This advocacy brief summarizes the key findings from "A World Ready to Learn: Prioritizing Quality Early Childhood Education. Global Report" and its call to action for governments, donors, and partners to invest in pre-primary education. This brief addresses three of the toughest questions ministries of education and finance are likely…

The Sustainable Development Goals highlight the critical importance of pre-primary education and set the broad ambition that by 2030 all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education. Today, the world is facing a learning crisis: While millions of…

"Reimagining Girls' Education: Solutions to Keep Girls Learning in Emergencies" presents an empirical overview of what works to support learning outcomes for girls in emergencies. Research shows that girls in emergencies are disadvantaged at all stages of education and are more likely to be out-of-school than in non-emergency settings.…

There are nearly 200 million lower and upper secondary age adolescent girls and boys out of school globally, and if current trends continue, another 825 million children will not acquire basic secondary-level skills by 2030. Global momentum to achieve universal primary education has placed increased demands on secondary education systems to serve…

Every child has the right to health, education and protection, and every society has a stake in expanding children's opportunities in life. Yet, around the world, millions of children are denied a fair chance for no reason other than the country, gender or circumstances into which they are born. The "State of the World's Children 2016"…

The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) emphasizes that all children have the right to be full members of society, and be included in all forms of participation inside the home and out in the community. Unfortunately, many children with disabilities are not afforded this…

This report, which has been developed through a partnership between the African Union Commission (AUC) and UNICEF, aims to: (1) track the progress that African nations have made in education, especially in relation to Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) and the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA) goals; (2) identify the challenges…

The gap between the levels of learning that education systems are providing and what children, communities and economies need, is growing. The breadth and depth of this learning crisis constitute the greatest global challenge to preparing children and adolescents for life, work and active citizenship. The lesson of the learning crisis is clear:…

Education is in crisis worldwide. Millions of children, especially the most marginalized, are excluded from school. Many millions more attend school, but they do not learn basic reading and math skills. In addition, international funding for education is on the decline. "The Investment Case for Education and Equity" explains the global…

Education is a human right. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognize the essential role education plays in human and social development. As stated in article 26 of the Declaration, "Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental…

The numbers are out, the data have been analysed, and the conclusions are clear: despite substantial gains in school enrollment over the past 15 years, the world has missed the goal of universal primary education by 2015. The failure to deliver on what seemed to be such a realistic and achievable goal represents a broken promise to millions of…

This report delves into a rich new body of data and analysis from the Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children (OOSCI), which confirms that the task of achieving education for all is far from over. The government-backed national studies carried out under the Initiative have marshalled a wide range of data sources for innovative analyses,…

Although more children than ever are enrolled in school, far too many are not learning. A key factor that affects quality of education is the availability of public funding. Underinvestment in education can result in several conditions that negatively impact how and what children learn. This advocacy brief presents data and analysis on education…