21 October 2022  | By invitation only

Centara Grand at Central World, Bangkok, Thailand (Hybrid Type)

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INTRODUCTION:

Equity in education is the core concept and principle directed to the goal of all individuals achieving their educational potential. It also means that aspects of individual identities, such as gender, ethnic origin, economic standing, or family background, should never be obstacles to acquiring at least a basic level of education and skills. Understanding the importance of promoting and translating equity in all forms and levels of education, the global community reaffirmed its support for equity at the 2015 World Education Forum by adopting the Incheon Declaration, which guides the implementation of the SDG4: Education 2030 Agenda. 

Although the adoption of SDG4 demonstrates a global commitment to equity and inclusion in education, current data shows that more needs to be done, especially at the country level. Efforts at reducing the number of out-of-school children around the world have slowed over the past decade. A massive number of children and youth – about 258 million – were reportedly out of school for the school year ending in 2018, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). This number represents 59 million children of primary school age, 62 million of lower secondary school age, and 138 million of upper secondary age. Thus, to tackle such an ongoing challenge, SDG17 was implemented to strengthen the alliance of partnerships for equitable education goals.

Since the beginning of 2020, the Equitable Education Fund (EEF) of Thailand, with the technical support provided by the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education (UNESCO Bangkok), has been exploring the possibility of establishing the Equitable Education Alliance (EEA) as an international network to effectively promote equitable education and form a community of practitioners. A total of four meetings; three meetings was held in February, June, and November 2020, and one meeting was held in July 2022 to explore this concept. The goal was to network with countries and international organizations that are strong advocates for equity in their education systems, learn about their work, and assess the possibility of forming the desired Alliance. A total of 11 countries0F0F0F0F0F0F0F0F0F0F and six international organizations1F1F1F1F1F1F1F1F1F1F participated in these meetings and shared how they promote and foster equity in their education systems through 1) legal frameworks and policy development; 2) budgeting and financing mechanisms; 3) service delivery, and 4) monitoring and evaluation.

As the innovations project Regional Promotion of Equitable Education phase II is progressing, EEF and UNESCO Bangkok are holding the 5^th Equitable Education Alliance meeting on Identify Opportunities for EEA Activities to continue the alliance development and further grow the network on a global scale. 

OBJECTIVES

Survey:

1. Identify the main obstacles to implementing equitable education and which organization should we have as part of the network in order to resolve the blockages
2. Identify the expertise of the current EEA network members and gather organizational and personal introduction 
3. Explore advocacy initiatives for EEA to support members, including need assessment and analysis of challenges.
4. Bring together organizations working towards equity in education and explore collaboration opportunities to be used as a basis for further development of EEA.
5. Introduce new organizations and members and what role they can contribute.

EXPECTED PARTICIPANTS

• Participants who have attended previous meetings.
• Potential members, including government agencies, policymakers, NGOs, academics and like-minded organizations, and countries that have not participated in previous meetings. 
• EEA members, including member states, countries and organization representatives, practitioners, technical experts, and international agencies that work in practice for equitable education.

VENUE (HYBRID)

• Centara Grand at Central World, Bangkok, Thailand
• For online participation: Zoom Conferencing
• Online Registration: Registration will be updated and provided accordingly for online participants.