Strong Consensus for GE at CODEV

On 19 April, Mr. Liam Wegimont (GENE Director) presented to the Council of the EU Working Party on Development Cooperation (CODEV). The Member States engaged in an exchange of views with GENE and the European Commission on the importance of Global Education (GE) and Development Education and Awareness Raising (DEAR) to the emerging Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) – ‘Global Europe’, at the kind invitation of the Portuguese presidency of the EU.

Mr. Wegimont spoke of the challenges and opportunities emerging from the work of Ministries and Agencies in GE across Europe. He stressed the strong consensus among European countries that GE/DEAR is now more important than ever as a basis and prerequisite for development and foreign policy, as well as a core concern of education systems; and appreciated the work and support of the EC in this field. This consensus was reaffirmed, as many Member States outlined their own work at national level, and the sharing of good practice and policy learning through GENE.

GENE took the opportunity to announce the GENE@20 & Maastricht+20 process, which will be an opportunity for MS, international organisations, representative stakeholder groups and others concerned to strengthen policy coherence, political consensus and public awareness in this field, through the emerging European Declaration on Global Education in Europe to 2050, which GENE will facilitate with partners. Read more in the presentation and the summary of background notes.