Education remains one of the most powerful tools to reduce poverty and improve health,
gender, equality, peace and stability. It is the premise of progress, in every society and in
every family. As Nelson Mandela puts it “education is the most powerful weapon which you
can use to change the world”.
Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Statistics show that:
1. An estimate of 75 million children aged 3 to 18 live in countries facing war and violence,
and need educational support.
2. In the sub-Saharan alone, 11.07 million children leave school before completing their
primary education. In South and West Asia, that number reaches 13.54 million mainly
due to poverty and inadequate educational logistics
3. Nearly 800 million people do not have basic ability to read or write.
4. There are more than 124 million primary or secondary school-aged children who are not
in school around the world.
5. Ten million boys and 15 million girls will never receive a primary education.
6. If all students in low- income countries gained basic reading skills, 171 million people
could be lifted out of poverty.
7. In developing, low-income countries, every additional year of education can increase a
person’s future income by an average of 10%.