Events

On Saturday 26 September, the United Nations Secretary General’s Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) will hold a high level event that celebrates the achievements of GEFI and its partners in advancing the global education agenda. The event, "#EducationFirst for Sustainable Development", will provide a platform for partners, Champion Countries and Youth Advocates to meet at the UN headquarters in New York during the High Level Summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will speak alongside the Heads of State from some of GEFI’s Champion Countries and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi. The event will reaffirm that inclusive and equitable, quality education for all is not only a basic human right but is at the heart of sustainable development. In September 2012, Ban Ki-moon launched GEFI with the aim of strengthening political will for education and generating sufficient global investment in education through sustained global advocacy efforts. Over the past three years GEFI has been working with a wide range of partners to ensure that every child goes to school, receives a quality education, and develops as global citizens. The international education community has played an important role in ensuring that a powerful and transformative education agenda, established by SDG 4 and other education-related SDG targets, will be adopted at the UN Summit in September. Education has the power to transform individual lives and create shared values for an equitable, peaceful and sustainable world. However, we must not lose sight of the unfinished business of the EFA and MDG agendas, in particular the number of children and youth who remain out of school, continued gender discrimination as well as the rising impact of conflict on education. The event will be open to all Members States of the UN. Invitations to attend will also be extended to UN agencies, civil society, private sector, youth advocates, teachers and students. For more information please contact: info@globaleducationfirst.org