7th GCE World Assembly Press Release

14 November 2022

ATTENTION ALL MEDIA HOUSES! 

The Future of Education Reimagined

 7th Global Campaign for Education World Assembly 

22 – 24 November 2022, Birchwood Hotel & OR Tambo Conference Centre

44 Viewpoint Road, Boksburg, South Africa

Speakers 

The official opening, Refat Sabbah, GCE President.

Keynote address, Deputy President, Republic of South Africa, Rt Honourable David Mabuza (TBC)

High-Level Representatives  

Angie Motshekga, Minister of Basic Education, South Africa

Dr Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, South Africa

Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations

Yasmin Sherif, Executive Director, Education Cannot Wait 

Diana Ayala, GCE Youth and Student Activist

Rob Jerkins, Director, Education and Adolescent Development, UNICEF 

Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO (Video message)

Charles North, Interim GPE Chief Executive Officer, Global Partnership for Education Leonardo Garnier, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Transforming Education Summit (United Nations)  

View full programme 

Media contact/accreditation: Philani Ndebele, Communication Officer, philani@campaignforeducation.org, +27 64 045 8191. 

The biggest education movement, the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), is convening its members, partners, and progressive education experts, activists, and journalists from around the world for its 7th World Assembly. South Africa plays a significant geopolitical role in shaping and redefining work promoting the right to free, inclusive, and quality education. 

The 7th World Assembly takes place at a critical moment. The COVID-19 pandemic deepened the challenges around fulfilling the human right to education, leaving millions out of school and threatening the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) and the overall Sustainable Development Agenda. Similarly, millions of people have been and continue to be displaced due to war and conflict, climate change-related disasters worldwide, and resources dedicated to improving education continue to dwindle. 

“As the GCE movement, we are going to address key issues and challenges that education is encountering and come up with ways to contribute to resolving these issues.” GCE Global Coordinator Grant Kasowanjete stated 

Therefore, the 7th World Assembly offers civil society and government representatives, education experts, activists, and journalists an opportunity to discuss and debate pressing and emerging issues, agree on and clarify collective positions, learn from and exchange with each other, and set priorities and direction for the global education movement.

The 7th World Assembly will convene over 180 delegates from over 130 countries, comprising representatives from grassroots organisations, teachers’ unions, children’s and youth rights organisations, NGOs, parent associations, youth and student groups, and community groups. 

The multi-day event will also focus on strengthening the education movement, adopting a new strategic plan for the GCE movement, and bringing in new leadership to provide refreshed leadership for the movement. 

The Future of Education Reimagined #EducationReImagined

About GCE 

The Global Campaign for Education represents the voice of civil society in education policy spaces and processes worldwide. Our members advocate and campaign together for a free, inclusive, and quality education without discrimination or bias, promote lifelong learning, and adequately value and invest in teachers.

Founded in 1999 during the World Education Forum in Dakar with the purpose of providing a unified platform that coordinates civil society voices on education, we are a global movement that comprises national education coalitions from around the world as well as international and regional organisations. All our constituencies advocate for quality public education for all. Our mission is to promote and defend free, public quality education as a basic human right and mobilise public pressure.

About the 7th GCE World Assembly

The World Assembly is the movement’s governing body. Every four years, all GCE members gather to vote on the movement’s future. The 7th World Assembly takes place from 22–24 November in Johannesburg, South Africa, and plays a major role in ensuring that GCE members truly own and lead the movement.