Four years after the landmark Transforming Education Summit convened by the UN Secretary-General, UNESCO will bring together education leaders in Paris on 10 July to examine global progress and challenges in education. 

Participants will include President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, more than 30 education ministers, economist Vera Songwe, and Grammy-nominated recording artist and songwriter Audrey Nuna (singing voice of Mira from Kpop Demon Hunters). 

On this occasion, UNESCO will present new data on the decline of global aid to education, as well as its flagship debt-for-education swap guide for governments, as aid cuts and crises threaten progress in the sector.

Today, 113 countries — home to 6.1 billion people — spend more on debt servicing than on education, perpetuating a cycle of underinvestment, inequality, and stalled development.