Despite the urgent need for investments in education and their clear returns, progress on education has stalled in recent years. The cost of leaving millions of children and young people on the margins of society is far greater than the funds required to jump-start efforts to reach international goals for education, which had shown considerable promise. The Education First initiative aims to give a “big push” to the global movement for education - by 2015 and beyond.

The Initiative aims to accelerate progress towards the Education for All goals and the education-related Millennium Development Goals by

* Rallying together a broad spectrum of actors for the final push to 2015

* Putting quality, relevant and transformative education at the heart of the social, political and development agendas

* Generating additional and sufficient funding for education through sustained global advocacy efforts


Within the global development landscape of acceleration efforts towards the implementation of 2030 Agenda, GEFI is guided by a strategic plan and action framework to:

• Advocate for a broader and more ambitious vision for education at the core of the 2030 Agenda

• Broaden outreach and engagement on global citizenship education with a focus on learning and teaching for sustainable development

• Advocate for closing the financing gap in education and for smarter funds allocation to reach the populations most in need, especially those in emergency situations.

Partners include UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women, UN Special Envoy for Global Education, World Bank, Global Partnership for Education, Educate A Child, Education International, Global Campaign for Education as well as philanthropic and business institutions.

GEFI’s Steering Committee is a high-level body that provides strategic direction and guidance to the Secretary-General to ensure visibility and success of the Initiative.

The UN Secretary-General invited a group of Member States to serve as ‘Champion Countries’ for GEFI. Their role is to catalyze political and financial support for education among governments.

The Youth Advocacy Group (YAG), comprised of young people from around the world, promotes the priorities of youth and GEFI activities and messages.

As the GEFI Secretariat, UNESCO provides overall support to the Initiative.

* Brookings Institution
* Confederation for Cooperation of Relief and Development NGOs (CONCORD)
* Dubai Cares
* Educate a Child
* Education International
* Global Business Coalition for Education
* Global Campaign for Education
* Global Partnership for Education
* Government of Andorra
* Government of Australia
* Government of Bangladesh
* Government of Benin
* Government of Brazil
* Government of China
* Government of Croatia
* Government of Denmark
* Government of the Dominican Republic
* Government of Ethiopia
* Government of Guyana
* Government of Mozambique
* Government of the Republic of Korea
* Government of South Africa
* Government of Tunisia
* Government of United States
* Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE)
* Plan International
* A World at School
* United Nations
* UN Global Compact
* UNICEF
* United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
* United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
* United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI)
* United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
* UN Women
* World Bank