It’s that time of year again when world leaders gather in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly. GPE will participate in several events through representation by our Board Chair Julia Gillard, Vice-chair Serigne Mbaye Thiam, and CEO Alice Albright.

Education will be front and center throughout the week, but four events particularly stand out:

Monday, September 24

Make Impossible Possible: Unlocking Human Potential Through Education

6:30pm – 7:30 pm, United Nations Headquarters
Register to attend

A high-level event organized by the Education Commission to celebrate progress on global education funding and generate continued momentum for the new International Finance Facility for Education. The Facility has already been recognized by the G20 and supported by the United Nations Secretary-General, UN agencies, the World Bank, and multilateral development banks. This event will include details on the final stages of the Facility’s establishment and call for additional political support to fully fund Sustainable Development Goal 4.

Tuesday, September 25

12 years to break barriers and leave no girl behind: Countdown to 2030

4:00pm – 6:00 pm, United Nations Headquarters
Livestream

Julia Gillard will be speaking at this event hosted by the governments of Canada, France, Kenya, Mali, Niger, and the United Kingdom. The event aims to accelerate action on girls’ education while ensuring that girls who are currently in school are able to master the basics and progress through secondary education.

Wednesday, September 26

Action for refugee education

2:00pm – 5:00 pm, UNICEF House
Livestream

The High-Level Meeting on Action for Refugee Education will bring together refugee hosting states, donor governments, multilateral institutions, the private sector and civil society to agree how to accelerate and improve efforts to deliver these commitments. Alice Albright will be participating in the event along with other speakers including UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, Save the Children CEO Helle Thorning-Schmidt, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, and more. Details on the event can be found at Actionforrefugeeeducation.net.

The meeting will grow political and practical support for action by: 

• celebrating the refugee education commitments in the New York Declaration and Global Compact for Refugees 
• providing organizations with an opportunity to publicly commit to support refugee education by endorsing the Charter for Action 
• providing organizations with an opportunity to share their policy and practical commitments in support of refugee education by submitting them via the Framework for Commitment
• showcasing promising examples of policy and practice in refugee education from across the world.

Thursday, September 27

Education Data Solutions Roundtable Meeting

Launched at the GPE Financing Conference, the Education Data Solutions Roundtable is a public-private effort that aims to leverage local, private, and development partners’ expertise to improve the availability and use of education data.

The members of the roundtable, which include representatives from developing country governments, the business community, foundations, and international organizations, will meet for the second time since the launch of the initiative on the sidelines of UNGA.

You can stay updated throughout the week by subscribing to our blog and news alert, and connecting with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.