Education shall be free, for all

Depending on whose figures you rely, between 105 and 150 million children in the developing world do not, and will never, have the opportunity to attend primary school.

A Global Obligation believes education is "the great enabler". It is the thing that allows people to rise above their past. Once given, it can never be taken away. Education is the single best gift we can give the developing world. Education provides opportunity. Opportunity enables change. A Global Obligation will make that happen for millions of children in the developing world.

The Right to Education

We in the developed world are privileged to have the chance to receive primary education. Indeed, we consider it a basic human right, not a privilege. In 1948, the United Nations ratified this belief as Article 26(i) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states:

"Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit."

Every single member nation of the UN signed that pledge. Fifty-two years later, the Millennium Development Goals were established. Goal number 2 states that by 2015 we should have achieved "universal primary education".

According to the United Nations 2006 MDG Progress Report, only 4 out of 10 geopolitical regions will meet this goal by 2015. A Global Obligation is all about the other 6.

It's our obligation

We in the developed world are lucky. It is through mere force of circumstance that we were born into a life where primary education is freely available to all.

We don't see this good fortune as something we should just sit back and enjoy. Our luck doesn't just give us our education, but also the obligation to ensure that those less fortunate than ourselves are given the same chances we are. We are empowered. We need to use that power.

We as a society have the means to make this happen. We only need the will. One dollar at a time, A Global Obligation will make this a reality. If, as a race, we don't do something about this now, it will most likely be another 52 years before our governments get around to talking about it again. We don't think that's good enough, so we're giving you the opportunity to join our global movement and do something about it today.