This meeting is a precursor to the Transforming Education Summit (TES), to be held in September at the UN General Assembly in New York. This high-level summit was convened by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Manuel de Oliveira Gutierrez to radically change the approach to education systems after COVID-19 - especially for the most marginalized learners who are facing severe learning losses.
The meeting will focus on 5 key areas of transformation: Schools, Life-long quality learning, Teachers, Connectivity and Financing education.
A Youth-led Global Engagement Day will precede the pre-Summit on 28 June, bringing together youth from around the world to center young voices in the conversation and provide opportunities for their perspectives on transforming education to be heard and acted on.
Participants in the Pre-Summit will include heads of State of Ethiopia and Sierra Leone; 140 Ministers and Vice-Ministers of Education; UNESCO Director-General Audrey; EU Commissioner for International Cooperation Junta; Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed; UNICEF Executive Director Catherine M. Russell; Summit Special Advisor Leonardo Garnier; Co-chair of the Advisory Committee David; Youth activists; Champions of education, and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Sal if Trader.
Further, in 2020, 43 bilateral donors decreased their aid to education, while households in the poorest countries are picking up 39 per cent of the total cost of education compared to just 16 per cent in high-income countries, according to a report released today by the World Bank, UNESCO's Global Education Report and UNESCO's Institute for Statistics.
"As the world slowly and painfully emerges from the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, which deeply affected education, and exactly midway through the 15-year period allocated to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the time is right to take stock of where the world is with the Sustainable Education Goal--and to act," it added.
UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It seeks to build peace through international cooperation in education, sciences and culture. UNESCO's program contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals defined in the 2030 Agenda, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015.
As early as 1942, in wartime, the governments of the European countries, which were confronting Nazi Germany and its allies, met in the United Kingdom for the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education (CAME). World War II was far from over, yet those countries were looking for ways and means to rebuild their education systems once peace was restored. The project quickly gained momentum and soon acquired a universal character. New governments, including that of the United States, decided to join in. Upon the proposal of CAME, a United Nations Conference for the establishment of an educational and cultural organization, ECO, was convened in London from 1 to 16 November 1945. Scarcely had the war ended when the conference opened. It gathered together representatives of forty-four countries who decided to create an organization that would embody a genuine culture of peace. In their eyes, the new organization was to establish the “intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind” and thereby prevent the outbreak of another world war.
In this spirit, UNESCO develops educational tools to help people live as global citizens free of hate and intolerance. UNESCO works to ensure that every child and every citizen has access to quality education. By promoting cultural heritage and the equal dignity of all cultures, UNESCO strengthens the bonds between nations. UNESCO fosters scientific program and policies as platforms for development, and cooperation. UNESCO stands up for freedom of expression, as a fundamental right and a key condition for democracy and development. As a laboratory of ideas, UNESCO helps countries to adopt international standards and manages program that foster the free flow of ideas and the exchange of knowledge.
UNESCO's founding vision was born in response to a world war marked by racist and anti-Semitic violence. Seventy years later and many liberation struggles later, UNESCO’s mandate is more relevant than ever. Cultural diversity is under attack and new forms of intolerance, rejection of scientific facts and threats to freedom of expression challenge peace and human rights. In response, UNESCO's duty remains to reaffirm the humanist missions of education, science and culture.
UNESCO's global priorities are Africa and Gender Equality. As such, UNESCO and development partners are attentive to 54 African countries with a stronger and better targeted strategy. The African Renaissance is underway, with the adoption of the African Union's Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, paving the ground for the African Economic Community.
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