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Brief Diplomacy Briefing

Education Diplomacy Briefing

April 2016

The New Era of

Global Education Governance
By Katharina E. Hne
There is no alternative to working together and using
collective power to create a better world.
Commission on Global Governance
We call for strong global and regional collaboration,
cooperation, coordination and monitoring of the
implementation of the education agenda.
Incheon Declaration, paragraph 13

his brief focuses on global education governance.

With the adoption of the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), this is an important topic for both
normative and empirical reasons. On the empirical side,
we can observe how the effects of globalization are felt
in the education sector: education policies have implications beyond state borders and actors in the education
sector operate across domestic boundaries. Normatively, we can observe how we have now reached an era
of global education norms, enshrined in SDG 4 for example, that are unique in their breadth and depth and
require global action for their implementation.
It is important to stress from the outset that global governance is not the same as world government. Rather, it
describes a set of agreed-upon norms, goals, and rules
that are supported by formal and informal institutions and
mechanisms of assessment and implementation. Global
governance of education has only recently become part
of scholarly and practitioner interest.1 This brief seeks to
shed light on the current state of global education governance and implications for education diplomacy.
Key Points

We already live in a world of global education governance. Education diplomacy is the process that
contributes to the global governance structure and
reforms and refines it.
Evidence of global education governance can be
found in the development of a global framework of
norms and goals. SDG 4 offers the broadest and
most detailed framework to date.

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A global assessment and monitoring framework for

the new global education goal, SDG 4, results from
processes such as the Inter-agency Expert Group
on SDG Indicators.
Further support for the argument that global education governance is a development to be reckoned
with can be found in the development and refinement of legal instruments and regulations and the
deepening of new forms of public-private partnerships.
Calls for devoting greater financial resources to education, especially in a development context, have
been made, but firm commitments and the institutional context are still developing.

Education Diplomacy and Global Governance

It is useful to start with a note of clarification regarding global governance and education diplomacy. The
term global governance has been around for almost
two decades. The seminal definition of the Commission
on Global Governance issued in the report Our Global
Neighbourhood is worth repeating here:
Governance is the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private,
manage their common affairs. It is a continuing
process through which conflicting or diverse
interests may be accommodated and co-operative action may be taken. It includes formal
institutions and regimes empowered to enforce
compliance, as well as informal arrangements
that people and institutions either have agreed
to or perceive to be in their interest.2
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Education Diplomacy Brief - Global Education Governance

The commissions definition was prompted by two developments. On the one hand, the end of the Cold War had
sparked an unparalleled enthusiasm and opportunities
for international cooperation. On the other hand, globalization, driven by market liberalization, was becoming a force that demanded recognition and responses
from decision-makers. Hence, global governance was
at once a normative aspiration and an emerging reality
of international relations.

Education Diplomacy
cultivates trust to achieve mutual benefits
in the pursuit of context-specific education
goals using negotiation and other diplomatic
skills to communicate across regional
or national boundaries or with local
communities responsible for education
delivery. The practice of education diplomacy
can encompass interactions with multiple
actors at multiple levels that aim to shape
a positive policy environment for education
and manage issues of education on a local,
bilateral, regional, or global level.

Again, it is important to stress that global governance

is very different from world government. Keeping the
above definition in mind, we can, in brief, describe
global governance as the management of common affairs through cooperation based on formal institutions,
regimes, and informal arrangements. While global
governance has not been regularly applied to education, there is a growing tendency to frame global education initiatives and processes in this way. The 2014
NORRAG working paper by Kenneth King and Robert
Palmer is one attempt to give this discussion greater
prominence.3
It is also important to clarify the relation between global
education governance and education diplomacy. Drawing on scholarly work in the area of health diplomacy,
we can think of the relationship between governance
and diplomacy in the following way.4 Diplomacy is about
the articulation and negotiation of interests, and governance structures evolve where these interests converge
sufficiently. The role of diplomacy is to find these points
of agreement and flesh out the details of a governance
structure that can either continue on an informal basis or
be institutionalized. Hence, education diplomacy has the
crucial role of bringing about the global education governance structure and working on its evolution based on
negotiations between various interests.
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The process of negotiating the SDGs is the best current

example of this process. In fact, the SDGs are important
for two reasons. SDG 4 sets global aims for education in
the 2030 development agenda. At the same time, SDG
17 calls for better global governance structures by focusing on strengthen[ing] the means of implementation
and revitaliz[ing] the global partnership for sustainable
development.5 In the remainder of this brief, five key aspects of global education governance will be highlighted
in more detail: common norms and aims, global assessment and monitoring, legal instruments and regulations,
questions of financing, and new forms of cooperation.
Common Norms and Aims
Global governance is, first and foremost, about norms.
Without agreed-upon norms, global governance is neither functional nor thinkable. The story of a global set
of education norms and aims starts, in effect, with the
Universal Declaration on Human Rights.6 The right to
education is enshrined in article 26.
The Six EFA Goals as Established in the
Dakar Framework for Action
Goal 1: Expanding and improving
comprehensive early childhood care and
education, especially for the most vulnerable
and disadvantaged children.
Goal 2: Ensuring that by 2015 all children,
particularly girls, children in difficult
circumstances and those belonging to ethnic
minorities, have access to, and complete, free
and compulsory primary education of good
quality.
Goal 3: Ensuring that the learning needs of
all young people and adults are met through
equitable access to appropriate learning and
life-skills programmes.
Goal 4: Achieving a 50 per cent improvement
in levels of adult literacy by 2015.
Goal 5: Eliminating gender disparities in
primary and secondary education by 2005, and
achieving gender equality in education by 2015.
Goal 6: Improving all aspects of the quality of
education and ensuring excellence of all so that
recognized and measurable learning outcomes
are achieved by all, especially in literacy,
numeracy and essential life skills.
Source: WEF. (2000). The Dakar Framework for
Action. Available from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/
images/0012/001211/121147e.pdf (accessed October
20, 2015), art 7.

Education Diplomacy Brief - Global Education Governance

Principle 7 of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child
(1959) reaffirms this right by stating that every child is
entitled to receive education, which shall be free and
compulsory, at least in the elementary stages. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, entered into force in
1990, makes this a legal obligation in article 28.7
While these declarations and the convention firmly
place the right of all children to primary education on
the global agenda, a further evolution of this norm has
occurred that deepened and broadened it into several
global aims. Two processes are important to acknowledge and understand in this regard: the Education For
All (EFA) movement and the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) and SDGs.
The birthplace of the EFA movement is the 1990 Jomtien conference, which set the aim of [u]niversal access
to, and completion of, primary education (or whatever
higher level of education is considered as basic) by
the year 2000. The Dakar Framework for Action (2000)
identified six education goals, which cover access, equity, and quality of education.
The same year also saw the adoption of the MDGs, calling for universal primary education, by the General Assembly of the United Nations. While this is not the place
for a detailed comparison, it is worth noting that the 2000
EFA goals are broader and provide a more holistic vision
for education than MDG 2. Yet, MDG 2 was able to galvanize unprecedented support from development actors
that led to considerable progress toward what the Universal Declaration on Human Rights had set in motion in
its article 26 more than half a century earlier.8
The SDGs have been adopted as the global successor to the MDGs. Building on the lessons learned from
MDG 2, SDG 4 calls for ensur[ing] inclusive and equitable quality education and promot[ing] lifelong learning
opportunities for all. SDG 4 and its targets are indicative of a further broadening of the global commitment
to encompass all stages of education, including lifelong
learning, and to ensure free and equal access. In many
ways, SDG 4 is even broader than the six EFA goals.
This process is contributing to the global governance
of education by moving the discussion on norms and
goals toward an agenda that also includes issues of assessment, regulation, financing, and new forms of cooperation. In fact, the inclusion of these questions on
the global agenda is important for working toward the
new, more ambitious goals. The remainder of this brief
will give an overview of current developments in these
areas in order to illustrate the global education governance structure in the making.
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Global Assessment and Monitoring

Finding appropriate ways of assessment is important as
the world moves from a focus on enrollment rates (MDG
2) to a focus on education in terms of access plus quality (SDG 4).9 It is currently suggested that assessment
should take place at sub-national, national, regional,
and global levels, and, in parallel, on a thematic basis.10
Most important for global education governance, consultations and negotiations on the global assessment
framework for the SDGs, including SDG 4, are currently
underway with the Inter-agency Expert Group on SDG
Indicators (IAEG SDGs). The IAEG SDGs presented
their conclusions on a global indicator framework in
March 2016. In parallel, UNESCOs Education for All
Global Monitoring Report will continue in the form of the
Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report and be used
as one of the mechanisms to measure progress toward
SDG 4.11
Legal Instruments and Regulations
A number of legal instruments already exist that establish global and regional rules on education. Their focus
rests on standard setting and facilitating international
cooperation on education. UNESCO, for example, lists
19 such conventions and recommendations adopted under its auspices. Among them are regional frameworks
on the recognition of qualifications in higher education,
recommendations on the status of teachers, and recommendations for technical and vocational training.12
Further, the General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS), which seeks market liberalization and includes
commitments to market access, does include provisions
on education. It is noteworthy, however, that education
is one of the sectors with the fewest commitments under
GATS. Yet, trade in education services is estimated to
be incredibly valuable and, therefore, future negotiations
toward further market liberalization are very likely.13
Questions of Financing
With a comprehensive and ambitious global aim, as encompassed in SDG 4, questions of financing need to be
raised. So far, the global debate has seen a number of
appeals to increase financing for education. It is estimated that [t]he total annual financing gap between available domestic resources and the amount necessary
to reach the new education targets [in low- and lower
middle-income countries] is projected to average US$39
billion between 2015 and 2030.14 Building on these figures, the Incheon Declaration includes a call for countries to commit 15-20% of their total public expenditure
to education (paragraph 14). It also reaffirms the need
for developed countries to reach the target of devoting
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Education Diplomacy Brief - Global Education Governance

0.7% of their gross national product to official development assistance (paragraph 15). This has been echoed
in the declaration of the Oslo Summit on Education for
Development. Although no firm commitments or institutional structures are in place yet, these considerations
are indicative of an emerging global education governance structure.
New Forms of Cooperation
Global education governance also goes hand-in-hand
with new forms of cooperation. Public-private partnerships are an integral part of global governance in many
sectors. The call for fostering these kinds of partnerships
in the area of education is often made in the context of financing and innovative delivery. Generally, the assumption is that resource and financing gaps can be filled
while ensuring a more efficient allocation of resources
and encouraging innovation.15 The outcome document
of the Third International Conference on Financing for
Development, for example, highlights the private sector
as an important partner for sustainable development.16
The Sustainable Development Goal Fund (SDGF) is an
example of the emergence and further development of
such partnerships.
Conclusion
This brief explored the concept of global education governance, understood as the management of common
education affairs across state borders. It discussed elements of global governance in the form of norms and
aims, assessment and monitoring frameworks, legal instruments and regulations, global financing needs, and
new forms of cooperation. Global education structures
and processes are not yet routinely analyzed in terms of
global governance. However, with the SDG process and
the broad and ambitious focus of Goal 4, global education governance becomes more important. Fleshing out
the details through education diplomacy will be crucial in
2016 to arrive at these new frameworks for global education governance.
Notes:

Mundy, K. (2007). Global Governance, Educational Change.

Comparative Education, 43(3). King, K., & Palmer, R. (2014).
Post-2015 and the Global Governance of Education and Training. NORRAG Working Paper #7. Available from http://www.
norrag.org/fileadmin/Working_Papers/Working_Paper__7_
King_Palmer.pdf (accessed October 17, 2015).
2
Commission on Global Governance. (1995). Our Global
Neighborhood. The Report of the Commission on Global
Governance. Available from http://www.gdrc.org/u-gov/global-neighbourhood/ (accessed October 17, 2015), chapter one.
3
King, K., & Palmer, R. (2015). Post-2015 and the Global
1

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Governance of Education and Training. For a brief critique of

King and Palmers approach, see Ahmed, M. (2015). Global Education Governance How Real? (NORRAG Blog)
Available from https://norrag.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/
global-education-governance-how-real/ (accessed October
17, 2015). For another discussion of global governance and
education, see Mundy, K. (2007). Global Governance, Educational Change.
4
Fidler, D. P. (2013). Navigating the Global Health Terrain:
Mapping Global Health Diplomacy. In I. B. Neumann & H.
Leira (Eds.), International Diplomacy. Volume III: The Pluralisation of Diplomacy (London, England; Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage), p. 256.
5
UN General Assembly. (2015). A/Res/70/1. Transforming
Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Available from http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.
asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E (accessed November 24,
2015), p. 14.
6
Others have suggested alternative starting points, such
as the foundation of the League of Nations, or, even earlier,
the period of colonialism and the activities of faith-based
organizations. NORRAG. (2014). Workshop Report: Global
Governance of Education and Training and the Politics of
Data. Available from http://www.norrag.org/fileadmin/Workshop_Reports/NORRAG_Workshop_Report_GGET_2014.pdf
(accessed October 17, 2015), p. 7.
7
This needs to be understood before an even wider framework of conventions. Relevant in this context are also the
Convention Against Discrimination in Education; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; and the Convention on the Rights
of the Child. An overview is available from UNESCO. (n.d.).
Standard Setting. Available from http://www.unesco.org/
new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/
right-to-education/normative-action/standard-setting/
(accessed October 17, 2015).
8
The 2015 Millennium Development Goals Report, for example, reports that [t]he primary school net enrolment rate
in the developing regions has reached 91 per cent in 2015,
up from 83 per cent in 2000. United Nations. (2015). The
Millennium Development Goals Report 2015. Available from
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_MDG_Report/pdf/
MDG%202015%20rev%20(July%201).pdf (accessed October
15, 2015), p. 4.
9
Access plus quality is a phrase introduced by the Learning
Metrics Taskforce. LMTF. (2013). Toward Universal Learning:
Recommendations From the Learning Metrics Task Force
(Montreal, Canada, and Washington, DC: UNESCO Institute
for Statistics and Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution).
10
SDSN. (2015). Indicators and a Monitoring Framework for
Sustainable Development Goals. Launching a Data Revolution for the SDGs. Available from http://unsdsn.org/resources/
publications/indicators/ (accessed July 17, 2015).

Education Diplomacy Brief - Global Education Governance

WEF. (2015). Incheon Declaration. Education 2030: Towards Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Lifelong
Learning for All. Available from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/
images/0023/002331/233137E.pdf (accessed July 3, 2015).
12
Compare also Birger Fredriksen. (2015). Global Governance of Education and Training in the Age of Globalization:
The Growing Importance of Cross-Border Externalities of
National Education Policies (NORRAG Blog). Available
from https://norrag.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/global-governance-of-education-and-training-in-the-age-of-globalization-the-growing-importance-of-cross-border-externalities-of-national-education-policies/ (accessed October 17,
2015).
13
For an overview, see Lim, A. H., & Saner, R. (2011).
Rethinking Trade in Education Services: A Wake-up Call for
Trade Negotiators. Journal of World Trade, 45(5). And also
Lim, A. H., & Saner, R. (2011). Trade in Education Services:
Market Opportunities and Risks. Lifelong Learning in Europe
11

Journal, 1). For a critique, see Ahmed, M. (2015). Global Education Governance How Real?
14
UNESCO. (2015). EFA Global Monitoring Report: Pricing
the Right to Education: The Cost of Reaching New Targets by
2030 (Policy Paper 18). Available from http://unesdoc.unesco.
org/images/0023/002321/232197E.pdf (accessed July 3,
2015), p. 1.
15
Compare, for example, the following World Bank publication: Patrinos, H. A., Barrera-Osorio, F., & Guqueta, J.
(2009). The Role and Impact of Public-Private Partnerships in
Education (World Bank). Available from http://www.ungei.org/
resources/files/Role_Impact_PPP_Education.pdf (accessed
September 4, 2015).
16
UN General Assembly. (2015). Outcome Document of the
Third International Conference on Financing for Development: Addis Ababa Action Agenda (A/RES/69/313). Available
from http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/
RES/69/313 (accessed October 20, 2015), paragraph 10.

Katharina E. Hne is a consultant with ACEI, working

on the concept of education diplomacy and has developed
a 10-week online course on education diplomacy. She
also consults on online learning with DiploFoundation.
She holds a PhD in International Relations from the
University of Aberystwyth, Wales, and specializes in
diplomacy and global governance.
2016, Association for Childhood Education International, Washington, DC
Education Diplomacy Briefs highlight the importance of education diplomacy in understanding education
and development from the local to the global level. Specific policy processes, negotiations, institutions, and
cooperation initiatives are selected to showcase the importance of using the education diplomacy lens.
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