More than half of all children in sub-Saharan Africa never get to finish basic school, and 120 million adults across the region cannot read, write or add up a column of numbers. At the current rate of progress, Africa will not get every child into school until 2100. This is a travesty of human rights and a tragedy of human capital. Unless it is urgently addressed, neither economic take-off nor democratic consolidation will be possible and NEPAD's objective will not be achieved within the next two decades. The African Networks Campaign for Education for All (ANCEFA), that aims to build civil society capacity for its full participation in education issues and advocate, in one voice, for Education for All and other National Coalitions in Africa, urge the African Union to take concrete measures to end the African education crisis.