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| Director: | Gene B. Sperling, Senior Fellow for Economic Policy and Director of the Center for Universal Education |
|---|
The Center for Universal Education seeks to further strategic thinking on how to achieve universal education by producing accessible policy analysis and facilitating ongoing discussions between donor countries, aid organizations and poor nations on the issues critical to promoting basic education in the developing world. The monthly meetings of the roundtable series bring together experts and advocates from academia, the policy community, and government officials both from the United States and foreign countries. Such diversity insures the broadest range of experience and expertise required for achieving the Center’s goals.
Subprojects
September 1, 2002—Present
| Staff: | Gene B. Sperling, Senior Fellow for Economic Policy and Director of the Center for Universal Education |
|---|
In April 2000, the international community renewed its commitment to achieving universal education in the world’s poorest nations by 2015 – the same commitment it had made ten years earlier without noticeable effect. While there has been considerable strategic effort to promote other development priorities that education furthers – health, democracy, etc. – there has been less emphasis on education itself.
The Center for Universal Education seeks to further strategic thinking on how to achieve universal education by producing accessible policy analysis and facilitating ongoing discussions between donor countries, aid organizations and poor nations on the issues critical to promoting basic education in the developing world. The monthly meetings of the roundtable series bring together experts and advocates from academia, the policy community, and government officials both from the United States and foreign countries. Such diversity insures the broadest range of experience and expertise required for achieving the Center’s goals.
| Staff: | Gene B. Sperling, Senior Fellow for Economic Policy and Director of the Center for Universal Education |
|---|
September 2007—Present
| Staff: | Gene B. Sperling, Senior Fellow for Economic Policy and Director of the Center for Universal Education |
|---|
This roundtable series focuses on the challenge of funding and managing education in emergency and conflict situations.
2006—Present
| Director: | Gene B. Sperling, Senior Fellow for Economic Policy and Director of the Center for Universal Education |
|---|
This series hosts ministers of education from developing countries, who come to speak about the current state of their education sectors, the reforms they are enacting, and their progress in achieving the Education for All goals. Recent speakers have included Ministers of Education from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Kenya.
September 27, 2007—Present
| Director: | Gene B. Sperling, Senior Fellow for Economic Policy and Director of the Center for Universal Education |
|---|
As part of its research and policy work, the Center focuses on examining how education can be a vital part of a comprehensive humanitarian strategy for conflict, post-conflict and refugee settings. Education can provide a healing and safe place for children of conflict; it can provide a sense of much needed normalcy in a chaotic conflict environment, it can teach non-violence and understanding, and most importantly, it can give young people who have been through the worst misfortune and even horrors, the tools to build a better life for themselves and a better future for their nations. Yet education in emergencies and post-conflict situations too often falls through the cracks; overlooked because it is not seen as “life-saving” or because donors do not trust the governments in which these children live. The Center's work seeks to address this gap by
(a) studying and promoting best practices and model programs including those standards developed by the INEE, and
(b) drafting and delivering new analyses and recommendations on international financing of education in conflict situations to major stakeholders including G-8 development agencies, the United Nations, and World Bank
(c) creating support, understanding and momentum for the design and implementation of high-quality education projects for children of conflict
Publications
August 26, 2008
Gene Sperling, director of CFR's Center for Universal Education, discusses how Kenya's new government is approaching education policy.
May 1, 2008
Gene B. Sperling explains why “we need to provide more food aid and we need to make sure it is delivered in a way that continues to strengthen school-feeding programs.”
March/April 2003
Summary
Updated December 2007
The Center has compiled some of the most recent reports and findings as a one-stop-shop for research on universal education.
Meetings
Lessons in Shared Growth: Business and Entrepreneurship Education for Women in Developing Countries
Related Project: Center for Universal Education
| Presider: | Gene B. Sperling, Senior Fellow for Economic Policy and Director of the Center for Universal Education, Council on Foreign Relations |
|---|---|
| Speakers: | Dina Habib Powell, Director, Global Corporate Management, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. |
| Linda D. Rottenberg, CEO and Co-Founder, Endeavor Global | |
| Amanda Ellis, Senior Private Sector Development Specialist, International Finance Corporation,, World Bank Group |
Education for Children of Conflict Roundtable Series: Iraq, Education, and Children of Conflict
Related Projects: Center for Universal Education, Education in Conflict and Emergency Situations Roundtable Series
| Panelists: | Safaa El-Kogali, Senior Economist, Human Development Department, Middle East and North Africa Region, The World Bank |
|---|---|
| Angelina Jolie, Co-Chair, Education Partnership for Children of Conflict, Jolie-Pitt Foundation | |
| George E. Rupp, Member, Commission on Iraqi Refugees, International Rescue Committee, International Rescue Committee | |
| Presider: | Gene B. Sperling, Director, Center for Universal Education, Council on Foreign Relations |
Due to war and sectarian violence, many Iraqis have fled their homes and are now living as refugees in neighboring countries or as internally displaced persons in Iraq. Children make up about half of the four million people uprooted from their homes, and there is no doubt that their education is falling through the cracks. The World Bank's Safaa El-Kogali, who recently met with the Iraqi Minister of Education, the Director General of Planning, and other senior officials, is working with the government on capacity-building initiatives to meet the needs of internally displaced children. George Rupp, President of the International Rescue Committee, recently returned from a trip to the region, where he met with top government officials from Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and the United States, as well as with Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan. Angelina Jolie traveled to Iraq in February to learn more about the situation of displaced children and to raise awareness about their humanitarian needs.
This meeting is on the record.
Beyond Primary: Making the Case for Universal Secondary Education
Related Project: Center for Universal Education
| Speakers: | Joel Cohen, Co-Director, Universal Basic and Secondary Education Project, American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
|---|---|
| Melissa Binder, Associate Professor, University of New Mexico | |
| Presider: | Gene B. Sperling, Director, Center for Universal Education, Council on Foreign Relations |
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences recently published the book Educating All Children: A Global Agenda that considers the challenges of achieving universal basic and secondary education globally. In addition to co-editors, David Bloom, Joel Cohen and Martin Malin, leading experts who contributed to the book include Aaron Benevot, Paul Glewwe, Michael Kremer, and Melissa Binder. The research suggests that achieving universal primary and secondary education is not only urgently needed but also feasible with commitments of economic, human, and political resources by the international community.
Co-editor Joel Cohen, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, joined us to speak about why universal secondary education is important. Professor Melissa Binder, author of the chapter on the cost of providing universal secondary education, also presented her findings.
Transcript: Beyond Primary: Making the Case for Universal Secondary Education [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service]
This meeting is on the record.
Reaching Millions Through Education: Expansion of the BRAC Model
Related Project: Center for Universal Education
| Speaker: | Dr. Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairperson, BRAC |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Gene B. Sperling, Director, Center for Universal Education, Council on Foreign Relations |
This meeting is on the record.
Global Campaign for Education Roundtable: UNESCO's Global Monitoring Report Announcement
Related Projects: Universal Basic Education Roundtable Series, Center for Universal Education
| Speakers: | Nicholas Burnett, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |
|---|---|
| Michelle Neuman, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization | |
| Presider: | Gene B. Sperling, Senior Fellow for Economic Policy and Director of the Center for Universal Education, Council on Foreign Relations |
Global Campaign for Education Roundtable: Leaving Microsoft to Educate the World
Related Projects: Universal Basic Education Roundtable Series, Center for Universal Education
| Speakers: | John Wood, Founder and CEO, Room to Read |
|---|---|
| Gene B. Sperling, Director, Center for Universal Education, Council on Foreign Relations |
Minister of Education Roundtable Series: A New Vision for Education in Afghanistan
Related Projects: Universal Basic Education Roundtable Series, Center for Universal Education, Ministers of Education Roundtable Series
| Speaker: | Hanif Atmar, Minister of Education, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Gene B. Sperling, Council on Foreign Relations |
Global Campaign for Education Roundtable: The 2006 Education for All Global Monitoring Report - Literacy for Life
Related Projects: Universal Basic Education Roundtable Series, Center for Universal Education
| Speaker: | Nick Burnett, UNESCO |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Gene B. Sperling, Director, Center for Universal Education, Council on Foreign Relations |
Global Campaign for Education Roundtable: Educating the World's Children - Patterns of Growth and Inequality
Related Projects: Universal Basic Education Roundtable Series, Center for Universal Education
| Speakers: | Bidemi Carrol, Academy for Educational Development |
|---|---|
| Annababette Wils, Academy for Educational Development | |
| Presider: | Gene B. Sperling, Director, Center for Universal Education, Council on Foreign Relations |
Global Campaign for Education Roundtable: School Fee Elimination and Holistic School Reform
Related Projects: Universal Basic Education Roundtable Series, Center for Universal Education
| Presider: | Gene B. Sperling, Director, Center for Universal Education, Council on Foreign Relations |
|---|
Study Group on Religious Schools and Universal Education - Session I
Related Projects: Study Group on Religious Schools and Universal Basic Education, Center for Universal Education
| Presider: | Gene B. Sperling, Director, Center for Universal Education, Council on Foreign Relations |
|---|
Prospects for U. S. Support of the World Bank’s Education for All Initiative
Related Project: Center for Universal Education
| Presider: | Gene B. Sperling, Council on Foreign Relations |
|---|---|
| Speaker: | George Ingram, Basic Education Coalition |
Contact John Neffinger at 202-518-3414 or jneffinger@cfr.org
Towards Universal Education: Making a Promise, and Keeping It
Related Projects: Roundtable on Development, Center for Universal Education
| Presider: | Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme |
|---|---|
| Speaker: | Gene B. Sperling, Director, Forum on Universal Education |
Contact: Olivia Carballo at 212-434-9668 or ocarballo@cfr.org
News Releases
April 25, 2007
The Council’s Center for Universal Education has partnered with PBS Wide Angle as well as Channel Thirteen and the U.S. Global Campaign for Education to distribute the PBS Wide Angle documentary, “Back to School.”
August 26, 2008
Gene Sperling, director of CFR's Center for Universal Education, discusses how Kenya's new government is approaching education policy.
Kenya's 'Cutting Edge' Education Policy
Bloomberg Commentary
Gene Sperling
May 1, 2008
Among the casualties of the food crisis will be the schooling of millions of the world's poorest children. The connection is as simple as a school lunch.
Today, 72 million children worldwide are denied access to a basic education. In addition, over 226 million youth are denied the opportunity to attend secondary school.
Global Education Action Week was April 20-27, 2008.
Through the Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for Universal Education conducted outreach for a youth training that brought over 50 young students from across the country to Washington, DC to learn about education in developing countries.
For more information on the CUE, contact:
Gene Sperling
Senior Fellow for Economic Studies
Director, Center for Universal Education
+1.202.509.8401
Anda Adams
Associate Director
+1.202.509.8404
Victoria Palomo
Research Associate
+1.202.509.8472
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
In The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, Noah Feldman tells the story behind the increasingly popular call for the establishment of the sharia—the law of the traditional Islamic state—in the modern Muslim world.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report outlines the nature of the challenges in Pakistan's tribal areas, formulates strategies for addressing those challenges, and distills the strategies into realistic policy proposals worthy of consideration by the incoming administration.
This report analyzes the debate over U.S. use of assurances against torture, explaining the contexts in which they are used, how they can be conveyed, and what they can contain, and recommends a number of ways to respond to criticism so that the United States can continue using assurances.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
Gary Samore
Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9627
gsamore@cfr.org
Sebastian Mallaby
Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for
Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior
Fellow for International Economics
smallaby@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
The David Rockefeller Studies Program is CFR’s “think tank.” Its work is integral to achieving CFR’s goal of contributing to the foreign policy debate. Fellows in the Studies Program do this by researching, writing, and commenting on the most important challenges facing the United States and the world.
Copyright 2008 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
