Thematic stages
Watch the recordings of the four thematic sessions at the Summit
Education's Reset
Financing for Impact
Gender Equality
Ripple Effect
We thank all our partners for their crucial contributions to the thematic stages, with particular recognition to the Brookings Institution; Education Development Trust; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Global Campaign for Education; Plan International; and Transform Education/UNGEI for their input in developing the thematic stage programs.
Side events
Harnessing technology to improve access to basic education: Lessons from Kenya and the Global South
Kenya GPE Replenishment Steering Committee, FCDO in Kenya, Ed Tech Hub, KPMG
The event focuses on the role of technology-supported learning in improving access to basic education, drawing lessons from successful initiatives in developing countries and providing a forum to discuss actions that countries can take to address inequity in education access by investing in digital learning. The event is hosted by the Kenya GPE Replenishment Campaign Steering Committee, and includes panelists drawn from government representatives across multiple countries, the private sector, and the civil society.
Facilitating Access to Quality Education for Girls in Nepal & Nigeria
Girls Education Challenge (GEC), Mercy Corps
To showcase best practices, approaches & lessons from GEC projects in Nigeria/Nepal, which reached 26k marginalised girls by working with communities/CSOs/government/private sector to create an environment for girls' access to/utilisation of education in a sustainable way. In collaboration with local partners and youth, it focuses on Girls Perspective: Barriers to Access to Education; Expanded Protection Policies to Enable Safe Learning Environment; Skillsbuilding, School to Work Transitions
What works – Domestic financing pathways towards access to education for all
KPMG and Ministry of Education and Vocational Training in Zanzibar, Tanzania
The session discusses domestic financing approaches and highlight strategic financial planning and budget execution pathways that widen access to affordable education services. Our experts share lessons learnt on how rolling audits, monitoring of financial and procurement processes, supported by capacity building initiatives supports institutions to achieve value for money, allowing for investments to be redirected into improving education infrastructure.
What works – Leveraging education pathways to build a resilient future workforce
KPMG, BBC Media Action and UK Kenya Tech Hub
KPMG highlights the power of co-created curricula that integrates vocational skills training, powered by digital learning solutions to increase future workforce employability. We discuss how linking social value messaging, can improve the education sector business environment to be investor ready, ultimately leveling the playing field for an empowered, productive and employable workforce.
Meeting the education needs of displaced children and young people
UNHCR and Education Cannot Wait. With support from FCDO and Global Affairs Canada: IRC and BRAC
By the end of 2020 more than 82 million people were forcibly displaced – of which 33 million were under 18. Children and youth displaced by conflict and crisis risk dropping out of school and never returning, especially girls and leaners with disabilities. UNHCR and Education Cannot Wait are convening a high-level roundtable to spotlight the needs of displaced children who are at risk of being left even further behind as we prepare for a post-COVID world. Planned within the framework of the Global Education Summit, participants hear from refugee and IDP youth, reflecting on the role of the international community in supporting them to learn, and on their own vision for education for vulnerable displaced communities. Ministers of Education from Burkina Faso [TBC] and Pakistan [TBC along with Ministry representatives from the UK and Canada, INGOs and refugee youth jointly reflect on both challenges and promising practices to overcome the barriers children affected by displacement face, and how we should collectively frame the global response. The discussion is opened by UN Special Envoy on Global Education, Gordon Brown.
Speaking youth to power: Young people, parliamentarians and the right to education
International Parliamentary Network For Education, Education for All Sierra Leone, Send My Friend to School
Based in the UK and Sierra Leone, Send My Friend to School and Education for All are empowering young people to use their voice to hold political leaders to account to ensure all children can access a quality education. In this webinar, youth advocates and parliamentarians reflect on the power of partnerships between youth networks and MPs. They outline the barriers they face in accessing a quality education and how they have campaigned for the right to education for their peers.
Is privatisation of education really a solution?
Oxfam, Action Aid, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, EACHRights
As COVID-related austerity threaten education, budgets are under pressure. This could lead decision-makers to rush into private provision and public-private partnerships as silver bullet solutions. But are they really solutions? Through short interventions, this roundtable draws on experts and academics from countries as far apart as Canada, Pakistan, Kenya, Spain and Liberia to show the challenges of privatization in terms of equity, inclusion, quality and efficiency of spending.
Mobilising political leadership to deliver inclusive and equitable quality education
International Parliamentary Network for Education (IPNEd)
In a conversation moderated by IPNEd’s Executive Director, Joseph Nhan-O’Reilly, parliamentarians from GPE donor and developing country partners reflect on the role they and their peers can play in improving the equity and quality of education to accelerate the achievement of SDG 4. Participants: Aroma Dutta MP - Member of the Parliament of Bangladesh Senator Fiona O'Loughlin - Member of the Parliament of Ireland
Imagining a gender-transformative education for climate justice
EmpoderaClima, Rise Up Movement, Plan International, Malala Fund, UK Committee for Unicef, Transform Education
This event provides space for young climate and education activists and education ministers to share their vision for a gender-transformative education for climate justice, and the practical steps needed to deliver this. Gender-transformative education is key to advancing climate and gender justice. It can equip girls with the skills and knowledge needed to tackle the climate crisis, claim and exercise their rights, and empower them to be leaders and decision-makers: challenging the systems and norms which reinforce gender and climate injustice around the world. A recent survey by Plan International on climate and education highlighted the gaps in the vision versus the reality. The survey report and recommendations, based on the insights and ideas from adolescents and youth, is launched at this event. We share a story on what a school day based on a gender transformative curriculum and pedagogy can look like; the evidence and recommendations highlighted by youth activists and what it means to them; and how this connects to national and global policies and financing. The event reflects on the G7 Girls’ Education Declaration, June Climate Change Conference, Generation Equality and look ahead to what GPE funding COP26 can advance.
Teach for the Planet: Students and Teachers Confront the Climate Crisis
Education International and Global Student Forum
Education has the potential to be a powerful tool to tackle the climate crisis. Join students and teachers from around the world for a dialogue with governments on quality climate education for all. What does it need to look like? How can it empower students for climate action? How do we harness the funding to make it happen everywhere?
Childhood Uninterrupted: Playing and Learning in a Pandemic
International Rescue Committee, LEGO Foundation, Sesame Workshop, BRAC, Plan International, War Child Holland
Children trying to access quality education in crisis contexts faced a double emergency when confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic. In this event, implementers working in humanitarian settings share how they adapted programs to continue to reach children and their caregivers through innovative approaches including high, low and no tech models. We highlight how we designed, tested, refined and implemented programs in distinct regions—Middle East, Latin America and East Africa—to ensure children and their families had access to play-based, quality opportunities to promote their social-emotional and academic learning despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 lockdowns. Presentations touch on the ways in which we ensured localization of content through partnerships, and quality through user-testing and human-centered design. We share important lessons on how program design and implementation can help all stakeholders to ensure quality learning opportunities during crisis and beyond.
I hear you! ESA youth dialogue on meaningful youth participation in emergencies
MIET AFRICA
In this side event, youth from four SADC countries discuss a recent research study that explored the experiences of young people during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly regarding their education and access to sexual and reproductive health services and supports. The youth discuss the imperative to include young people in decision-making processes around school closures and other social protection measures during health emergencies.
Overcoming Pandemic Losses in Girls' Education : UNDERSTANDING THE BARRIERS TO GIRLS SCHOOL RETURN
The Action Foundation, Girl Up Uganda, The Girls Foundation of Tanzania, Komera, Amplify Girls
In October 2020, AMPLIFY Girls undertook a four-country qualitative study in East Africa to hear from adolescent girls about the challenges they faced during the pandemic in both accessing learning and returning to school. Our findings are heartbreaking and also a siren call to the global community that we must take immediate action. Join us as we launch our global campaign to highlight our results and our localized approach to advocate for girls re-entry to school.
Responding to Continuous Disruptions to Education – Reflections and Solutions
Asia Pacific Learning and Education 2030+ Networking Group: UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO) and the Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA)
This side event would first present findings from the COVID-19 situation analysis on Education in Asia, highlighting commonalities and variations across sub-regions. Secondly, leveraging the collaborative work of the Networking Group at regional level, the proposed themes would include safely reopening schools, learning recovery and continuity of learning solutions. This would be contextualized by highlights of practices at country level presented by MoEs from selected countries.
Educational Research in times of COVID-19: challenges and lessons from the field
International Development Research Centre - Knowledge Information Exchange
In times of challenges of an unprecedented nature posed by COVID 19 in education systems, the demand for evidence to guide their decisions becomes urgent. GPE Knowledge Innovation Exchange and its partners have gathered relevant lessons and experiences from conducting relevant, high-quality, cross-country research in the Global South. The panel discusses what has been learned by KIX-supported research and knowledge mobilization initiatives, focusing on three aspects: - Design adaptations required to conduct field research in the context of the pandemic. - How Covid-19 has shifted policy priorities and disrupted research agendas. - How research funding and technical support mechanisms have adapted to the new reality.
Symposium on “Learning during and post-COVID-19 in Nepal”
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology; World Bank; FCDO; UNICEF and USAID
Like other countries in South Asia, widespread school closures and other disruptions to education due to COVID 19 are likely to have long-term impacts on the well-being and learning and earning potential of children in Nepal. These effects are anticipated to hit disadvantaged children the hardest, as they fall even further behind their peers. In response to this challenge, the Government of Nepal (GON) has rolled out multimodal learning programs during school closures and other periods of disruption, including provision of online, offline and printed learning materials to students and promotion of flexible learning approaches to help teachers cover core curriculum content in a shorter time. At the same time, the GON recognizes that high-technology approaches are likely to deepen educational inequities in a country where many households do not have access to radio, TV, and internet. A range of development partners have supported the GON’s efforts to stabilize education across the country, through alternative, catch-up learning approaches that utilize low- or no-tech solutions for some of the most educationally disadvantaged children. The objective of this symposium is to bring together key stakeholders to combine efforts and strategies towards mitigating learning losses due to prolonged school closures and inequitable access to technology-based learning. The timing for this symposium is opportune because it aligns with the GON’s efforts to finalize and begin implementing the next Education Sector Plan (2021-2030) in a context of ongoing ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, the symposium aims to inform Nepal’s contributions and commitments as part of the upcoming Global Education Summit, in which GPE recipient countries and donor nations affirm shared priorities for supporting equitable, quality education.
Raise your hand for better policies: how the new GPE operating model can help transform policy dialogue.
Education International
The COVID-19 pandemic not only posed new policy challenges to public education systems, but it also exacerbated long-standing ones. How can the GPE contribute to solving these complex policy puzzles? How can Local Education Groups break with “business as usual” and contribute to better education policies? How can we make the Partnership Compact be a trigger for system transformation? Ensuring education emerges stronger from this crisis is a task that can only be achieved collectively. It requires effective collaboration among governments, educators, civil society and the health sector. This event explores how the GPE’s new operating model can help transform policy dialogue and deliver on our ambitions for 2025.
Why is TAX Key for Financing Education and What Can GPE Do?
Tax and Education Alliance: ActionAid, Global Alliance for Tax Justice, Education International, Tax Justice Network, Global Campaign for Education
GPE prioritises domestic resource mobilisation but presently looks only at the share of budgets spent on education not the overall size of budgets. Why is working on tax crucial for education financing? What could and should GPE do concretely on linking tax and education - internationally, in developing countries and in donor countries? And how can we make this happen? Five GPE Board members from 2 partner countries, a donor, a multilateral and a CSO explore this with leading global figures on tax issues.
Domestic Financing for Education: Pushing Back on Debt and Austerity
ActionAid, Global Campaign for Education, Open Society Foundations
Countries that spend over 12% of national budgets on debt servicing have cut public spending in recent years – and the number of countries in this situation is rising, especially since COVID- 19. Indebted countries often turn to the IMF whose policies focus on fiscal consolidation – widely known as austerity. This impacts education financing, especially through freezing public sector wage bills. What can GPE & education advocates do to engage in strategic discussions on debt & austerity?
KPMG What Works – Domestic financing pathways towards access to education for all
KPMG and Ministry of Education Zanzibar
The session discusses domestic financing approaches and highlight strategic financial planning and budget execution pathways that widen access to affordable education services. Our experts share lessons learnt on how rolling audits, monitoring of financial and procurement processes, supported by capacity building initiatives, supports institutions to achieve value for money, allowing for investments to be redirected into improving education infrastructure.
Mobilising resources for education: the crucial role of Commonwealth countries
Commonwealth Partners for Education: Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), Commonwealth Consortium for Education (CCfE), Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Commonwealth Secretariat (CS), Council for Education in the Commonwealth (CEC), International Parliamentary Network for Education (IPNEd)
This panel discussion focuses on both the fundamentals of increasing public revenues, safeguarding education's share of these, and approaches to efficiency; and consideration of the scope for innovative parallel resource mobilization from communities and the private sector, as well as external resources, to benefit low- and middle-income Commonwealth countries and to recover post COVID-19 and build sustainably stronger education systems that can withstand future shocks. (Not live-streamed).
Domestic Philanthropy for Education and Gender Equality: Colombia & South Africa
OECD Centre on Philanthropy
Drawing upon the OECD Centre on Philanthropy’s recent studies on domestic philanthropy in Colombia and South Africa, this side event convene domestic and international foundations, policy makers and education practitioners to unpack the priorities and nature of domestic philanthropy for education and gender equality, identify its comparative advantages (as compared with international philanthropy and official development assistance), and explore partnership opportunities.
Free, public education for all - a Nordic Utopia?
Oxfam IBIS, Save the Children Norway, All-Africa Students Union, Norwegian Embassy in Ethiopia
The need to ensure adequate financing of education systems has never been more urgent. The Nordic countries are among the world leaders in education financing and place particular emphasis on public education systems for all children, regardless of their parents’ income or status. But is this simply a Nordic utopia or is there something the rest of the world can learn from the Nordic Countries or maybe something the Nordic countries can learn from the world?
Unlocking the power of parliamentarians to leverage more and better financing
International Parliamentary Network for Education (IPNEd)
In a conversation moderated by IPNEd’s Executive Director, Joseph Nhan-O’Reilly, parliamentarians from GPE donor and developing country partners reflect on the role they and their peers can play in securing greater resources for education. Participants: • Hon. Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga - Chair of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education in the Parliament of Zimbabwe • Ottmar von Holtz MdB - Chair of the Economic Cooperation and Development Committee in the German Bundestag
Read@Home: unlocking access to books
Early reading at home can help children arrive to school ready to learn. But despite the benefits, too many children have little to no experience of reading at home. And many families living in poverty do not have access to suitable learning materials in languages children understand. What can be done? Hosted by the World Bank’s Education team, this virtual event provides a fresh perspective on unlocking access to books at home, in communities, and at school. Focusing on ideas and solutions, this event features insights from speakers who are working to promote reading at home, share insights from the Read@Home initiative, and discuss how the World Bank is working to get reading and learning materials into the homes of hard-to-read families and address the procurement and distribution challenges that hold back efforts to promote reading.
Read@Home webpage
Reopening the future: Prioritizing pre-primary education
UNICEF, UNESCO, World Bank
This webinar advocates for the prioritization early childhood education in the COVID response-recovery. In this multi-perspective panel, we provide a snapshot of the situation; highlight the need to prioritize ECE using cost-of-inaction analyses; and showcase how countries have used the Global Guidance on Reopening ECE Settings, including adaptations for children with disabilities. We also address learning gaps and look towards the future in discussing the role of ECE bridge/catch-up programs.
The triple win of high-quality childcare; for early learning, girls’ education and women’s economic empowerment
UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO); Centre for Global Development; UNICEF; World Bank (Early Learning Partnership); Aga Khan Foundation; Echidna Giving
Early childhood development (ECD) is the foundation of educational outcomes throughout a child's life. High-quality early childhood services are essential for ensuring that young children are able to reach their developmental potential and thrive. If well designed, early childhood services can also provide benefits that are closely linked to the more proximate effects of early stimulation and learning: Helping to break intergenerational cycles of poverty; Reducing the burden of unpaid care on older girls and women, affording them more time to focus on educational opportunities; Facilitating employment opportunities for vulnerable groups, and; Helping to foster women’s economic empowerment and inclusive growth. In this event, international education policy-makers, researchers and practitioners come together to present evidence on the multi-dimensional benefits of early childhood development investment.
Scaling quality in early childhood education with results-based financing
The Education Outcomes Fund, the LEGO Foundation, UNICEF, the World Bank, Foundation for Community Work, FCDO, the City Administration of Addis Ababa
How results-based finance can support governments to scale high-quality, inclusive and beneficiary-centric early childhood programs and policy. We know broadly ‘what works’ to achieve high quality early learning and developmental outcomes for children. But how do we ensure that best practices are consistently adopted in complex systems with tens of thousands of pre-primary centers around the country, especially where non-state actors already play a significant role, and where government oversight is often limited? How can we close a large access gap, while maintaining high quality standards, at a time when both governments and households in lower- and middle-income countries are highly fiscally constrained? How can we deepen our engagement with households as allies and partners in achieving this? And how can we systematically generate and utilize more context-specific evidence to inform policy and practice? Results-based financing can be a powerful part of the 'toolkit’ to help achieve all of these aims. In this session, hear perspectives on the cutting edge of results-based financing for early learning from leading thinkers in the field, as well as perspectives from evaluation experts, funders, and governments looking to implement programs in this space.
#TogetherForLearning: Ensuring Quality Education for Refugee Children & Youth
Right To Play International, UNICEF, Global Affairs Canada, Refugee Education Council
Right To Play, UNICEF, Global Affairs Canada, Refugee Education Council. Join Amelie and Anojitha for a conversation with Canada’s Minister of International Development, The Honourable Karina Gould to discuss her commitment to education for refugee and displaced children and youth, and why Canada has made it a top policy priority. Reflecting on steps donors, like Canada, refugee-hosting country governments, and civil society can take to support access to safe, quality and inclusive education.
What opportunities lie ahead to strengthen disability-inclusive education?
World Bank
The World Bank’s Inclusive Education Initiative & Disability Inclusive Education in Africa Program seeks to address the complex task of operationalizing inclusive education in low-income country contexts. The TFs employ a unique approach to mainstreaming: funding small grants to facilitate catalytic change in larger WB's Investment Financing Projects, research, innovation, and global knowledge products to inform the inclusion of children with disabilities. The side session brings together stakeholders to critically engage in a discussion on how education systems can be supported to ensure no one is left behind.
Regional KIX Hubs: building ownership and knowledge exchange
Knowledge and Information Exchange IDRC
The sharing and exchange of demand-driven knowledge with and among GPE member countries is a crucial function of the four regional hubs set up by the GPE Knowledge Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX). Acting as knowledge brokers and connectors among country representatives and stakeholders, they help identify priorities and share evidence and innovations, informing regional debates on essential issues. This panel features representatives from the four KIX Regional Hubs. They compare and discuss how to increase the involvement in and ownership of the KIX initiative, identify and validate country policy priorities, and build capacity and foster exchange in times of limited mobility.
A Roadmap to Inclusive Early Childhood Care and Education
African Early Childhood Network Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN) Global Campaign for Education-US (GCE-US) International Parliamentary Network for Education Light for the World Save the Children UNICEF World Vision
This event highlights the importance of inclusive early learning for marginalized children, particularly those with disabilities. Join us for lessons learned in policy, financing, and implementation, including tools and examples from a variety of contexts that include adaptations made during COVID. A panel discussion and interactive activities allows participants to share experience and identify ways that promising practices can be replicated in different resource settings.
From commitments to action: Financing for equity and disability inclusion in education
Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, UNESCO World Bank, Education International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) International Disability Alliance (IDA) The Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Network Global Campaign for Education (GCE-US) / Inclusive Education and Early Childhood Community of Practice
Persons with disabilities are most at risk of exclusion and marginalisation within society and education. In 2020, the situation has deteriorated even further resulting in more than an estimated 32 million children with disabilities being out of school. Various reports released recently point to weaknesses in government policy, planning and budgeting. This session aims at exploring a number of strategies to ensure that the vision outlined in Article 24 of the UNCRPD, as well as SDG 4, is attained such as: · Highlighting the findings of the GEM 2020 Report on how countries develop policy, sector plans and budgets for inclusive education and gaps in data systems – presented by UNESCO GEM Team · Challenges and limitations encountered by INGOs in the implementation of donor funded development projects that could only be addressed through large scale systemic reform on the part of governments – presentation by IDDC IETG and GLAD Network · Country case study presentations by ministerial representatives that demonstrate successful inclusive budget, policy and sector planning – Ethiopia, Ghana, Latin American country (TBC). · Overview of impact of the pandemic on education budgets and how this could be mitigated through more cost-effective and inclusive government budgeting and targeted development aid – presentation by World Bank, Education representative · Short and long-term impact of lack of educational support on quality of life and economic independence of individuals with disability – presented by a person with disability/self-advocate
Leave no one behind: Financing Inclusive education for Girls and Children with disabilities
ActionAid and ANCEFA.
The event focuses on the issues that affect the provision of inclusive education with a view to identify positive steps that governments and other stakeholders can take to really ensure that no child is left behind. The event includes the following:
- Presentations by learners from different countries sharing their experiences of education- including during the current pandemic;
- A panel discussion including high-level decision-makers, experts and civil society representatives who respond to learners’ testimonials and outline clear recommendations for action.
HOW CAN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTE TO PEACE BUILDING?
Education Above All Foundation (EAA) and Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO)
This event consists of a panel of experts with backgrounds in peace-building, law and education. Panelists provide thought leadership on how education can contribute to building long-lasting peace and harmonious co-existence, within and between countries. In this moderated event, each expert deliver prepared remarks, offering their views on the contribution of education in support of peace building followed by interaction among the panelists and an open Q&A session. Key session elements are: Education is a contributor to peace building and long lasting peace; Relationships between education and legal and policy aspects as key ingredients to peace building are explored; and • Examples of education as one tool for peace building are presented. Expected outcomes of the event are: Education is highlighted as a contributor to peace building and long lasting peace; Relationships between education and legal and policy aspects as key ingredients to peace building are explored; and Examples of education as one tool for peace building are presented. Both Education Above All (EAA) foundation as well as the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) have lead efforts in both financing education and peacebuilding. Additionally, recently FCDO announced a £12 million package to help the UN tackle conflict globally.
Getting girls into and back to school
Commonwealth of Learning
The session takes the form of a panel discussion followed by an open discussion. Each panelist is invited to make a short 10-min presentation. The discussion is then be opened to participants for comments and questions. The panelists each make short closing remarks. Participants are invited to submit short action plans after the event which COL might be able to help develop into projects that could be supported to get more girls into, or back into, schooling.
Transforming Social Norms to End Child Marriage and Advance Girls’ Education
UN Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) and Girls Not Brides
Child marriage serves as a barrier to education for many girls, yet ending child marriage and transforming social norms are rarely explicit education goals. There is a need to share available research and promote evidence-based advocacy to inform programming, research, funding, and decision-making. In the context of global disruption to education due to COVID-19, the Global Education Summit presents an important opportunity to influence the global agenda on gender equality in education. In this context, UNGEI and Girls Not Brides are joining forces to learn and exchange around the social and gender norms which serve as barriers to girls’ education in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on child marriage.
A multi stakeholder approach in educating girls in vulnerable situations
Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), Southern Africa SRHR Trust (SAT), Plan International AULO, Rozaria Memorial Trust (RMT); AU/CIEFFA
FAWE, Southern Africa SRHR Trust, Plan International AULO, Rozaria Memorial Trust; AU/CIEFFA. Scenarios for girls education, their ability to concentrate, perform well and complete their studies in all levels of education. It sheds light on the current policy gaps especially in Africa in addressing barriers such as child marriage, teenage pregnancies, conflict and violation of sexual reproductive health rights.
Real Talk: Teachers and Young People as Drivers of Change on CSE and SRGBV.
Plan International, Transform Education, UNGEI, UNESCO, Education International
Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) reinforces healthy and positive values about bodies, puberty, relationships, sex and family life. It helps keep children safe from abuse by teaching them about their bodies and the concept of consent, how to identify what violence against children and women looks like, including sexual violence, and to understand injustice based on gender. When delivered well, it promotes health and well-being, respect for human rights and gender equality, and empowers children and young people to uphold universal values of equality, respect and kindness. In the two intergenerational dialogues, teachers and young people from Africa and South America reflect together on recent commitments made by the G7 leaders and Generation Equality processes, highlight what works from their perspectives and how school stakeholders can work hand in hand with governments to advance CSE as one of the powerful ways towards eliminating school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV). The session is moderated by a young activist and begins with a few framing words by an expert organization. Following the dialogue, a government representative share closing thoughts and reflections on the way forward. The session concludes with a spoken word poem with a call to action by a young activist.
Increasing Aid for Girls’ Education & Family Planning in West African Sahel
University of California, Berkeley; Ouagadougou Partnership Coordination Unit; L’Initiative OASIS Niger; Centre for Girls Education
Two recommendations for investment draw on successful programs: 1. Promote girls’ education to prevent child marriage, delay childbearing, and improve women’s economic opportunities 2. Strengthen the quality and availability of family planning services Increasing overseas investment in these two strategies can help to mitigate the Sahel’s security and humanitarian crises and to leverage sustainable development in the region.
Education and Safety: Listening to what ‘Build Back Better’ means for girls
World Vision UK; Girls Not Brides; Malaika; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
The event features girls’ priorities for building a better future in the aftermath of Covid-19, particularly on education and ending gender-based violence. A panel of 3 youth advocates from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe introduce the challenges they face in schools and communities, proposing solutions to Summit participants. Co-hosts Girls Not Brides, Malaika, World Vision and the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office join in a dialogue with the youth advocates.
Launch of a New Global Report: 10 Key Priorities for Delivering Girls’ Education Programs in Fragile Contexts
Aga Khan Foundation
The event brings together key stakeholders in girls' education to engage in the launch of a new report, Delivering girls’ education where the risks are high: 10 Key Priorities for programming in fragile contexts. Invitees participated in the March 2021 global conference about 'Girls' Education in Fragile Contexts' and others interested in understanding practical recommendations about how best to design future girls’ education programs in increasingly fragile contexts. The event goes through each of the 10 key priorities and invite key stakeholders to reflect and showcase why these priorities are important for their respective contexts and programs. The report includes inputs from the FCDO, USAID, Aga Khan Foundation, Save the Children, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, ActionAid, Plan International, and more civil society and non-governmental organizations that reflect updated recommendations about what is important when considering future directions for girls’ education in fragile contexts. The report was prepared by Better Purpose, in collaboration with the Aga Khan Foundation and participants from the March 2021 Girls’ Education in Fragile Context conference.
Artists as key influencers in getting more girls to school post-COVID-19
Leonard Cheshire; Sightsavers; World Bank; GCE–US; UNGEI; GPE
African Union/International Centre for Girls & Women's Education in Africa (AU/CIEFFA) and UNGEI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPldTZhsLtM Gender equality Gender responsive and disability inclusive education for all Leonard Cheshire, Sightsavers, GPE, the World Bank, GCE-US, and UN Girls Education Initiative (UNGEI) showcase examples of education models and finance mechanisms that ensure girls with disabilities access quality education and remain in school. We discuss the barriers and opportunities to their learning, and agree a set of recommendations for key stakeholders to take forward to the Global Education Summit to ensure their inclusion in education planning.Financing Youth & Student Education Agenda’s
GCE, Transform Education, UNGEI, Global Student Forum, ESU, SAIH
GCE, Transform Education, UNGEI, Global Student Forum, ESU, SAIH. The "Financing youth & student education agenda's" event seeks to showcase, amplify and engage the power & voice of youth, adolescents, and student activism globally. Showcasing work done and centering future's thinking into our dialogue toward creating more equitable, inclusive, and gender-transformative education systems is a potential that will be explored further through this event.
Child marriage and girls’ education: A global perspective and a unified call to action
Child marriage violates girls’ rights to health, education and opportunity. Keeping girls in school – especially secondary school – is one of the best ways of preventing child marriage, while similarly, child marriage is one of the main factors leading girls to drop out of school in many countries. Following the publication of Girls Not Brides new report on child marriage and girls’ education, this session explores the global state of child marriage and its relation to girls’ education. Participants learn valuable insights from civil society on the cross-regional challenges and lessons from Africa, Asia and Latin America, whilst also considering the impact of COVID-19 restrictions. To change the lives of countless girls through increasing access to education, giving them the skills to flourish and thus reduce their risk of child marriage, we need decision makers to act now. This session brings together these regional perspectives to explore the key actions we need to bring to the attention of world leaders to get girls into school, keep girls in school, and make sure that school is a safe place to be.
Girls’ Education Day at GES: 10 Events Ensuring All Girls Can Go to School
FCDO Girls’ Education Challenge, PwC, Cambridge Education, Nathan Associates, Social Development Direct, ActionAid, Aga Khan Foundation, ANCEFA, Commonwealth of Learning, Girls not Brides, Leonard Cheshire, Malaika, Mercy Corps, PLAN International UK, World Vision, FAWE (TBC) and UNGEI (TBC)
Educating girls reaps huge dividends for gender equality, economic prosperity, climate resilience, public health and political stability - but over 129 million girls are out of school worldwide. The FCDO’s Girls’ Education Challenge is convening Girls’ Education Day at the GES to address this issue. It brings together many events featuring partners from government, the UN, academia and I/NGOs presenting evidence and recommendations to ensure that all girls can go to school in a post-COVID world.
Gender transformative education: The Key to Achieving a More Just and Inclusive World
Plan International, UNGEI and UNICEF
This event launches a joint Plan International, UNGEI and UNICEF brief on Gender Transformative Education and involve a dialogue between donors, educationalists and young people. We unpack gender transformative education, a concept that has emerged as an approach, an objective, and a call to action for comprehensive reform in a context where education, in its current design, is not reaching its transformative potential.
Joining Forces to End Violence in and through Schools
Safe to Learn Partners (GPE, Civil Society Forum, Global Business Coalition for Education, UNICEF, Global Affairs Canada, UNESCO, Education Cannot Wait, UNSRG Violence Against Children, UNGEI, Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, The World Bank, Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (UK FCDO), World Health Organization) End Violence Investors Forum
No girl or boy can learn to their potential if they feel threatened or are abused. Safe to Learn shares ground-breaking research from the World Bank highlighting the negative impact of violence in and around school on learning outcomes, and the case for investing in a gender transformative and inclusive approach to violence prevention. The session explores how the latest evidence can translate into progress in the face of the multidimensional challenges of eliminating violence in schools.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Impact on inclusive education
World Learning, Inc; The UDL Approach; Global Campaign for Education (GCE); Including Disability in Education in Africa (IDEA); The University of Cape Town, South Africa; Inclusion International; Inclusive Development Partners; International Disability Alliance; Johns Hopkins School of Education
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has gained international attention as a promising framework for reducing barriers to education for all. This session shares practical insights from classrooms, communities, policymakers, and researchers on the real-world impact of UDL. Participants have the opportunity to engage in deeper discussion on specific areas of interest via breakout sessions. Participants may contribute to a Call to Action paper to guide continued UDL implementation efforts.
The Fight for Education in Africa with Isaac Chamberlain and Sedem Ama
Avanti Communications
Professional boxers Isaac Chamberlain and Sedem Ama host Avanti Communications and education partners for a round table discussion on how technology can enable access to education and improve learning outcomes using a case study from Kenya, East Africa.
Let's talk about education: educational quality for the most vulnerable
Asociación para una Sociedad más Justa (ASJ) y Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana (UNITEC)
ASJ and UNITEC educational proposal is based on educational coverage, quality of learning, education financing and institutional management. The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have excluded 1.3 million children and young people out of 3 million of school age in Honduras. Ministry of Education authorities proposed the virtual methodology for students to stay connected, however, 60% do not have access to the internet, that is, 1,014,598 of enrolled students are not receiving virtual or face-to-face classes. 76% of the enrolled students are receiving less than 5 hours of classes per week, which represents 20% of the time that must be received in a normal academic year. The Honduran state should invest in educational infrastructure a minimum amount of one hundred million dollars and given that the total deficit of investment in infrastructure is one thousand three hundred million dollars, a period of thirteen years is determined to renew the current park of educational centers. ASJ has evaluated the institutional management of the Ministry of Education, in the areas of Purchasing and Contracting, Human Resources and Management by Results, documenting 17% of compliance with the regulations for the baseline. To continue advocating before the local authorities, the ASJ has joined forces with the Central American Technological University (UNITEC), a private institution of higher education created on December 17, 1986 with the purpose of becoming an alternative for university training, both for its innovative academic offer as well as its proposal and educational model. This alliance is expected to strengthen research, proposal creation and advocacy for the transformation of the education sector in Honduras.
Aligning national, regional and global education targets: benchmarks for SDG 4
Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, UNESCO and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
This high-level event features the voices of education policy makers and representatives from international organizations tasked with supporting governments to implement, monitor and report on education policies and sector plans to achieve SDG 4. Speakers share insights on the process of setting new regional benchmarks, the upcoming work on setting national benchmarks and their alignment with education sector plans, and the future use of benchmarks for reporting, filling data gaps, and promoting policy dialogue within countries and between countries.
High impact domestic financing: evidence, equity, efficiency
Education Development Trust, British Council, FCDO
With finite resources, education policymakers must consider more than quality research-based evidence to maximise return on investment. Also vital: infrastructure for data; contextualised evidence; insights for frontline staff; and collaborative reflection on practice. During this event, experts consider how to use evidence to drive efficiency and equity, drawing from examples such as Sierra Leone’s Education Data Hub, the Girls’ Education Challenge, and Building Learning Foundations.
Expanding Measurement of Holistic Skills: Why, What, How
LEGO Foundation, Jacobs Foundation
To pursue GPE's vision for whole child development we look to learn from panelists working globally: Zizi Afrique Foundation, University of Notre Dame, Cambridge University, World Bank, Ministry of Education Ghana, Aga Khan Foundation, and ACER/Oxford. We’ll learn what holistic skills they are measuring, how, implications for policy and practice, discuss barriers and how to come together as a community to address them. The session offers real tools and options to include and measure holistic skills.
Reimagining Education: The role of technology in addressing education challenges
UNICEF, The World Bank, EdTech Hub
This session highlights operationalization of the Reimagine Education partnership with a focus on country-level EdTech programs, global public goods, & co-creation with governments. UNICEF & the WB provide an overview of the joint ambition to reach children with quality digital learning solutions; Ministers of Education reflect on national priorities; EdTech Hub provides perspectives on coordinated TA to program countries; partners share technical insights.
To get children learning, more money is necessary but not sufficient
Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) Program
Many countries struggle to translate schooling into learning. In response, most reforms aim to finance more educational inputs. Yet research from the RISE Program shows that adding more money and inputs into a system that is designed for a purpose other than learning may not be helpful. This event focuses on addressing key misalignments that prevent education systems from focusing on learning, thus ensuring that future investments in education go further toward ending the learning crisis.
Improving Learning Through Data: The Learning Data Compact
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, The World Bank, UNICEF
Attaining SDG4 targets was off-track before 2020. This challenge has only become bigger with COVID-19. To help countries recover the learning losses accumulated during the pandemic, UNESCO, The World Bank and UNICEF have launched a “Learning Data Compact” (LDC) – a menu of evidence-based methodologies, tools, and solutions developed by and with developing countries. The virtual event presents a discussion of how the LDC can ensure that all countries have quality learning data by 2025.
Improving Learning Outcomes for Children Furthest Behind
RELI (Regional Education Learning Initiative)
RELI is network of education actors from across East Africa, collectively focused on improving learning outcomes. For this event, RELI Kenya host a conversation amongst members on persistent barriers to improved learning outcomes, and hear innovative member-driven solutions from the grass roots that are working to address these barriers. Members present their innovations, share impact and insights with attendees, and discuss the potential replicability and scale of those innovations.
Why foundational learning is key to building forward better
Save the Children and the ONE Campaign
Prior to the pandemic, the world was facing a learning crisis. 90% of children in low-income countries could not read and understand a simple story by their 10th birthday. COVID-19 has only exacerbated these challenges. Why must foundational literacy be a key pillar in our efforts to build forward better? What can be done to mitigate further lost learning and ensure we get SDG4 back on track? What will be the legacy of the pandemic on the young generation if we don't see a fully financed GPE and strong funding commitments from GPE Developing Country Partners?Strengthening Data Systems and Utilization in the Education Sector: Lessons Learned from Three KIX Co-Funded Multi-Country Research Efforts
International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Knowledge Innovation and Exchange (KIX), UNICEF, and University of Oslo’s Health Information Systems Program (HISP) Strengthening Data Systems and Utilization in the Education Sector
The main objective of the event is to explore the co-creation of multi-country education research projects, capable of accelerating the design and uptake of more reliable data systems and ensure greater country-level data-informed decision-making. This will be achieved through analyzing three ongoing KIX co-funded research projects, that have been designed hand-in-hand with in-country partners (including Ministries of Education) during the global COVID-19 health pandemic. Additionally, the three projects presented are being implemented across continents and countries, creating global public good applicable in various contexts. This event contributes important knowledge and “know-how” to several ongoing global education discussions such as: (i) How to co-create and co-implement large-scale education research with Ministries of Education, local academics, and in-country partners? (ii) What are some of the best practices and lessons learned from coordinating multi-country education research across contexts? (iii) How can research play a vital role in ensuring strengthening of Education data systems and utilization for more data-informed decision-making? and (iv) How has the COVID-19 global health pandemic impacted the three research projects presented and what are some of the mitigation strategies put in place? Which ones worked and why?
Why Human Centered Design (HCD) is important for achieving SDG4 by 2030 – the global launch of the free, open-source Schools2030 HCD Toolkit for teachers
Aga Khan Foundation in collaboration with Schools2030’s founding donors and partners. LEGO Foundation, Ikea Foundation, Oak Foundation, Porticus, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, Jacobs Foundation, Dubai Cares, Itau Social Foundation.
Schools2030 is a 10-year participatory action research & learning improvement program. Using HCD, Schools2030 is equipping educators across 10 countries & 1000 schools with foundational design skills to amplify their work & improve the learning outcomes of students. Our documentary showcases the Schools2030 HCD Toolkit up close: why it was created, who is behind it & how it is engaging teachers and learners across the globe in a classroom-driven process to catalyze educational change.
How to apply Smart Buys evidence in country education investment decisions?
FCDO, World Bank, Young 1ove (Botswana), Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP)
This session is based on the Smart Buys note, i.e., recommendations from the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP), an independent body consisting of leading researchers and policymakers from around the globe, including a Nobel prize winner, who have created the note based on evidence that is supported by cost information: https://bit.ly/3qLVN4W. In the aftermath of COVID-19, this information is more crucial than ever for education investment decisions.
Towards a Global Declaration on Connectivity for Education
UNESCO and Dubai Cares
This event overviews substantive elements of the Global Declaration on Connectivity for Education. The Declaration, developed through a partnership between UNESCO and Dubai Cares and guided by a twenty-person advisory group, will be launched at the December 2021 RewirEd Summit in Dubai. During the event, UNESCO introduces the three principles in the Declaration and the commitments that underlie each principle. Speakers discuss ideas about how to operationalize the Declaration principles in countries at different levels of development. They share examples of promising practices that could be instructive for other municipalities, countries and regions. Finally, speakers share ideas about the relationship between connectivity and examinations, an area UNESCO is exploring in partnership with Dubai Cares. UNESCO quickly explains strategies used to block connectivity for purposes of examination—ranging from countrywide internet shutdown to the use of remote proctoring software—to explore how to reconcile a global push for universal connectivity for education with wholesale prohibitions on connectivity for the purposes of assessing educational achievement during formal examinations.
Translating CSE Commitments into Action: strategies to successfully implement CSE
Plan International UK, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (to be confirmed), UNFPA, MSI Reproductive Choices, SheDecides
Comprehensive Sexuality Education is essential to realising the sexual and reproductive health and rights of children, adolescents and young people and to support 12 years of quality education. There has been considerable momentum on improving access to and implementation of CSE, within schools and in out-of-school settings and across development and humanitarian settings. This session explores strategies that governments can use to successfully implement CSE and achieve buy-in.
The best investment – Supporting teachers in COVID-19 recovery and beyond
International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030
Around the world, not only are there not enough teachers, but large numbers have not received sufficient training and lack minimum qualifications. The side event presents the findings of new research, including estimations on global and regional teacher shortages and the costs needed to support teachers in the aftermath of the crisis. It presents promising practices on how to create space in domestic budgets and leverage international funds to support quality teaching and learning.
Spanish version
School Leadership for Quality Teaching
Dignitas
Dignitas hosts a panel of peers to discuss the role of school leaders as agents of change in transforming and supporting improved teaching practice. Panelists explore how school leaders can support improved pedagogy, learner engagement and classroom culture; all core components of quality teaching. Panelists offer perspective from Nigeria, Kenya and India as they share impact and insights from each context. The event includes an opportunity to hear from school leaders and teachers themselves.
Strengthening Support for Teachers in Crisis Contexts: Promising and innovative practices in teacher professional development
Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) The LEGO Foundation, Education International, Oxfam, UNESCO, the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030.
The Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies’ (INEE) Teachers in Crisis Contexts (TiCC) Collaborative, in partnership with the LEGO Foundation, Oxfam, UNESCO, the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030, and Education International, is proposing a 90-minute side event titled “Strengthening Support for Teachers in Crisis Contexts through Quality Teacher Professional Development.” It provides education in emergencies actors with the opportunity to share promising practices for improving and sustaining quality and innovative teacher professional development across a range of crisis-affected and displacement settings. The event has four parts. First, an evidence-based overview of effective teacher professional development is provided. Next, pre-recorded teachers’ stories are presented to amplify teachers’ lived experiences and center their needs. Then, case studies about promising approaches to teacher professional development efforts in crisis-affected contexts are shared. And finally, implications for donor policy and research are discussed. The case study presenters evaluate how their respective approaches have been adapted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve high-level engagement and an impactful experience, we utilize a range of interactive, virtual pedagogical techniques for this session.
What role can Education play in positive youth development (PYD) and soft skills development?
YouthPower2: Learning and Evaluation/USAID-funded project; University of Arizona; OneAfricanChild Foundation
Research has proven the value of PYD in workforce development settings, with soft skills being recognized as an important component and used by employers as criteria when hiring youth. However, traditionally, education organizations in LMICs have not paid much attention to providing these skills. This session provides a brief overview of what PYD is; how soft skills relate to PYD; what we know about the needs for soft skills and gaps, and what PYD means for Education (incl. examples).