Earlier this morning, I listened to a powerful panel of speakers –- including former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, UK Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell, Queen Rania of Jordan and World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala –- rally around a single issue: education for all by 2015.

Under the banner of 1 Goal, a global campaign for universal education that recruited 18 million supporters during this summer’s World Cup, the panelists kicked off a week of MDG-related discussions by underscoring the fact that with its links to democracy, family health and economic growth, education is central to meeting all the MDGs and achieving long-term development beyond 2015.

More than one of the panelists cited this new Lancet study, which credits women’s education for half of the reduction in child mortality over the past few decades, as the latest in a growing mountain of evidence that says education leads to progress on multiple fronts.

It wasn’t all talk, though.

On behalf of the World Bank, Okonjo-Iweala pledged $750 million for education in low income countries over the next five years. She said that the funding represented a 40 percent increase in the World Bank’s basic education spending over the past five years and would be directed toward countries who have had their national education plans supported by the Education for All-Fast Track Initiative, but are off-track in meeting MDG 2.

Kevin Rudd, Australia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, also said that Australia expects to spend around $5 billion on education over the next five years, an estimated 70 percent of which will be directed towards basic education.

There was also a strong call for shifting the focus beyond inputs to results and impact. Andrew Mitchell emphasized that when it comes to education, establishing and evaluating targets for literacy, math skills and primary completion are especially critical.

This focus on impact will no doubt be a theme here in New York this week. Given the global financial climate and the fact that the world has only five years until the deadline for achieving the MDGs, there is a strong sense that now is the time to redouble efforts on programs that are delivering results -– and reinvent those that are not.

Last week ONE Germany joined our partners at 1GOAL to organize a soccer match to raise awareness for what we hope will be the lasting legacy and real goal of this year’s Soccer World Cup: Education for all! A team of artists including musician Rea Garvey and actors Axel Pape, Timmi Trinks and Timon Wloka faced a student selection from Berlin Sophie Scholl School. During half time and after the game singer Judy Bailey performed her 1GOAL anthem “Spirit of Freedom” and other songs. And as our photos show, spirits were good both off and on the field even though the students won by a little more than a margin: 17:4 was the final score.

The greatest football tournament in the world gets underway tomorrow. I can’t wait. I only wish my team (England) was on slightly better form, but I’m still hopeful! There is also something positive we can do to create a lasting legacy that could see millions more kids receive an education…

South African President Jacob Zuma has just announced that he will hold a global leadership summit during the World Cup. The aim? Push leaders to give the 72 million children still out of school an education by 2015. Something that’s not hard to support. So ONE is teaming up with 1GOAL, bringing together footballers and fans, to give world leaders the extra kick needed to make it happen.

Please join millions of people around the world by taking action

Make sure to write your own personal message with the petition as 1GOAL will be delivering these ‘yellow cards’ to world leaders on 7 July.

Since 2000, 42 million more children are in school thanks to effective aid and other policies. As the world turns its attention to Africa for the first football World Cup held on the continent, let’s enjoy the game and help give every child a basic education.

Now wouldn’t that be a legacy for the World Cup.

What an amazing week. From London to Paris, from Johannesburg to Washington, D.C., education advocates around the world mobilized during Global Action Week in support of Education for All.

Sponsored by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), Global Action Week brings together teachers, students, elected officials, civil society, NGOs and celebrity spokespeople to work together and help secure basic education for all children in developing nations.

In the US, we did ourselves proud. The US Chapter of GCE co-hosted a standing-room-only Capitol Hill event on Wednesday with Congresswoman Nita Lowey and speakers from the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. Congresswoman Lowey unveiled the Education for All Act of 2010, a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Congressman Dave Reichert. For the first time, we now have legislation that provides a roadmap to a Global Fund for Education.

At the event, we were also joined by actress Jessica Alba, who launched the 1GOAL: Education for All campaign. 1GOAL is a massive public awareness campaign that seeks to make Education for All the legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. In front of a packed crowd, and surrounded by more than 30 children from the Rock Creek Valley Elementary School (all in 1GOAL shirts) and D.C. United’s Bryan Namoff, Ms. Alba energized the crowd by sharing stories of her recent trip to Africa and rallied the room in support of 1GOAL.

We know the facts. Today, more than 72 million children currently lack access to primary school around the world. More than half of those children are girls. US leadership is essential if we are to achieve universal quality basic education.

As guests were leaving the Wednesday event, I gave a shout out to the students with Jessica Alba (who had spent the prior day learning about Education for All). “Rock Creek Valley Elementary School rocks,” I said.

“No,” responded one young student. “Education for All rocks.”

Right you are my friend, right you are.

-Joanna Kuebler, US Director of the Global Campaign for Education

PS– Here’s video from an interview on MSNBC with Jessica Alba and Rep. Nita Lowey:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

In the clip, they talk about the US’s commitment to education in developing countries and the need for systemic change. Check it out:

Also, check out this new video from 1GOAL in which Jessica Alba reflects on the aforementioned trip:

She writes:

In June, Canada is set to play host to the G8 and the G20, the political equivalent of the Winter Olympics. It’s where Canada can fight for education with the tenacity of its victorious hockey team.

Because, like that hockey team, Canada’s education system is a national treasure and one of the best in the world. The Canadian International Development Agency is a power player, lifting the lives of Haitians, Iraqis, Afghans and many others.

Why is Education for All Canada’s calling? Because, if nothing else, education is a fundamental Canadian value . I mean, quality education for every child? That’s what I call Canadian, eh?

I had an incredible week, joining the ONE team on the road in Senegal and Ghana as part of the 1GOAL: Education for All campaign to make the lasting legacy of the upcoming World Cup education for every child.

I’ve wanted to travel to Africa my whole life and when offered the opportunity to listen and learn alongside ONE, it was a once in a lifetime chance that I couldn’t pass up. I’ve always admired the work ONE has done and being able to see the programs you’ve contributed to firsthand was inspiring.

We met African entrepreneurs and academics, spoke with civil society and private sector leaders. We sat with street vendors at a microfinance project, heard from women now able to save their and their children’s lives through ARV HIV/AIDS treatment. We met some amazing people, a new generation of leaders for not only the continent, but for the world.

My goal in going on this trip was to listen closely and learn more about the fight against global poverty. And what I heard repeatedly was that as I’ve always believed, education has the power to lift individuals, communities and entire nations out of poverty. From a promising business idea to a woman pushing cultural boundaries to stand up and speak out, education has been the key.

Today, 72 million kids are out of school around the world, the majority of them girls. Without an education, they are almost certain to be trapped in a life of poverty and robbed of the knowledge of their basic human rights. Every year a child is out of school is a year they lose in literacy, in health, in opportunity.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Since 2000, because people like you and governments took action, 48 million more children are in school. And if we come together around this World Cup, we can do even more to put education front and center. Together with FIFA, leading players and fans around the world, we can use the power of this truly global game to ensure that education for all is a lasting impact of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We have a plan, we know how to beat this—all we need now is the will to make it happen.

Increased global education funding fights global poverty at the root, empowers girls and women, and promotes economic growth in poor countries around the world. And it’s a very smart investment: experts tell us that a girl will earn an additional 10% in income for every year of schooling she receives and be 50% less likely to become infected with HIV/AIDS. In Africa, children of mothers who receive five years of primary education are 40% more likely to live beyond the age of 5. It’s a proactive measure to avert many of the problems that plague developing countries.

We spent a day at Osu School in Accra, Ghana, where initiatives to provide free school uniforms and free lunch to students have dramatically increased enrollment. And they have one other policy with great results—requiring perfect attendance to play on the school’s soccer or “football” team! As a result of these programs, 71% of Ghanaian girls and 73% of Ghanaian boys go to school. Ghana’s President John Atta Mills has even signed up to 1GOAL, promising to provide free textbooks to every student.

At Osu, we met Stephen, an 18-year-old student with enormous talent. The Ghanaian Premiere League has already had their eye on this young goalkeeper for the past three years. The school’s headmaster has been keeping tabs on Stephen, constantly reminding him that you can’t be a good player without a good education. He stresses to Stephen that the only way he will know how to sustain the wealth and opportunities he will gain as a “footballer” (soccer player) is by having an education.

Stephen is an inspiring young man. He is the eldest of seven children and his family’s sole provider. He wakes early, goes to school, practices with his coaches in the afternoon and then goes to work at night as a busboy to support the family. On average he goes non-stop for 18 hours.

He told us that he now understands he cannot be a footballer or achieve his dreams without an education. Top teams are looking to recruit him. He dreams of playing for his national team, the Ghana Black Stars, and someday becoming a catcher for Chelsea.

You can’t go anywhere in Africa without seeing kids playing the sport. The excitement for the first-ever World Cup in Africa this summer is everywhere. The world’s eyes will be on the continent and it’s a moment for Africa to shine.

South African President Zuma met today with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and announced that South Africa will host a global summit on education during the World Cup this summer. Aaron Mokoena, South Africa’s football captain and 1GOAL Ambassador, who met with President Zuma said “I am delighted that the Government of South Africa had decided to host a summit for education for all children” and Her Majesty Queen Rania (Co-Founder and Global Co-Chair of 1GOAL) congratulated President Zuma and Prime Minister Brown on “their vision and commitment to make global education the greatest goal of the South Africa World Cup 2010.”

This announcement gives real political momentum to the campaign to ensure all children go to school, which would be an incredible legacy of the World Cup.

For more information on the campaign visit the 1GOAL website

Mobile phone operators from around the world have teamed up with ONE’s partner 1GOAL, in support of universal education at this summer’s football World Cup in South Africa.

The operators, who serve more than 1 billion mobile users, will encourage people to sign up to the campaign, demonstrating to global leaders and the UN that universal education is a universal demand.

Making the announcement in Barcelona, Spain at the Mobile World Congress, Her Majesty, Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, Co-founder and Co-Chair of 1GOAL said:

“I want to thank each and every one of you here today who has joined the 1GOAL team and who’ll reach out to subscribers with a message, an app, or a widget. 1GOAL is about people-power… the largest ever, never-before-done, cause-related campaign of its kind. And I hope that those of you in the mobile ecosystem who haven’t done so, will join up and sign up before our kick-off in April.”

South African football caption Aaron Mokoena, who recently joined ONE in London to talk about the importance of 2010 and the World Cup for Africa, added:

“This will be the year that the mobile fraternity and football joined hands for the greatest of events, and the greatest of causes; Education for all.”

The 1GOAL campaign aims to ensure that the lasting legacy of the football World Cup next year in South Africa is that every child can be learning in school by 2015.

Find out more on the 1GOAL website

Last month, I had a whirlwind tour of the United States to speak about the importance of getting every child in school and how we can achieve universal primary education by creating a Global Fund for Education. I traveled to 5 states, met with over a dozen members of Congress’s offices, and even kicked a soccer ball around with Jessica Alba in Washington, DC – all in order to tout the importance of providing a free basic education for all children. As a former school teacher, eventually the Director of Basic Education in Kenya, and now that I am retired I work full-time to bring educational opportunities to the poorest children in Nairobi – I know the need first-hand.

Part of my story starts in 2003, when Kenya’s newly elected government was able to abolish school fees – approximately $50 a year was the main barrier preventing children from being in school. Within a week, a million children and even some adult learners showed up to enter the classrooms, eager to have the education that they couldn’t previously afford. By the end of the year, 2 million children who had not been able to go to school turned up in the classrooms ready to learn. Kenya now has 91 percent of its children in classrooms, but we are still unable to reach the hardest to reach – that last nine percent. Barriers like orphan-headed households, lack of infrastructure in slums, and lack of clean water and sanitation for girls to be able to attend schools still prohibit reaching all of the children.

Kenya is a success story in many ways – overnight we made primary school free, and with the help of the international community we were able to train and deploy teachers, strengthen school accounting systems and guarantee the right to an education. This story could be duplicated in many countries, if we knew that our international partners like the United States would join our struggle to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of ensuring that children everywhere are able to go to school by 2015. The deadline for this goal is quickly approaching but the United States is in a unique position to lead on this issue: it has the money, the will, and the power to achieve this objective. Kenya’s grandson, President Obama, has promised to create a Global Fund for Education which will fill the education deficit. Ignorance is in fact the greatest expense – because universal education saves lives, it reduces the risk of civil war, malnutrition and HIV/AIDS, and it is well-known that literacy is a prerequisite for economic growth.

But it is up to you, America, to build the political will of your elected officials to bring the gift of knowledge and empowerment to the poorest children of the world. A great way to get involved is to take part in events like the National Day of Action on December 10th. Organizations like the Global Campaign for Education, 1 GOAL, RESULTS, ONE and many other coalition partners are doing everything they can to mobilize citizens across the country to call on their leaders to do their part. This day provides a great opportunity to spread the message that through universal education, we can reduce poverty, save lives, and promote a more stable, secure world. During the Day of Action, thousands of people across the country will call and write to President Obama urging him to provide $2 billion in the 2011 budget to create a Global Fund for Education . Through phone calls, petitions, and media outreach, Americans can send a message to the world that building sustainable solutions to the greatest development challenges of our day is possible through global education. To get involved, go to www.campaignforeducationusa.org.

Today’s children will be tomorrow’s leaders, doctors, scientists, lawyers and innovators and we can’t afford to deny them of their destiny. I am proud to be partnering with the ONE Campaign and the US Chapter of the Global Campaign for Education in their mission to give the more than 75 million children worldwide the opportunities and tool they need to succeed in today’s global environment by sending them to school and I hope you will join me.