The CCNGO-Ed2030, in which Mercedes Mayol Lassalle- OMEP’s World President participates as member of the coordination group, on July 29th held a Virtual meeting: “Civil society actions to protect the right to education during and post-COVID-19”, with the idea of reinforcing the solidarity among the NGO’s and to join forces for the achievement of SDG4. Some of the meeting aims were:
- Analyze how civil society has responded to the crisis, defining strengths and weaknesses; examine the new realities challenging CSOs over the last 6 months: How have NGOs worked during the pandemic? How are NGOs doing things differently? How are NGOs advocating and working within their networks and beyond?
- Define a common strategy for CSOs work in education focusing on access, learning inequalities and reduced financing.
The participants and moderators for the Webinar were members of different NGO’s and organizations as: UNESCO NGO liaison Committee, Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE), Global Campaign for Education (GCE), Africa Network Campaign on Education For All (ANCEFA), European Association for the Education of Adults (DVV International), Campaña Latinoamericana por el Derecho a la Educación (CLADE) , Teacher Creativity Center (TCC), and Organisation Mondiale pour l’Education Préscolaire (OMEP)
For the last part of the meeting, Mercedes Mayol Lassalle pointed out some Webinar’s conclusions. She highlighted the learning capacity of CSO, their commitment with the Education 2030 Agenda and a strong will of enhancing civil society participation in the decision-making of government’s regarding the educational sector, they also make visible the deep inequalities and injustices related to the access to the human right to education all over the world, and the marginalized populations. CSO also has enhanced democracy and citizen participation in governance and public policies development, working to involve forgotten or silenced voices and the need of democracy including multiple perspectives.
Mercedes, marked that CSO have worked to ensure the continuity of education activities, maintaining bonds with families and communities and supporting teachers, by developing multiple resources. Likewise, the Civil Society Organizations are advocating for the protection of educational funding and strengthening the bonds and their voice inside the United Nations System.
Finally, regarding the issue of the coming period and CSO’s work, the speakers expressed differents points and Mercedes joined them in the following: the importance of building a Common Strategy, based in solidarity and networking, Constructing a common vision, Protecting and claiming for Public Education financing, Developing effective strategies to achieve new ways of financing for the operation and sustainability of CS Organizations, creating reliable information with participation of main actors, connecting Education to health policies in the advocacy actions and in programas, and strengthening connections.
“All these goals require a joint discussion to allow us to develop a strategic work plan for the next 18 months. Refat has challenged us to continue to be the “democratic watchdog”. He stressed that civil society must provide an essential link between the government and citizens, using Innovation, creativity, and transformation in order to tackle the big challenges of our time. The ability to mitigate the impact of this pandemic relies heavily on our ability to maintain our role giving the voice of the communities that are in serious risk to be left behind in public responses.” Mercedes Mayol Lassalle
See the webinar here:
“Civil society actions to protect the right to education during and post-COVID-19”
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