The UN Secretary-General is convening Heads of State and Government, together with youth, non-governmental actors and the private sector to a Summit on Transforming Education on 16, 17 and 19 September 2022, during the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. The Summit is a key initiative of Our Common Agenda launched by the Secretary-General in September 2021.

WHY:
More than 90% of the world’s children have had their education interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Other crises — conflicts, a shrinking economy, the energy crunch and food insecurity — have deepened the global education crisis, which in turn, is provoking severely negative consequences on many fronts. It is also threatening gains in the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals and in particular, Goal 4 on Education. The Transforming Education Summit will seek to regain lost time and renew the collective commitment to education and lifelong learning as a pre-eminent public good. The Summit will be approached through 5 key topics: Schools, Curricula and Lifelong Learning, Teachers, Digital Transformation and Education Finance.

OUTCOMES:
Key outcomes will include the UN Secretary-General’s Vision Statement on Transforming Education, as well as a Global Youth Declaration. In addition, and following months of consultations, Heads of State and Government will make national commitments on 19 September.

WHO:

  • UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres
  • UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed
  • Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on TES, Leonardo Garnier
  • TES Advisory Committee co-chair, Minister of Education of Sierra Leone, David Sengeh
  • UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Jayathma Wickramanayake
  • UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility, Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes
  • UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Stefania Giannini
  • UNICEF Global Director of Education, Robert Jenkins
  • Youth champions and other experts (list available)

All voices will be heard
The Leaders Day on 19 September will be preceded by engagements on Mobilization and Solutions on Friday, 16 and Saturday, 17 September respectively. The Mobilization Day on 16 September will be youth-led and youth-organized and will serve to convey the collective recommendations of youth on transforming education to decision and policymakers, informed by the Summit Youth Declaration. The Solutions Day on 17 September will provide a platform for partners, including UN agencies, NGOs, civil society organizations and private sector partners, to mobilize collective support to launch or scale up initiatives connected to the 5 Thematic Action Tracks. During Leaders Day, a limited number of thematic sessions will be held to place a focus on cross-cutting priorities for transforming education.

WHEN:
16 September (9:30-18:00 EDT) The Mobilization Day
17 September (9:00-18:00 EDT) The Solutions Day
19 September (10:00 to 19:00 EDT) The Leaders Day

WHERE: UN Headquarters, New York or live through webtv.un.org

Media Accreditation: Please Pre-Register here before 16 September

Watch Live: The event will be live-streamed on UN Web TV

Key media moments

Thursday 15 September, 12.10-12.50pm
Curtain-raiser press briefing with Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, Special Adviser to the SG on the Summit, Leonardo Garnier and UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Stefania Giannini.

Friday 16 September

  • Performance by Sara Marley, singer
  • Youth Declaration presentation to UN Secretary-General
  • Delivery of a call to expand the international right to education from Avaaz to UN Secretary-General, backed by more than 60 Nobel Peace Prize winners, current and former UN Special Rapporteurs, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and other leading experts.
  • Arrival to the UN premises of Little Amal, the twelve-foot tall puppet depicting a refugee child, after her long journey from the Syria-Turkish border, calling for her right to learn.

Monday 19 September
SDG Moment leading to TES opening session, featuring:

  • Summit Global Leaders session, featuring Nobel Peace Prize laureate and UN Messenger of Peace Malala Yousufzai
  • Angelique Kidjo, Grammy award winning musician, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Co-Founder of Batonga
  • Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Actor, Producer, Author, Activist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
  • Amanda Gorman, Poet, Activist and UNICEF Supporter

Press briefing: United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, on the new International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd) (tbc)

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Key links for the Summit