14 May 2014: Participants at the Global Meeting on Education for All conference called for international support for an overarching, international goal to “ensure equitable and inclusive quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030.” The conference, held in Muscat, Oman, from 12-14 May 2014, resulted in the Muscat Statement, which stresses education as a fundamental human right that should be prioritized in the post-2015 development agenda. The 300 participants included education ministers and vice-ministers.

Education is a “public good and a gamechanger that has an impact on all the development goals—environmental protection, gender equality, poverty alleviation and more,” said Irina Bokova, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). She called for a new vision of quality, lifelong education for global citizenship and sustainable development.

Describing education as “the foundation for the progress of nations and wealth,” the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Augustin Matata Ponyo, described measures his country has taken to support free, compulsory education.

The Muscat Statement recognizes persistent challenges in achieving education goals. It notes that the “six goals in the Education for All (EFA) agenda and those related to education are far from being achieved by 2015.” The statement notes “extreme concern” on gender equality, noting that only 60% of countries achieve gender parity in primary education, and only 38% of countries achieved gender parity in secondary education.

Participants pledged to use the Muscat Statement as a reference for negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda, with the aim of ensuring it includes a strong education component. [UNESCO Press Release] [Statement of UNESCO Director General]