As part of the 2019 Global Goals Week CSEA organised a dissemination event to present findings from a research project titled: “Exclusion in Education in Nigeria: The dimensions, drivers and implications for the SDGs”.

The event provided a platform for experts and stakeholders in the education sector to share knowledge, propose more actionable policy recommendations, and ensure that government implements them.

The research funded by the Southern Voice, as part of the State of the SDGs initiative, investigates three crucial questions:

1. Exclusion in Education: Here, the study highlights the identified groups of people excluded in achieving quality education and the factors responsible for the learning gap.
2. Understanding synergies and trade-offs in meeting SDG4 in Nigeria: the study examines the synergies between education and other relevant SDGs
3. Global Systemic Issues: In this section, the role of global systemic issues in achieving quality education was highlighted. Specifically, the influence of arms proliferation, technology, and foreign aid in the attainment of SDG 4 in Nigeria.

Participants at the workshop agreed that there is the need for stakeholders in education to work on changing the narrative of social norms and other factors that are impeding girls and children from learning. Other key recommendations arising from the discussion sessions include: the need for collaboration between the private sector and government, improving schools' curriculum and also increasing funds allocated for the education sector in other to make learning outcomes more qualitative.

As education outcomes have great effects on all aspects of our lives, parents& leaders of local communities also have a major role to play towards improving enrollment in schools. Likewise, the state and local governments should strengthen efforts towards implementing educational policies.

(A full outcome document of the event would be uploaded soon)

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The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized a session bringing together think tank members from the South-South Global Thinkers initiative to discuss their reflection on the BAPA+40 outcome document. The session provided a platform for participants to: i)Share views and perspective on the BAPA+40 outcome document; and ii). exchange and propose research ideas and knowledge initiatives for the future that would be important for Southern Countries and development partners. Dr. Chukwuka Onyekwena joined other participants to give a presentation on BAPA+40, and also propose research ideas and knowledge initiatives that would be important for Southern Countries and development partners.This event was held on 17 July 2019, at UN HQ in New York, USA. 

Addis Ababa University (AAU) recently convened 41 education researchers representing 18 countries from across the continent for the ‘Leaders in African Education Research’ to debate research priorities and opportunities in order to deliver high-quality and impactful research.The workshop was convened by AAU, in collaboration with Centre for Global Development (CGD), DFID and the REAL Centre at the University of Cambridge. The LAER meetings aimed to elevate the evidence on African education published by individuals based in SSA and inform future approaches to partnership and research collaboration. The workshop provided a platform to share perspectives on several dimensions of education research as participants discussed priorities for educational research across the continent and criteria for selecting research to inform national, regional or international development agendas. The workshop also provided a platform for participants to share their experiences on the challenges and opportunities faced in delivering high-quality outputs. These include among others-limited access to data, publishing in reputable journals. CSEA research Associate, Joseph Ishaku participated in this workshop which was held on 16 and 17 July 2019 in Addis Ababa.

The overall objective of the learning session was to build capacities for enhancing policy coherence in the implementation of the SDGs and enable participants to be able to: Define successful methodologies and factors for applying policy coherence to a real-life multi-stakeholder policy making context; Utilise analytical tools to examine institutional and governance mechanisms, and identify strengths and areas for improvement in light of good practices, and to simulate the impacts of individual SDG policies;‐ Integrate local data into analytical tools to improve effectiveness of coherent policies;‐ Analyse the impact of SDG policies and combinations of policies at national or regional level, under business-as-usual or alternative scenarios.

Overall, participants were able to learn how to apply the various methodologies, tools and data presented to improve policies and policy-making processes as well as organisational structures, and to identify mechanisms which can help achieve the SDGs in a more integrated and coherent manner.