This edition of Education Action addresses some of the key challenges confronted by the international education sector in the run-up to the publication of the mid-term review of the Education For All goals, including the critical areas of education financing and HIV and AIDS. The issue begins with a piece on the impressive work of the MV Foundation on child labour, and moves to consider the impact the policies of international finance institutions have on education, before highlighting the importance of the rights-based approach to education.