Jul 26, 2010 
This edition of the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010, Reaching the marginalized, comes at a time of great uncertainty. We are still grappling with the far-reaching impact of the global financial and economic crisis not only on the world’s banking systems, but on all areas of human development – including education. We are at a crossroads. Either we continue with business as usual and risk undoing the considerable progress made over the past decade, or we use this crisis as an opportunity to create sustainable systems which promote inclusion and put an end to all forms of marginalization.
The gains achieved since the Education for All and Millennium Development Goals were adopted in 2000 are undeniable: great strides have been made towards universal primary education, increased participation in secondary and tertiary education and, in many countries, gender equality. More widely, there have been improvements in overcoming hunger, poverty, and child and maternal mortality. The global financial crisis could radically change all this. Reaching the marginalized demonstrates that declining government revenue and rising unemployment now pose a serious threat to progress in all areas of human development. Government budgets are under even greater pressure and funding for education is especially vulnerable. So are poor households. Rising poverty levels mean that the challenge of meeting basic human needs is a daily struggle. Lessons from the past teach us that children are often the first to suffer – as is their chance to go to school.
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