Reaching the marginalized: EFA global monitoring report, 2010; 2010

OVERVIEW© XINHUA/Gamma/Eyedea PresseOverviewChapter 1From financial crisis to humandevelopment crisisThe backdrop to the Education for All Global MonitoringReport 2010 is the most severe global economicdownturn since the Great Depression. Education systemsin many of the world’s poorest countries 1 areexperiencing the aftershock of a crisis that originatedin the financial systems of the developed world. There isan imminent danger that, after a decade of encouragingadvances, progress towards the Education for All goalswill stall, or even be thrown into reverse, in the face ofrising poverty, slower economic growth and mountingpressure on government budgets. The internationalcommunity needs to act urgently to avert that danger.Conditions for a concerted push towards the 2015 targetshave deteriorated across the developing world. By 2010,the recession could drive another 90 million people intoextreme poverty. Moreover, many of the worst-affectedcountries are still recovering from high food pricesthat left an additional 175 million malnourished in 2007and 2008. Education systems will not be immune tothe effects of these deteriorating human conditions.The concern is that the increased vulnerability of poorhouseholds and rising child malnutrition will impedeefforts to achieveuniversal primaryeducation andthe widerinternationaldevelopmenttargets setfor 2015.Insufficientattentionhas been paidto the consequences of slower economic growth forthe financing of education in the poorest developingcountries. While rich countries nurture the ‘green shoots’of recovery, developing countries face the prospect ofslower growth and diminished revenue collection. Insub-Saharan Africa alone, the potential loss of financingfor education as a result of the global recession willaverage around US$4.6 billion a year in 2009 and 2010 –1. Throughout the Report, the word ‘countries’ should generally be understoodas meaning ‘countries and territories’.double the current level of aid to basic education.Spending per primary school pupil could be as much as10% lower in 2010 than it would have been on pre-crisiseconomic growth projections.It is easy to lose sight of what is at stake. Ultimately,the world economy will recover from the recession, butthe crisis could create a lost generation of children in theworld’s poorest countries whose life chances will havebeen irreparably damaged by a failure to protect theirright to education. For those individuals and communitiesmost immediately affected, failure to sustain progresswould impose a high price in diminished opportunitiesto escape poverty and vulnerability. But whole countriesalso stand to lose out as weaker progress in educationleads to slower economic growth, reduced job creation,deteriorating public health and a more marginal placein the increasingly knowledge-based global economy.National budgets have a vital role to play in preventingthe financial crisis from turning into a long-term humandevelopment crisis. Rich countries have put in placelarge-scale fiscal stimulus packages aimed at supportingeconomic recovery and protecting vital social andeconomic infrastructure. Education has been seenas a priority area for public spending, notably underthe American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Unlikedeveloped countries, most low-income developingcountries lack the capacity to mobilize financing onthe scale required to maintain public spending in priorityareas. They desperately need an increase in concessionaldevelopment assistance to provide breathing spaceto cope with the crisis and maintain spending plansin education and other areas.The international community has not respondedeffectively to the challenges facing the poorest countries.© Aubrey Wade/PANOS3