The campaign was launched by foreign secretary Boris Johnson [pictured right], Prince Harry and the latter’s fiancé Meghan Markle.

Johnson said the UK would provide £212m of aid to help one million vulnerable girls across the Commonwealth access education by 2030.

He will be part of a group of 12 Commonwealth figures who will hold countries to account and champion best practice, which Johnson will co-chair with Amina Mohammed, the Kenyan cabinet secretary for education. 

The foreign secretary said: “Educating girls is in all our interests. If we fail, we store up huge problems for the future and wilfully miss out on boosting economic growth, managing population pressures and creating stable, prosperous societies.

“As a Commonwealth we’ve pulled together to make one of the great problems of our time a global priority. We must keep up the momentum, we must drive forward change and we must do everything to ensure that the world’s poorest girls get 12 years of quality education.”

Australia, Ghana, Kenya and Sierra Leone are among other Commonwealth countries that have confirmed commitments to provide 12 years of quality education for all.