The workshop aims to support countries of the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) to integrate Global Citizenship Education (GCED) in their education systems.

“We hope to orient key stakeholders with a mutual understanding of the concept, core issues, challenges and opportunities of global citizenship education in order to stimulate further implementation of GCED at the country level,” says Akemi Yonemura, programme specialist at UNESCO’s Regional Office in Dakar.

A wide range of stakeholders are encouraged to participate in this workshop, including Ministries of Education of the 15 West African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Bissau-Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo), civil societies organizations such as NGOs serving for young people and learners in the education sector, UN agencies (OHCHR, UNHCR, UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, etc.) and multilateral organizations (ECOWAS, UEMOA), and UNESCO specialists.

A UN priority

Education is putting more and more emphasis on the importance of values, attitudes and communication skills, as essential complements to the cognitive knowledge and skills. The academic community also pays increasing attention to the relevance of education in the understanding and resolution of social, political, cultural and global conflicts, in particular the role of education in promoting peace, human rights, fairness, acceptance of diversity and sustainable development.

This is why education for global citizenship has become one of the priorities of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) launched in 2012 and is included in the agenda for the post-2015 development as part of the knowledge, skills and competence that learners need for the twenty-first century and beyond (Target 4.7). and is included in the agenda for the post-2015 development as part of the knowledge, skills and competence that learners need for the twenty-first century and beyond.

Within UNESCO, education for peace and sustainable development was proposed as an overarching objective of the Organization's programme in the field of education for the next few years, the aim being to train responsible citizens of the world. In January 2015, the Second UNESCO Global Forum on Global Citizenship Education took place to consider it in the context of the post-2015 education agenda including consideration of the emerging Framework of Action Post-2015, and the role of GCED for peace.