Advocacy

Education in emergency and crisis settings requires careful navigation of complicated legal and cultural systems in countries of first asylum, within the immediate host community, and globally to promote educational access alongside protection and safeguarding.

The Hubs publicly advocate across the world to expand access to post-secondary education and to achieve the global goal of enrolling 15% of displaced youth in such opportunities by 2023. The Hubs are also committed to supporting a pipeline of prepared individuals to meet the target of moving 200,000 on education and labour pathways by 2028.

As true leaders in “education in emergencies” space, the Hubs have convening power to ensure that Pipelines can be well-conceptualized and executed with the right constellation of actors. For over four years, the Hubs served as the co-chair of the Global Task Force on Education Pathways, opening access to government and other leaders key to establishing pathways. The Hubs also sit on the Interagency Steering Committee for Education in Emergencies, and on the Connected Learning in Crisis Consortium, ensuring that our students have access to all possible opportunities.

Global Task Force on Third Country Education Pathways

The Hubs are firmly positioned GHEA21 (formerly known as OSUN) as a global player in terms of education for displaced populations. Because of the work of the Hubs, OSUN has twice been elected as the co-chair of the Global Task Force on Third Country Education Pathways and continues to play an active role in setting direction of the 15x30 strategy by leading in the drafting of key multi-stakeholder documents and the implementation of programming in collaboration with global partners. In 2022 alone, the Hubs led in the drafting of the Third Country Solutions for Refugees: Roadmap 2023; led the “Overseas & Program Infrastructure” drafting group for the US Pathways Initiative recommendation to the Bureau of Population, Refugees, Migration; collaborated with UNHCR on a panel for the UNESCO World Higher Education Conference related to the bridging programs and the Hubs key role in the space; acted as the only university network to be on a high profile panel at the Annual Tripartite conference on resettlement; and contributed significantly to drafting the UNHCR Tertiary Task Force Team’s Global Refugee Forum pledge. The Hubs have been asked to represent GHEA21 in the soon-to-launch UNHCR-founded Interagency “Global Leaders” Circle alongside the World Bank, USAID, Education Above All, and Times Higher Education.