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The #EducationCountdown September Forum�� is being held by A World at School today in New York City, co-hosted with the and in collaboration with the Office of the .

Entitled 2015 Education Countdown: Failure is Not an Option, the forum has gathered global development partners, including high-level representatives from government, business, faith organisations, NGOs, United Nation agencies, foundations, youth organisations, teachers and civil society.

A final sprint is needed for the promise given by world leaders in 2000 �鶹APP� that every child in the world would get an education by the end of 2015 �鶹APP� is kept. This forum will discuss what�鶹APP�s being done to achieve that.

You can learn more about the over the next 500 days.

It�鶹APP�s an early start and first on the agenda today is the Global Coalition for Education Executive Breakfast. This will convene global business leaders across government, NGOs and United Nations leaders.��

The meeting will address collective accomplishments from the past year and announce new partnerships as the momentum builds for accelarated progress on access and learning.

The programme commences with some opening comments from Sarah Brown, Executive Chair of GBC-Ed. Here is Sarah on a trip to Ghana with Comic Relief.

Sarah tells the gathering that GBC-Ed was started two years ago because of a lack of leadership from all companies coming together to support universal education.

She says it is now a coalition of 100 brands all advocating to get children into school and learning.

Sarah adds: �鶹APP�We are publishing papers, reports and policy briefs to keep business at the forefront of education. We launched the in Nigeria this year. We have a strong India and Pakistan working group.�鶹APP�

Excited to see so many organizations supporting the Global Business Coalition for Education mission for our 2015 Forum!

�鶹APP� GBCEducation (@gbceducation)

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, finance minister for Nigeria gives the latest news on the kidnapped girls of Chibok. She says: �鶹APP�We have to honour the girls so that when they come back they will have a safe environment.�鶹APP� She tells how the Safe Schools Initiative is key to that work.

Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the , says: �鶹APP�The opportunity school meals provide, particularly for girls, is not only to get a child into school but also to keep them there. It is only through partnerships that we cna continue with these programmes. We cannot do this alone �鶹APP� we need the private sector.�鶹APP�

Hikmet Ersek, President of Western Union, says the main reason people send money to their home countries is education. And Shannon Schuyler, US Corporate Responsibility Leader of PricewaterhouseCooper says: �鶹APP�We don�鶹APP�t think just education is one of the answers �鶹APP� it is THE ���Բ��ɱ��.�鶹APP�

Loving the transition of the conversation to girls executive breakfast.

�鶹APP� Payal (@pdalal)

The meeting hears about the campaign from Phumzile Miambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women. And she encourages all the men in the room to sign up.

Julia Gillard, chair of the says: �鶹APP�We believe having the voice of the private sector is invaluable. What people are doing individually can fit in seamlessly as part of the whole.�鶹APP�

Aman Aziz Siddiqui, head of strategic planning and development at Habib Bank Limited, says there are 101 million youth in Pakistan and tells what his company and the private sector in general is doing to help in the field of education.

Baela Raza Jamil, of (ITA) (�鶹APP�Centre of Education and Consciousness�鶹APP�) in Pakistan talks about the work being done to create child marriage-free zones in her country.

Sarah Brown mentions the increasingly vocal role being played by young people. Hundreds of them rallied in Washington Square Park last night to to start the . Below is A World at School�鶹APP�s Chernor Bah with youth leaders. .

Picture: Steven Gong/A World at School

Joyce Banda, former president of Malawi, (pictured below with Sarah Brown) says: �鶹APP�If we don�鶹APP�t provide income for households, the girls are not going to school. If they are not going to school they are getting married.�鶹APP� She says many girls in her country age 15 to 19 die in childbirth.

Picture: Steve Gong/A World at School

The breakfast meeting is over and it�鶹APP�s now on to the forum titled The Countdown is On: All in for 2015.

Watch �鶹APP�s September Forum live! It convenes global development partners for an talk

�鶹APP� GBCEducation (@gbceducation)

But before we move on, here�鶹APP�s a great group photo of some of the dignitaries at the breakfast meeting.

Picture: Steve Gong/A World at School

This next session is moderated by Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education. He welcomes the participants in a packed room and tells them the purpose of the panel discussion is to re-energise the Millennium Development Goal 2 commitment �鶹APP� to get every child into school by the end of 2015.

Mr Brown says there had been great progress at first but that has stalled in the past three years. We now face the prospect of there still being more than 50 million �鶹APP� and possibly as many as 60 million �鶹APP� children who are not at school by end of 2015.

He invites the four panellists to the front of the room. They are:

• Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser, Founder, Educate a Child
• Elias Bou Saab, Education Minister, Lebanon
• Peter Vesterbacka, Mighty Eagle, Rovio Entertainment Ltd.
• Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development at the European Commission

Gordon Brown call this meeting with major funders the most important meeting in

�鶹APP� Helle Gudmandsen (@helle_heg)

Her Highness is asked what still needs to be done to achieve universal education. She says the problem is �鶹APP�mind-boggling�鶹APP� and she in turn asks the room why so little has been done in recent years to overcome the problem.

Mr Piebalgs says too many people believe that the global education issue has already been resolved. He also says business must do more to get involved.

Mr Saab talks about the problems of having to cope with a flood of refugees from Syria. He says: �鶹APP�We had 275,000 children in the government education system. Now we are close to 450,000 school-age children. We do not have the means or the funds to do this.�鶹APP� He says that some children who do not go to school end up in terrorist camps and also tells of girls who are chained and sold to fighters. He adds: �鶹APP�Education is the only way to save them.�鶹APP�

Picture: Steve Gong/A World at School

Peter Vesterbacka, from the company that makes the gaming phenomenon Angry Birds, is asked what technology can do in the field ��of global education. Above is a picture of him at yesterday�鶹APP�s #UpForSchool rally in Washington Square Park.

He says businesses should not get hung up about making money. He says:���鶹APP�It�鶹APP�s OK if it�鶹APP�s a business if it also delivers great education. There is nothing wrong with that.�鶹APP� He adds: �鶹APP�We can do fantastic things in classrooms. We can think about education in new ways.�鶹APP� He says his company Rovio has invested in making learning fun.

António Gutteres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, says a huge investment and a huge mobilisation in resources is needed to get refugee children into school.

Christian Paradis, Minister of International development and Minister for La Francophonie Canada, tells how Canada is��ensuring every child, particularly girls and the margilinalised, get a quality education. He says there is also a focus on investing in skills for the workforce.

Holiday Reinhorn, wife of the TV actor Rainn Wilson, talks about their work with , which helps to empower girls in Haiti through the arts. She says: �鶹APP�We are also establishing programmes in Lebanon and Jordan.

says silos between the aid and the humanitarian world must be broken down to ensure education for all.

�鶹APP� Sylvi Bratten (@sbratten)

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Alice Albright, CEO of the Global Partnership for Education, says there are two major obstacles to overcome �鶹APP� �鶹APP�a global financing crisis in education�鶹APP� and the problem of �鶹APP�silos�鶹APP� in the aid world.She said there are many problems which cut across these silos.

She adds an example: �鶹APP�Education has a huge knock-on effects on health. A child whose mother is able to read is 50% more likely to live past the age of five.�鶹APP�

Child marriage is getting worse says A girl is married every 2 seconds! We need more integrated action

�鶹APP� Emily Jayne Laurie (@EmilyJayneLauri)

Mabel van Oranje from Girls Not Brides (pictured below) says that a girl is married every two seconds �鶹APP� and clicks her figures every two seconds to demonstrate this appaling fact. She adds: �鶹APP�We won�鶹APP�t end child marriage unless we make primary and secondary education affordable for girls.�鶹APP�

Picture: Steve Gong/A World at School

This session is ending with two major announcements �鶹APP� first up is��Norway�鶹APP�s State Secrtetary Hans Brattskar. He announces an education summit in Norway next year to be held on conjunction with Mr Brown�鶹APP�s office.

He says: �鶹APP�We will look at how we can improve coordination on many issues. We hope that the summit will be a platform for frank and honest, high-level discussion. We hope to announce practical follow-up measures.The summit should mobilise renewed politcal commitment to tackling the growing challenges.�鶹APP�

A World at School co-founder and youth leader Chernor Bah, who tells the audience of the , which was driven by A World at School�鶹APP�s 500 Global Youth Ambassadors. He says he wants 58million signatures and says: �鶹APP�We WILL deliver that petition.�鶹APP���

The audience see a special video about the petition, which you can watch here..

Chernor gets everyone in the room �鶹APP� from world leaders to youth activists �鶹APP� to sign the petition on their smartphones and then gets them all chanting: �鶹APP�We�鶹APP�re #UpForSchool�鶹APP�.��

�鶹APP�We don�鶹APP�t need your sympathy. We need your signature�鶹APP�.

�鶹APP� Sylvi Bratten (@sbratten)

Now for an announcement from Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Chairman of Econet Wireless and founding member of GBC-Ed. He announces a $15 million . The five-year competition will challenge teams from around the world to develop open-source and scalable software that will enable children in developing countries to teach themselves basic reading, writing and arithmetic.

Gordon Brown endorses the Global Learning XPRIZE at the forum in NY!

�鶹APP� XPRIZE (@xprize)

Solutions will be tested in the field across a minimum of 100 villages, reaching thousands of children. The challenge is to develop software that willl teach children with no basic skills to read and write in 18 months.

Angelique and Lang Lang Picture: Steve Gong/A World at School

Now we have two special musical guests �鶹APP� singer-songwriter Angélique Kidjo and Lang Lang, classical pianist and UN Messenger of Peace. They talk about the winners of the 2014 Youth Courage Awards, who were revealed at yesterday�鶹APP�s #UpForSchool launch.

Below is a picture of Beyan Flomo Pewee from Liberia, with CNN�鶹APP�s Isha Sesay, at last night�鶹APP�s event.

Picture: Steve Gong/A World at School

Now for a bit of fun with a serious message �鶹APP� it�鶹APP�s Count von Count from Sesame Street talking about counting down from 58 million to zero.

Next up is an hour-long session titled Getting Serious About Result: The Grand Convergance of Education and Health, moderated by Sarah Brown.

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We are at the Getting Serious about Results: The Grand Convergence of & Health event. Follow live updates w/

�鶹APP� UNICEF Education (@UNICEFEducation)

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Four honoured guests are addressing the audience �鶹APP� Her Excellency Mama Salma Kikwete, First Lady of Tanzania; Mark Dybul, Executive Director, V. Shankar, CEO Middle East, Africa, the Americas & Europe, Standard Chartered: and Rajiv Sha, Administator of .

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The panel is moderated by Mrs Sarah Brown . Mrs Kikwete begins opening remarks

�鶹APP� UNICEF Education (@UNICEFEducation)

Her Excellency says: �鶹APP�I realise that education is a field that is everything. Without education there is no progress. Without education there is no development. I am happy that we are now tackling a subject that is at the heart of the development of our youth.�鶹APP�

�鶹APP�Without education there is no progress, no development.�鶹APP� �鶹APP� Salma Kikwete, First Lady of Tanzania

�鶹APP� Global Partnership (@GPforEducation)

Dr Dybul talks about the experience of the Global Fund in making progress on AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. He says: �鶹APP�Keeping girls in school means they have less chance of getting HIV and they get married later.�鶹APP� He says the issues of health and education must be looked at together.

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Mr Shah says annual under-five mortality has reduced from 12 million to six million �鶹APP� half of it from health programmes but the other half from education. He adds: �鶹APP�We must do more to use these flow of funds to make schools the point of integrated services to communities.�鶹APP�

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Mr Shankar says collaboration among the private, public and philanthropic sectors is key. Long-term sustainable growth in business will only happen if health and education issues are tackled.

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Keeping girls in school = 30-60% decrease in HIV/AIDS.

�鶹APP� Teodora Berkova (@teoberkova)

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British filmmaker Richard Curtis is asked by Sarah how we can get across the message that education and health are vital issues. Richard, who was also the founder of and , says: �鶹APP�The two things that young people most understand are education and health issues. You are picking the two sweet spots to make a generation of young people understand that they can make a difference.�鶹APP�

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Sarah wraps up this plenary session by announcing a partnership with WNET, which has made a film called �鶹APP� which has been tracking the lives of seven young people from seven countries.

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The main morning events are now over. Attendees will soon break into separate sessions �鶹APP� Global Faiths Coalition Meeting, Child Labour Working Meeting, Global Youth Ambassadors Workshop and GBC-Education Business Meeting (Business for Early Childhood Development Task Force).

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Excited for & our global youth ambassadors to lead a session!

�鶹APP� A World at School (@aworldatschool)

We heard at the last session from Holiday Reinhorn, author and co-founder of Lide Haiti. Her husband Rainn Wilson �鶹APP� best known for his role on the US TV show The Office �鶹APP� has tweeted this message.

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I am ! Excited to join other businesses in the .

�鶹APP� RainnWilson (@rainnwilson)

A bit of extra background on the Global Business Coalition for Education. Launched in 2012, it has grown to become the single forum connecting business to make a lasting impact on the lives of children and youth through education. Its members believe their core business assets, social responsibility and philanthropy �鶹APP� when used in collaboration with government and other stakeholders �鶹APP� can be a powerful tool to expand education for all.

mtgs r full of passion w & leading the way w global faiths coalition

�鶹APP� A World at School (@aworldatschool)

One of the four sessions ongoing simultaneously at A World at School�鶹APP�s #Education Countdown September Forum is on child labour, Globally, as many as 168 million children between the ages of five and 17 are child labourers. Almost six in 10 of them work in agriculture �鶹APP� but many others work in mining, cocoa production and, mainly for primary-age girls, in domestic work.

. meeting is under way in ! Watch for quotes from members including and

�鶹APP� GFC Education (@GFCEducation)

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Super excited to launch the new animation!

�鶹APP� Emily Jayne Laurie (@EmilyJayneLauri)

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And here�鶹APP�s the Youth Toolkit video that�鶹APP�s been shown in the Global Youth Ambassador Workshop.

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Wallisson from is . He�鶹APP�s working to help reduce violence so children can go to school safely!

�鶹APP� A World at School (@aworldatschool)

Next up are two afternoon sessions �鶹APP���a GBC-Education panel session called Invest Early: Invest for Impact and a GBC-Education panel session and business meeting called Global Education Platform: Using Technology to Deliver Education.

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Gordon Brown addresses the audience at the technology session. He says: �鶹APP�We can do amazing things but we�鶹APP�ve got to think through which avenues are worth pursuing.�鶹APP�

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He tells how on a recent visit to India he was told the country wants to build 1000 universities. He adds: �鶹APP�It seems incredibly difficult but if we can harness technology to what they are doing then we can bridge the gap.�鶹APP�

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After outlining how �鶹APP� on present trends �鶹APP� no more than 6% of young people in Nigeria will go on to further education �鶹APP� he adds: �鶹APP�We must find a way to provide opportunities in a cost-effective way that uses technologies.�鶹APP�

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There is a high-powered panel at this session �鶹APP���Jamie Alexandre, Co-Founder, Learning Equality;��Tamela Noboa, Managing Director, Discovery Learning Alliance;��James Bernard, Senior Director, Global Strategic Partnerships, Microsoft Education;��Madhav Chavan, Co-founder, Pratham; and��Chris Fabian, Co-lead, Innovation Unit, UNICEF.

kicks off the panel �鶹APP� describing our work delivering to the most disconnected learners

�鶹APP� Learning Equality (@LearnEQ)

partnering with to bring learning hubs to marginalized girls and teacher PD

�鶹APP� Richard Tibbles (@richardtibbles)

The technology session is now being moderated by Rebecca Winthrop, Director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. She�鶹APP�s framing the problems facing global education and outlining some of the statistics around schools and learning.

panelists and �鶹APP�s Tamela Noboa discuss digital hub partnership for learning

�鶹APP� GBCEducation (@gbceducation)

Meanwhile, over at the session called Invest Early: Invest for Impact session�鶹APP�

. introduces our Early Childhood Development panel with . Invest early, invest for impact.

�鶹APP� GBCEducation (@gbceducation)

The case for investing in children early is compelling, but not always prioritized by the public or business leaders:

�鶹APP� GBCEducation (@gbceducation)

Time to focus on early childhood education in developing countries! Social impact bonds can create potential globally

�鶹APP� GBCEducation (@gbceducation)

The technology session is moving into breakout groups �鶹APP� each discussing one of five basic models for delivering education. We�鶹APP�ll be back later with the outcomes of those sessions.

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Great minds at work!

�鶹APP� GBCEducation (@gbceducation)

The breakout groups come back after some thought-provoking sessions �鶹APP� and discovered they had common themes. One was creating and driving local content. This would involved DIY kits that encourage teachers and students to take part. Then figure out the technolohy needed for that platform and, finally, find the financing to make it happen.

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Sarah says: �鶹APP�This has the greatest chance of reaching the most marginalised children.�鶹APP�

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Sarah sums up: �鶹APP�This is something that can happen, as ambitious as it still feels. It is one we are going to have work on it to make it work. We need a platform that allows the most marginalised children to unlock their potential.�鶹APP�

Strong consensus DIY education kits that focus on locally relevant content distribution/sharing

�鶹APP� Learning Equality (@LearnEQ)