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.