UNESCO’s mission is to promote education as a fundamental human right, to improve the quality of education and to facilitate policy dialogue, knowledge sharing and capacity building.

As the Preamble to UNESCO’s constitution reads, the States parties believed ‘in full and equal opportunities for education for all, in the unrestricted pursuit of objective truth and in the free exchange of ideas and knowledge". Since then, the world has changed but the right to education is more fundamental than ever for building knowledge societies.

As the lead agency coordinating the global drive to achieve Education for All, UNESCO works with a wide range of partners to make education a top priority on international, regional and national agendas. Informed by the EFA Global Monitoring Report, it highlights leading educational challenges, promotes better coordination between key stakeholders and facilitates information sharing to strengthen political commitment towards EFA.

UNESCO takes a holistic, comprehensive approach to the six EFA goals. Each one counts for providing quality education throughout life - strong foundations in early childhood, universal primary education, gender equality, life skills, literacy and quality learning at all stages, in both formal and non-formal approaches.

The Organization places particular emphasis on reaching countries farthest from the EFA goals, improving the quality of education through better policies for teachers, advocating for more investment in literacy and early childhood, the more neglected goals, and mobilizing more resources to achieve education for all.