In 2020, the Global Education Coalition (GEC) was launched to support education systems worldwide as they faced unprecedented disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now moving into its sixth year, what began as an emergency response mechanism to ensure the continuity of education in times of crisis has grown into a dynamic global multistakeholder network to drive education transformation and accelerate the path to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4).
The Coalition's leadership through action made positive strides in bridging the digital divide, identifying and addressing teacher skill gaps, helping young people develop skills to enhance employability, and promoting gender-transformative education to ensure girls, boys, men and women are all empowered equally in and through education. The successful establishment of the Digital Transformation Collaborative (DTC) as a global task force to impulse systemic digital transformation has also unlocked innovative, evidence-based, and sustainable mechanisms such as the development of its “Six Pillars framework for the digital transformation of education” to support the Global Digital Compact.
Thanks to our collective dedication and collaborative spirit, this year we can take a moment to celebrate the successes we have achieved together over the last five years and consider how we will respond to education’s key challenges over the five years ahead. The fifth anniversary of the GEC represents a powerful reminder that only five years remain to progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In a world where new emergencies arise, and emerging phenomena create persistent new challenges, there is an increasing demand for a renewed, collective impulse to meet ambitious global targets.
Therefore, this year’s Annual Meeting will focus on renewing our efforts towards innovation, evidence-based approaches and greater collaboration to further develop and grow our Coalition's position as a catalyst for impactful, equitable, and sustainable education transformation towards SDG 4.
