Education for All - Global Monitoring Report 2010 - Reaching the Marginalized

Ten years have passed since the international community adopted the six Education for All goals in Dakar in 2000. The record since then has been mixed. While much has been achieved over the past decade, many of the world’s poorest countries are not on track to meet the 2015 targets. Failure to reach the marginalized has denied many people their right to education. With the effects of the global economic crisis still being felt, there is a real danger that much of the progress of the past ten years will stall or be reversed. Education is at risk, and countries must develop more inclusive approaches, linked to wider strategies for protecting vulnerable populations and overcoming inequality. The backdrop to the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2010 is the most severe global economic downturn since the Great Depression. Education systems in many of the world’s poorest countries1 are experiencing the aftershock of a crisis that originated in the financial systems of the developed world. There is an imminent danger that, after a decade of encouraging advances, progress towards the Education for All goals will stall, or even be thrown into reverse, in the face of rising poverty, slower economic growth and mounting pressure on government budgets. The international community needs to act urgently to avert that danger.