are likely to be much worse affected than boys, with many forced into child marriage.