Every complicated and arduous journey requires a map to guide you. You may end up taking a few detours, but a map allows you to always focus on your desired destination. The journey toward helping every child get a good quality education is no different. And now we have a map. The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) has just launched its new 3-year strategic plan covering 2012-2015. The strategic plan was approved earlier this month by the Global Partnership’s Board of Directors and will be implemented by our 53 developing country partner nations as well as our donor, civil society, private sector partners. We all share the same vision: a good quality education for all children – everywhere. And we know it can only be done if we all work together – harmonizing and better coordinating our well intended efforts. So, what’s in the plan? There are 5 key areas we’ll be focusing on and all of them have specific indicators which will help us to measure our impact: • Education in conflict-affected and fragile states. More than 40% of the world’s out-of-school children live in fragile states. • Girls’ education. Gender discrimination keeps millions of girls out of school. • Basic literacy and numeracy. We pledge to halve the number of children unable to read in at least 20 countries over the next 5 years. • Teacher effectiveness. GPE’s partners will train, recruit, retain and support teachers to ensure better education for all children. • Increased funding support for education. We must generate increased resources for basic education. The focus on conflict-affected countries is particularly important. Between 2002 and 2009, the number for out-of-school children dropped 46 % in most non-fragile GPE member countries, which is great news. Yet at the same time, the number of out-of-school children increased by 8 % percent in fragile countries. This is alarming and requires us to redouble our efforts to support these children who need us most, particularly girls’ who are at the far end of the food chain. These children are our future and we cannot leave them behind because in an increasingly interdependent world our fates are tightly bound to theirs. And investments in education generate a remarkable return: UNESCO estimates that if children in poor countries could read, poverty would drop by 12%. Our new strategy also stresses that all of our work is guided and led by our country partners. We will continue to strengthen our engagement with teacher associations, the private sector, civil society and donor nations to broaden the alliance of those who are serious about improving the poor state of education. Our country partners know best what’s needed, what’s missing and what help is likely to bring positive change. Read more about our strategy, the Global Partnership for Education and how you can join and support our growing movement. We need your help to keep us on the road toward Education for All.