Lifelong Learning Platform | LLLP - European Civil Society for Education

Global Campaign for Education

Active citizenship From the network - 28th May 2019

The Global Campaign for Education (GCE) is a civil society movement that promotes and defends education as a basic human right. Among our members, ESU campaign and advocate at the international, regional and national level to put pressure on governments and the international community to deliver the right of everyone to a free, quality, public education.

The GCE movement was founded in 1999, in the build-up to the World Education Forum in Dakar, to provide a platform to unify and coordinate civil society voices in relation to the global education agenda. Since then, the movement GCE has grown significantly, in particular through the expansion and consolidation of national civil society coalitions.

Today, the GCE represents over 100 national and regional education coalitions and international organisations. Each is independent, and all are united by the commitment to the right to education, and to achieving change through the mobilisation of citizens and civil society.

The reach of GCE allows linking the grassroots campaigning to high-level meetings and seminars, bringing the voice of civil society to the UN General Assembly and the ECOSOC committees. GCE is a unique platform, merging and echoing education concerns from the countries facing the most development challenges to the more developed countries.

The European Students’ Union (ESU) is a member of the Board of the GCE platform and is the only organisation representing the youth-led organisations’ sector.

Strategic Areas:

  • Quality education – The GCE intends to contribute to an increased political and policy focus on quality education, with rights and social justice at its core.
  • Equity, non-discrimination and inclusion in education and through education – The movement works to expose and draw policy attention to inequity, discrimination and exclusion in education, in terms of access and in terms of quality.
  • Strong, public systems, leadership and governance in the education sector – We advocate for the state to effectively and responsively take up its role as the primary duty-bearer in education, highlighting the negative impacts of privatisation.
  • Financing for public education – We continue to call for increased domestic financing for education to at least 20% of budget and 6% of GDP, and to expand the domestic revenue base through tax justice.
  • Transparency, accountability and the role of civil society in the education sector – The GCE works to demand greater transparency and accessible sharing of information by governments, including budget and spending data; while expanding the space for civil society participation at every level.
  • Education in contexts of conflict or disaster – The movement seeks to draw attention to the need to invest in education in emergencies, and to support the voices of citizens in conflict or disaster situation

Structure:

GCE as a whole is a broad-based movement, encompassing a huge variety of civil society organisations active in the education sector at national, regional and international levels. Diversity and the different ways in which each member can contribute to the work of the platform are recognised and acknowledged, in pursuit of shared aims. GCE is aimed at fostering collaboration, networking and shared learning to strengthen our impact at national and regional levels, and to influence international frameworks and debates.

The movement’s governance and structure are set out in its constitution:

  • The World Assembly is the supreme governing authority of the GCE, all its members voting on an equal basis.
  • The World Assembly elects a board to provide oversight and strategic direction.
  • The GCE Secretariat is accountable to the Board and is responsible for implementing the strategic vision and facilitating the work of the movement.

You can download the full GCE current strategic plan here (in English), the resolutions from the 2015 World Assembly here (in English) and

GCE Constitution below.

Download the GCE Constitution in Español
Download the GCE Constitution in Français
Download the GCE Constitution in العربية
Download the GCE Constitution in Português