GCE-US hosts Global Action Week for Education 2022 April Coalition Meeting

In Action Alert, Action and Advocacy, Early Childhood Education, Education In Emergencies, Girls' Education, Global Education Financing, Inclusive Education, News, Youth by Pierina Anton Lopez

GCE-US Hosts Global Action Week for Education 2022 April Coalition Meeting

April 27, 2022 | | Action Alert | Pierina Anton Lopez

 
On April 26, 2022, the Global Campaign for Education-US hosted its April coalition meeting during the Global Action Week for Education. For a week every April, Global Campaign for Education chapters around the world, including GCE-US, mobilize around a common theme in the fight for quality, education for all. 2022’s theme, Protect Education in Emergencies Now!, called upon states, civil society organizations, and policymakers to protect the fundamental right to education for the most vulnerable students living in emergencies.
 
In 2019, over 127 million primary and secondary-school aged students lived in crisis or conflict zones, and the triple threat of conflict, climate change, and COVID-19 threatens to rob millions of students of their right to quality, inclusive, public education. Even when governments take measures to increase the access to safe schooling for students, the voices of youth and students whose education is disrupted by conflict are often left out of the decision-making and policy planning process. 
 
This year, the Global Campaign for Education-US centered its April coalition meeting on youth perspectives in emergency settings. Yasmine Sherif, the director of Education Cannot Wait!, the United Nations’ global fund for education in emergencies, spoke about ECW’s EmpowerHer Brief and the importance of advancing gender equality and girls’ education in emergencies and protracted crises. Carron Mann, Research and Policy Manager at the Malala Fund, spoke to the key calls to action to protect girls education in Afghanistan from the Afghanistan Policy Brief. The event was co-moderated by GCE-US Student Fellows Anny Lin and Pierina Anton Lopez and featured an inspiring panel of youth activists from Palestine, the Philippines, Nigeria, and Honduras. Discussions focused on the importance of psychosocial support for youth, students, and teachers living in conflict settings, the unique and compounded challenges girls face in accessing safe schooling, and the necessity of ensuring that the voices of historically marginalized and underrepresented communities are included in national policies.
 
As part of the lead up to the event, GCE-US launched its #YOUthLead social media campaign to further amplify youth and students who are making real change for their communities. Paola Umaña, a Contextos youth leader, advocates for her community in El Salvador, inspiring Salvadoran young people and students through her commitment to education. 
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GCE-US would like to especially thank our speakers that helped make the conversation an inspiring call to action for governments around the global. 
 
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To learn more about the Protect Education in Emergencies Now! campaign, read the Global Campaign for Education's key call to actions here. To learn more about GCE-US and how to get involved in international education advocacy, click here.

About This Author
Fellow at Global Campaign For Education-US

Pierina Anton Lopez (she/her) is a Global Campaign for Education-US Fellow and a Master’s candidate in Global Human Development at the Georgetown Walsh School of Foreign Service, where she is a 2021 USAID Donald M. Payne Fellow. Prior to pursuing her graduate studies, Pierina worked with the United States Institute of Peace to help support the Institute’s peacebuilding initiatives in the Donbas region of Ukraine. She also interned with USAID’s Bureau for Africa, in the Education and Youth Division, and supported the agency’s work in education in crisis and conflict, social and emotional learning, and countering school-related gender-based violence in Sub-Saharan Africa. While completing her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations at Florida International University, Pierina served as a Youth Casework Aide with the International Rescue Committee in Miami, Florida. There, she connected unaccompanied youth migrants to essential social services, including healthcare, education, and pro-bono legal assistance. Her interest in international education development led her to Siem Reap, Cambodia, where she taught English at a local teacher training college and developed a report on the challenges facing the Cambodian education sector after interviewing staff from UNICEF Siem Reap.

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