The Education Commission

Overview

The International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity was set up to reinvigorate the case for investing in education and to chart a pathway for increased investment in order to develop the potential of all of the world’s young people. It brings together the best research and policy analysis to identify the most effective and accountable ways of mobilizing and deploying resources to help ensure that all children and young people have the opportunity to participate, learn and gain the skills they need for adulthood and work in the 21st century.

The Commission’s work builds upon the vision agreed to by world leaders in 2015 with the UN Sustainable Development Goal for education: To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education by 2030 and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

The members of the Commission include current and former heads of state and government, government ministers, five Nobel laureates, and leaders in the fields of education, business, economics, development, health, and security.

Taking Urgent Action

Sufficient leadership and investment in education has not been a priority for governments and leaders. Education’s share in government budgets has been declining in a number of countries despite growing needs. With international assistance to education declining by nearly 10 percent in recent years, the financing gap for basic education is unlikely to be closed without urgent action.

If leaders to not take action now to increase investment and reform global education, more than 124 million young people will continue to be denied access to schools and more than 250 million will not gain the skills they need to lead healthy and successful lives.

Over the last year, the Education Commission has sought to persuade global leaders to take urgent action by bringing together the best evidence on what works in expanding access to quality education and learning for all.

The Commission is co-convened by Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway, President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, President Peter Mutharika of Malawi and the Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova. The UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, serves as the Chair of the Commission. The Commission comprises the following high-level individuals representing diverse geographical and disciplinary backgrounds:

Anant Agarwal CEO, edX; Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology	José Manuel Barroso Former President, European Commission	Felipe Calderón Former President, Mexico
Kristin Clemet Managing Director, Civita; Former Minister of Education and Research and Former Minister of Labour and Government Administration, Norway	Aliko Dangote CEO, Dangote Group	Julia Gillard Chair, Global Partnership for Education; Former Prime Minister, Australia
Baela Raza Jamil CEO, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA)	Amel Karboul Secretary-General of MEF (Maghreb Economic Forum); Former Minister of Tourism, Tunisia	Jakaya Kikwete Former President, Tanzania
Jim Kim President, World Bank Group	Yuriko Koike Governor of Tokyo, Former Minister of Defense, Japan	Anthony Lake Executive Director, UNICEF
Ju-Ho Lee Professor, KDI School of Public Policy and Management; Former Korean Minister of Education	Jack Ma Founder and Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group	Graça Machel Founder, Graça Machel Trust
Strive Masiyiwa Executive Chairman and Founder, Econet	Teopista Birungi Mayanja Regional Coordinator, Africa Network Campaign for Education For All (ANCEFA); Founder, Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU)	Shakira Mebarak International Artist; Founder, Fundación Pies Descalzos
Patricio Meller Professor, University of Chile; President, Fundación Chile	Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Chair, GAVI; Former Minister of Finance, Nigeria	Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi Cabinet Member, Minister of State for Tolerance, United Arab Emirates
Kailash Satyarthi Founder, Bachpan Bachao Andolan	Amartya Sen Thomas W. Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy, Harvard University	Theo Sowa CEO, African Women’s Development Fund
Lawrence Summers Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus, Harvard University; 71st Secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton; Director of the National Economic Council for President Obama	Helle Thorning-Schmidt Chief Executive, Save the Children; Former Prime Minister, Denmark
Commission Directors
Justin W. van Fleet, Ph.D. Director, International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity	Liesbet Steer, Ph.D. Director, International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity