Six years ago at the World Conference on Education for All held in Jomtien, Thailand, 155 countries pledged to take the necessary steps to provide primary education for all children and massively reduce adult illiteracy by the end of the decade. This year we are joining forces to organize a high-level meeting at Amman, Jordan, in June, to assess what has been done - by nations and by the international community - to fulfil these commitments. At the same time Amman will provide an excellent opportunity for all nations to review their goals and strategies for expanding access to and improving the quality of basic education within a reasonable timeframe.

The balance sheet over the last six years is mixed. Much progress has been made in education in terms of higher enrolments, better quality and greater relevance in many countries. In particular, nine of the world’s most populous countries - Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan - are working together to achieve Education for All. Even countries with a modest GNP per capita, such as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, are providing primary schooling to eight or more children out of ten. Such success stories demonstrate clearly that education for all is achievable and can become a reality within a few years.

But much more needs to be done. There are still 130 million children in the world who have no access to school, and the majority of them are girls. A large proportion of children, one third or more in many countries, do no complete primary education. Even of those who do finish, many do not acquire the essential skills and knowledge expected from primary education. Far too many children will soon join the world’s 885 million illiterate adults, most of whom are women. Secondary education, so vital for development, is accessible only to 17 per cent of Sub-Saharan Africa’s children. Thus it is clear that a much more concerted effort is needed to expand and improve educational opportunities, especially for girls and women.

It is unacceptable that a world that spends approximately US$800 billion a year on weapons cannot find the money needed - an estimated US$6 billion per year - to put every child in school by the year 2000. A mere one per cent decrease in military expenditure worldwide would be sufficient in financial terms. In Sub-Saharan Africa, only US$2.5 billion per year would be needed to provide universal primary education. The international community and the developing world can and must invest in education, particularly in primary education, to achieve economic growth and poverty reduction.

The Amman meeting will be a milestone on the road to Education for All, which has well-known positive effects on economic development, infant mortality rates, reproductive health, birth rates, and the empowerment of people, especially women.

Decisive and radical solutions must be found at both international and national levels to the problems that countries face in meeting the basic learning needs of their populations.

International commitment to the goal of Education for All has been reaffirmed at major global conferences, such as the International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit for Social Development and the Fourth World Conference on Women. But declarations of intent are not enough. No real breakthrough will be possible unless the commitment is translated into a serious rethinking of resource priorities on the part of national leaders and the international community alike. We wish to stress our conviction that basic education for all is not only a human right, but also the cornerstone of human development. Having access to quality basic education is probably the single most effective means to ensure democracy, sustainable development and peace.

Federico Mayor
Director-General, UNESCO

James Wolfensohn
President, World Bank

James Gustave Speth
Administrator, UNDP

Carol Bellamy
Executive Director, UNICEF

Nafis Sadik
Executive Director, UNFPA