What is the Education Commission and which world leaders are on it?

Education funding


The Education Commission meets in Washington, DC, in April

 

Five former prime ministers and presidents and three Nobel Prize winners are among the 20 world leaders who sit on the Education Commission

Officially known as International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity, it is holding its final formal meeting in Oslo today before presenting its findings to the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Launched in September last year, its remit is to examine how to reverse the lack of financing for education around the world, which has left 124 million young people out of school and hundreds of millions without quality learning opportunities.

The commission is supported by the government of Norway and Prime Minister Erna Solberg and is chaired by Gordon Brown, the former British Prime Minister and UN Special Envoy for Global Education.

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The commission has been exploring how – over the next 15 to 20 years – education could lead to greater economic growth, better health outcomes and improved global security. 

It has been co-convened by Prime Minister Solberg alongside President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, President Peter Mutharika of Malawi and the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova.

The commission launched a youth video challenge

Four of A World at School’s Global Youth Ambassadors were named among 16 young activists serving on the Youth Panel of the commission.

They have been representing the voices of young people and contributing to the final report. Read a blog by GYA Benedict Joson about the youth panel’s work.

The commission includes the following leaders:

Anant Agarwal, CEO, EdX


José Manuel Barroso, former President, European Commission


Felipe Calderón, former President, Mexico


Kristin Clemet, Managing Director, Civita, former Minister of Education and Research, former Minister of Labour and Government Administration, Norway

Aliko Dangote, CEO, Dangote Group

Julia Gillard, Chair, Global Partnership for Education and former Prime Minister, Australia

Baela Raza Jamil, Adviser/Trustee, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA)

Lee Ju-ho, former Korean Minister of Education

Jim Kim, President, World Bank Group

Yuriko Koike, Member of the House of Representatives, Former Minister of Defence, Japan

Anthony Lake, Executive Director, UNICEF

Jack Ma, Founder and Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group

Graça Machel, Founder, Graça Machel Trust

Strive Masiyiwa, CEO, Econet Wireless

Teopista Birungi Mayanja, Founder, Uganda National Teachers Union

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Minister of Finance, Nigeria

Kailash Satyarthi, Founder, Bachpan Bachao Andolan

Amartya Sen,  Professor, Harvard University

Theo Sowa, CEO, African Women’s Development Fund

Lawrence Summers, President Emeritus, Harvard University; 71st Secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton and Director of the National Economic Council for President Obama

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former Prime Minister, Denmark

The Nobel Prize winners on the commission are Mr Satyarthi, Mr Sen and Mr Barroso. Mr Dangote and Mr Masiyiwa are also founding members of the Global Business Coalition for Education.

Learn more about the Education Commission at its website


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