UN General Assembly Puts Important Focus on Education
September 23, 2022
Every year, leaders of the 193 United Nations Member States gather for the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to discuss the most pressing issues of the day, attempt to peacefully resolve disputes among countries, craft policies and resolutions for the coming year, and elect new members during a week-long event in New York City (NYC). Although invited guests are primarily heads of state and UN agency leaders, a plethora of high-level side meetings—not only in New York but also online—invite NGOs, foundations, and other social-good organizations to contribute to the conversation. JA was there.
Top of mind this week was the war in Ukraine, food shortages, inflation, and the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussions of COVID repercussions—and the nearly 150 million children who missed more than half of their normal education instruction—drove education to the forefront and, for the first time in UNGA history, the UN Secretary-General convened a Transforming Education Summit to focus on Global Goal 4 in five tracks:
Inclusive, equitable, safe, and healthy schools
Learning and skills for life, work, and sustainable development
Teachers, teaching, and the teaching profession
Digital learning and transformation
Financing of education
During the summit, more than 130 countries committed to “rebooting their education systems and accelerating action to end the learning crisis.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres released the Secretary-General’s Vision Statement that sets a path for education over the next several decades. UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown launched the International Financing Facility for Education (IFFEd), which pledges $2 billion in education funding, with support of governments and development banks. Read the UN press release.
The SDG Knowledge Hub has a summary of the Transforming Education Summit and its additional announcements, a few of which we’ve reprinted, just below:
Gateways to Public Digital Learning, a global multi-partner initiative to create and strengthen inclusive digital learning platforms and content, launched by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Commitment to Action on Education in Crisis Situations, seeking to transform education systems to better prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from crises
Greening Education Partnership aims to prepare learners to “acquire the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes to tackle climate change and to promote sustainable development”
Following the Transforming Education Summit, our CEO, Asheesh Advani, was invited to serve as Chair of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Education 4.0 Alliance Meeting, which is a multi-stakeholder coalition of governments, businesses, and NGOs focused on future skills for youth, hosted by the WEF. A few days later at the Civil Society Leaders session organized by the WEF, Asheesh discussed how JA's scale enables us to work toward a more equitable and prosperous world. Central Park’s iconic Tavern on the Green was made over into a “Goals House” (a community of internationally renowned activists, thinkers, political figures, business leaders, and entrepreneurs who come together at global events to plan a sustainable and inclusive future); Asheesh spoke during one of the 40+ panels, events, and discussions hosted at the house. In addition, Asheesh was invited to serve on the Global Leadership Council of Generation Unlimited, a global public-private youth partnership anchored at UNICEF, which met during UNGA week.
Brandie Conforti, our Global Chief Development Officer, served on a panel to discuss next generation of leaders in impact. Meanwhile, Caroline Jenner, our Chief Operating Officer, keynoted the UNGA High-Level Side Event on Social Business, Youth and Technology, during which she shared how JA alumni are working toward the UN Global Goals. JA executive staff also had the opportunity to attend high-level side meetings on education offered by the Brookings Institution (thanks to two of our board members, Gus Schmedlen and Rebecca Winthrop), Devex, and more. In addition, JA was offered free entry into Fast Company’s Innovation Festival (thanks to our recent “Best Workplaces for Innovation” listing), which was also taking place in NYC this week.
Most meetings were closed, but as we receive videos of the ones that were open, we’ll post them here.