RCG4 WCA - What we do
SDG4 Coordination
Since its inception in 2016, the RCG4-WCA has cultivated a robust network and community of practice, promoting synergies and knowledge exchange among key stakeholders in the education sector across West and Central Africa. Through consistent meetings, collaborative activities, and effective communication, the RCG4-WCA has played a pivotal role in facilitating coordination, forging partnerships, and ensuring alignment among countries and partners to collectively pursue the targets of SDG4.
Some notable achievements in coordinating SDG4 efforts in West and Central Africa include:
Supporting the elaboration of National Statements of Commitments in preparation for the Transforming Education Summit (TES)
Aiding countries in the sub-region in preparing national statements of commitments in advance of the Transforming Education Summit (TES) and facilitating their meaningful participation in the TES held in September 2022.
Knowledge sharing and evidence generation
Since 2018, the RCG4 WCA has played an active role in producing and sharing knowledge on SDG4 and latest developments of education in the sub-region through the “Education2030 in Africa” website, workshops, and meetings, thus facilitating the cross-fertilization of ideas among education stakeholders.
Facilitating Representation at the SDG4-Education 2030 High-level Steering Committee
Assisting African member states and the African Union Commission's representative in actively engaging with the SDG4 High-level Steering Committee. This involvement ensures the representation of African perspectives within the Global Education Cooperation Mechanism.
Development, Implementation, and Monitoring of Joint Work Plans
Collaboratively designing, executing, and overseeing joint work plans to provide comprehensive regional and country-level support to member states. These efforts are geared towards expediting progress towards the attainment of SDG4 targets.
These achievements underscore the impactful role played by the RCG4-WCA in advancing the cause of education in the region, contributing to a collective and concerted effort to realize the goals outlined in SDG4.
Monitoring SDG4 and CESA
The Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2016-2025 (CESA 16-25) was adopted by African Union heads of state and government, during its 26th Ordinary Session held in Addis Ababa on 31 January 2016, as the framework for transforming the continent’s education and training systems. CESA concretized the vision set out in its Agenda 2063 for enabling citizens to be effective agents of change to achieve the ‘Africa We Want’. It also localized the global Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goal on education (SDG 4) within the context of Africa-specific priorities and challenges.
At the 2018 Pan-African High-level Conference on Education (PACE), Member States mandated the African Union and UNESCO to produce, on a regular basis, a continental report monitoring progress towards achieving the implementation of CESA 16-25 and SDG 4. The two organizations entrusted UNESCO’s International Institute of Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO) to produce a first report “Education in Africa: Placing Equity at the Heart of Policy”, which aims to contribute to efforts to accelerate the achievement by African countries of the strategic objectives and targets set out in both agendas. It presents a baseline situation analysis covering the first five years of implementation. The report is aligned with the ongoing benchmarking process conducted by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and anchors its conceptual and analytic frameworks to the agreed benchmark indicators.
The report was jointly launched by UNESCO and the AUC on 18 February at the margins of the ordinary session of Heads of State and Government Summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The launch was held with the presence of the presidents of Ethiopia and Sierra Leone, representatives of the presidents of Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal, with a virtual address by the Director-General of UNESCO.
Knowledge sharing
Policy advocacy
The RCG4 WCA supported the organisation of the 2018 Pan-African High-Level Conference on Education in collaboration with African Union and the Republic of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya, 25-27 April 2018
The RCG4 WCA supported the #AfricaEducatesHer Campaign in collaboration with the African Union International Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Education (AU CIEFFA) launched on 11 September 2020
The RCG4 WCA supported West and Central African states to conduct pre-TES consultations on national commitments to transform education in 2022.
A Parallel meeting for an in-depth review of progress made and peer learning on the sub-theme of Quality Education was co-organised by UNESCO, UNICEF and ILO at the 8th Africa Regional Forum of Sustainable Development in Kagali, Rwanda.
Joint launch of the Continental Report “Education in Africa: Placing Equity at the Heart of Policy” in collaboration with the African Union Commission, 18 February 2023, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
A side event “Follow-up to the Transforming Education Summit Outcomes” was co-organised with Niger Government and Development Coordination Office (DCO) Africa at the Ninth African Forum for Sustainable Development, 27 February 2023, Niamey, Niger
Presentation of the Continental Report “Education in Africa: Placing Equity at the Heart of Policy” at the 2nd GPE KIX Continental Symposium on Education Research in Africa, 6 – 10 October 2023, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Research and Analysis
To promote better understanding of opportunities, challenges, and trends of education development in the region, and to provide evidence for policy making and implementation, the RCG4 WCA conducts analysis on pertinent education issues in the African region and produced a series of publications. The RCG4 WCA contributes to the following major publications.
The Spotlight series is a new partnership between the Global Education Monitoring Report, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), hosted by the African Development Bank, and the African Union.
The first report, Born to Learn, synthesizes evidence on completion rates and levels of minimum learning proficiency in the continent, informing the debate on national SDG 4/CESA benchmarks and was released in October 2022.
