Over the past decade, the achievement of universal primary education, under the somewhat misleading rubric of "Education for All" (EFA), has steadily built momentum in international forums as a focus for discussion and action. The present study looks critically at the evolution of consensus about EFA within the international community. The first section of this contribution provides an overview of "education for development" in the form in which it has been inherited from the 20th century. The second describes what has changed in the context, rhetoric and practice of such "education for development". The final section reflects on two questions: "Why has EFA now moved beyond international rhetoric to action?"; and "What can our experience with EFA tell us about the prospects for multilateralism and global governance in the 21st century?"