OneAfricanChild Foundation at the Pan African High-Level Meeting on Education held in Nairobi, Kenya

Executive Director of OneAfricanChild Foundation, Victoria Ibiwoye with the permanent delegation of Nigeria to UNESCO.
OneAfricanChild Foundation participated in the Pan-African High-Level Event on Education (PACE) 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya from April 25-27, 2018 to review the process on SDG-4 in line with the Education 2030 and CESA 16-25 agenda, exchange innovative practices from experts in the region and propose actionable recommitments to achieve the SDG-4 targets and commitments by 2030.
The high-level conference was preceded by a youth conference held on the 23rd – 24th of April to amplify the youth voices and facilitate the engagement of youth leaders at the Pan African Conference on Education. The youth engagement session was organised by Plan International, FAWE, and USAID with the theme, “Young People as a catalyst of Inclusive Education in Africa.” The youth dialogue produced the PACE Youth Dialogue Memorandum, a three-page document capturing the voices and recommendations of the youth representatives from across 11 African countries to the Ministers of Education.

 

Executive Director of OneAfricanChild Foundation, Victoria Ibiwoye with Liberia’s Minister of Education, Prof. Ansu Sonii.
The youth memorandum highlighted important needs such as inclusive and gender transformative education in Africa, taking into consideration the needs of girls, boys, adolescents, persons with disabilities (PWDs), refugees, internally displaced and migrant children and youth among other marginalized groups of children and youth. It also calls for the government to prioritise integrated education in conflict and post-conflict societies in Africa, leveraging technology and strengthening information systems in the advancement of education goals, addressing gender-related violence and promoting gender equality in education, and finally, financing education in Africa; a priority which cannot be ignored.

 

The last paragraph of the memorandum recognizes that governments alone cannot address the education agenda for the continent. Governments should work collaboratively; identifying and engaging with an array of stakeholders including young people to monitor progress and generate evidence. Governments should facilitate this by publishing annual education progress reports and engage young people in structured national mechanisms to directly contribute to the development and implementation of the education agenda.

Director of OneAfricanChild Foundation and Youth Representative of the SDG-Education 2030 Steering Committee – Victoria Ibiwoye, participated in the PACE 2018 meeting as youth focal point of the drafting committee to ensure that the demands of young people are reflected in final recommendations of the conference referred to as the Nairobi Declaration and call for action on education.

 

The Pan African Conference on Education was a groundbreaking moment in the history of education recognizing the power of youth as implementing partners and not just beneficiaries in achieving the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Now is the time to take determined and joint actions for the Africa we want!

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