June 2013: The Education for All Global Monitoring Report and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics have jointly produced a policy paper that shows that “progress in reducing the number of children out of school has come to a virtual standstill just as international aid to basic education falls for the first time since 2002.”

The paper indicates that progress has slowed “mainly because the number of children out of school in sub-Saharan Africa has remained at about 30 million over the last five years.” South and West Asia are reported to have made “considerable gains,” by contrast.

Among other findings and recommendations, the report suggests that: new approaches are needed to develop profiles of out-of-school children and youth and the disadvantages they face; gender often interacts with poverty and where a child lives to create disadvantages in learning opportunities within countries; reductions in aid are likely to jeopardize the chances of schooling for millions of children; and if basic education were prioritized in donors’ budgets, and donors that have committed to reach the 0.7% target for official development assistance reach it, an additional US$5.3 billion could be provided.

The paper concludes with a note that its authors are calling for a post-2015 development agenda goal with a specific target for financing by aid donors of education. [Publication: Schooling for Millions of Children Jeopardized by Reductions in Aid] [Website of Education For All Global Monitoring Report]