The United Nations Sustainable Development Report 2019 makes sobering reading. Not only are there “shockingly low proficiency rates in reading and mathematics [which] signal a global learning crisis”, but “750 million adults still cannot read and write a simple statement; two thirds of those adults are women” (United Nations, 2019, Goal 4, pp. 30-31). United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres comments that “It is abundantly clear that a much deeper, faster and more ambitious response is needed to unleash the social and economic transformation needed to achieve our 2030 goals.” But why has there been so little progress? What can be done to address some of the concerns identified? This issue of JL4D looks at some of the challenges and some of positive developments towards solutions.