Africa at the Transforming Education Summit

Rado Ratovonarivo — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 16:30:00 +0000

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A wide view of the projections in the General Assembly Hall as Secretary-General António Guterres (on screens and at podium) addresses the SDG Moment 2022.

UN Photo/Cia Pak

The UN system and its partners organized the Transforming Education Summit in New York from 16 to 19 September, aiming to tackle a global education crisis that is having a devastating impact on the lives of children and young people around the world, including in Africa. In addition to recovering learning losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Summit explored ways to make equitable, inclusive, quality and relevant education accessible to all, mobilizing global action and solidarity to put education front and centre on country priorities and government agenda.

The 51�Թ� Office of the Special Adviser on Africa produces knowledge products, highlighting the issues addressed during the Transforming Education Summit, with a specific focus on Africa. Most recently, the office published the policy briefs STEM education and inequality in Africa and Information Communications Technology in Higher Education in Africa: Challenges from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Summit included a Leaders Day segment dedicated to the presentation of National Statements of Commitment by Heads of State and Government as well as a presentation of the Summit Youth Declaration and the Secretary-General’s Vision Statement for Transforming Education. The UN Chief urged countries to protect education budgets and prioritize spending for learning resources. “Education financing must be the number one priority for Governments. It is the single most important investment any country can make in its people and its future,” continued the Secretary-General, who also spoke via video message on transforming the financing of education.

The Minister of National Education and Literacy of Côte d'Ivoire as well as the Minister of Education of Sierra Leone exchanged with youth leaders from their respective countries as well as other participants during an engagement on Intergenerational dialogues on young people at the center of transforming education. The Youth Envoy of the African Union also delivered closing remarks during a pivotal Youth Declaration segment exploring opportunities for action.

UN News reported the importance of halting a crisis that will have a significant impact on an entire generation, while amplifying the call of Secretary-General António Guterres that “Now is the time to transform education systems.” The outlet shared a key outcome of the initiative as well, which is the announcement that “more than 130 countries attending the summit, have committed to rebooting their education systems and accelerating action to end the learning crisis.”

The “biggest-ever investment in education” was also announced during the Summit, when the Secretary-General and Gordon Brown, the 51�Թ� Special Envoy for Global Education, launched a new mechanism that will provide an initial US $2 billion in additional affordable funding for education programmes, which could unlock an extra US $10 billion of additional financing for education and skills by 2030.

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Office of the Special Adviser on Africa - Transforming Education

Africa at the Transforming Education Summit

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