The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Global Institute for Shaping a Better Future, an initiative of Teach For All, have reached an agreement to strengthen collaboration on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all in line with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4).
The collaboration formalizes a decade of partnership between Teacher Task Force (TTF) members — UNESCO and Teach For All — and comes at a critical moment as the global community approaches the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals and considers the future of education, with the (TTF) working to activate its network in support of this shared agenda. With over 250 million children still out of school and 44 million teachers missing in primary and secondary schools, the partnership reflects a shared urgency to accelerate progress in the face of global challenges, from conflict and climate change to technological disruption
Through 2029, the collaboration will focus on four critical areas:
- Strengthening and Diversifying Teacher Workforce and Capacity: Expanding access to professional learning opportunities that cultivate educators’ ability to foster holistic student development, including skills for peace, sustainability, and digital fluency.
- Expanding Access to Open Educational Resources: Linking the Institute’s Resource Hub with the TTF Knowledge Platform, hosted by UNESCO, to share high-quality, context-rich materials accessible to governments, teachers, and civil society worldwide.
- Advancing Research and Evidence Generation: UNESCO and the Global Institute will identify complementary areas of research focus to bridge the evidence-to-practice gap by engaging global and local researchers and generating insights into holistic student development and effective practices for systemic change.
- Joint Advocacy and Thought Leadership: UNESCO and the Global Institute are committed to keeping education and teachers at the forefront of global efforts to achieve a more sustainable and equitable world. Together, they will identify opportunities for joint advocacy aligned with Education 2030 and SDG4.
“Through this collaboration with UNESCO, we are working to ensure that the cross-border learning generated through Teach For All’s Global Institute for Shaping a Better Future strengthens education systems worldwide so that every child develops the leadership skills to shape a better future for themselves and for all of us”, said Wendy Kopp, CEO and Co-founder of Teach For All. “Achieving this will require transforming classrooms and systems, supporting teachers' leadership development, generating evidence that informs practice, and advocating together to reshape education as a critical lever for reshaping the world.”
“Teachers are the backbone of our education systems. Without a diversified and strong teaching profession, we cannot achieve quality and equitable education for all. Their professional knowledge and classroom experience must guide policy development and implementation,” said Stefania Giannini, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education. “Our collaboration with Teach For All will help advance the Santiago Consensus aiming at restoring teaching and the education workforce at large as a respected, intellectually rewarding, and properly funded profession. The future of education depends on it.”
About Teach For All
Teach For All is a global network of over 60 independent, locally led organizations and a global organization united by a commitment to developing collective leadership to ensure all children can fulfill their potential. Each network partner recruits and develops promising future leaders to teach in their nations’ under-resourced schools and communities and, with this foundation, to work with others, inside and outside of education, towards a world where all children have the education, support, and opportunity to shape a better future. Teach For All’s global organization works to increase the network’s impact by supporting the development of new organizations; fostering network connectivity and learning; providing coaching and consulting; and enabling access to global resources for the benefit of the network.
About the Global Institute for Shaping a Better Future
The Global Institute is a center of global learning, evidence-generation, and leadership development for people around the world who are working to transform classrooms, schools, and systems to develop all students—especially those in marginalized communities globally—so that they can shape a better future. Building on foundational work of the Teach For All network, the Global Institute aims to accelerate a needed shift in education’s purpose and practices toward holistic student development.
About UNESCO
UNESCO is the United Nations’ specialized agency for education, entrusted to lead and coordinate the Education 2030 Agenda. UNESCO provides global and regional leadership to drive progress, strengthening the resilience and capacity of national systems to serve all learners. UNESCO is recognized as the global leader in the area of teacher policies and teacher development. As a member of the TTF, UNESCO supports advocating for stronger national and regional, evidence-based policy learning while filling in knowledge gaps on teachers and teaching. Through collaborative initiatives, the work of UNESCO will contribute to the monitoring and furthering of SDG 4.c, which aims to increase the supply of qualified teachers.
(left-right) Wendy Kopp, CEO and Co-Founder, Teach For All and Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) sign the Letter of Intent during the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
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