Guest Blog by Cecilia “Thea” Soriano, Campaigns and Communications Manager at the Global Campaign for Education (GCE)
The Global Action Week for Education 2026 (GAWE 2026) officially concluded on April 25 with wonderful celebrations and engagements highlighting diverse actions and demands from across the world. But a week is not enough for such an immense campaign! The campaign led by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) spills over into the next two weeks with members still poised to conduct webinars, policy forums and community engagements.
One of these is the first-ever Education Worldwide Conference hosted by INEW — which you might be heading to today.
Education financing, the theme of GAWE 2026, is a core and strategic advocacy of the movement. This is the third time that it has been featured in GAWE. At the height of the pandemic, GCE called for urgent financing of education through “One Billion Voices” in GAWE 2021. Following the commitments agreed upon at the Transforming Education Summit, GCE demanded “Decolonising Education Financing” in GAWE 2023.
What made the campaign in GAWE 2026 different? Are we not repeating ourselves? This was a question asked of GCE. And the answer is, yes, we are repeating ourselves — for very important reasons:
- Global military spending reached nearly $2.9 trillion in 2025, marking an 11th consecutive year of growth;
- 46 developing countries spend more on net interest payments for public debt than on education or health; and
- International aid to education is projected to fall by US$3.2 billion by 2026 – a 24 per cent drop.
Meanwhile, the ongoing war in the Middle East and the protracted conflicts in many countries are destroying schools, education systems and killing students and teachers as well as obliterating communities and peoples. Countries everywhere are grappling with the oil crisis and revising national budgets, with possible impact on the provisioning of public services such as education.
GAWE 2026 is a moment of solidarity, a time of the year when education advocates come together with a unified voice addressed to governments and the international community to guarantee the right to education for all. From all its diversity, compelling and interconnected calls emerged.
Governments must secure education financing
The chronic underfunding of education is not by accident nor inevitable. Education financing is a political decision that reflects the state’s priorities and values. Refat Sabbah, GCE President, stressed that when governments decide where to allocate scarce resources, it is their decision to choose between people or the “instruments of control,” between investing in the future or managing a permanent crisis. This echoes the message of the UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres during his opening remarks in the ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum 2026, who said: “Governments are spending more on the instruments of death than the foundations of development and peace,” and that “financing is not only about economic progress but first and foremost about human progress.”
ODA for education is a responsibility, not an option for developed countries
Innovative financing, end dependence, shifting financing frameworks – were all mentioned during GAWE 2026. These arguments miss out the fact that education is primarily financed domestically, as reported by Education Watch 2025. What education movements are demanding is to end inequalities and ODA as a leverage to deliver on the “Leave No One Behind” agenda without conditionalities. In the “Dakar Framework for Action (2000), it was stated that “no country seriously committed to Education for All will be thwarted in their achievement of this goal by a lack of resources.” The Incheon Declaration made explicit reference to ODA as a crucial commitment. GCE will continue to hold developing countries to account for their commitment to devote 0.7 of their Gross National Income to ODA as a matter of justice.
Reforming the global financial architecture is possible
Countries cannot sustainably finance education without fixing the global financial architecture. Sharing their realities of reduced fiscal space and debt distress, national education coalitions stressed that global rules must be changed to enable countries to generate the resources to sustainably finance quality public education. What seemed impossible is now actionable. During GAWE 2026, education coalitions shared lessons from their participation in the ongoing negotiations of the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation and how education movements can make a difference in the treaty that will be adopted in 2027.
UNESCO reported that “Many governments face mounting debt and limited fiscal space that constrain their ability to invest in education.” Many GCE members shared the painful realities in their country and why the debt burden is one of the systemic barriers to financing quality public education. Global leaders have acknowledged that the debt crisis is a top global financial risk, and steps have been initiated to alleviate the impact of the crisis. The first-ever Borrowers’ Platform was launched on April 15 during the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, with the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) serving as its secretariat. While the platform could potentially be useful for developing countries to deliberate on debt arrangements and technical assistance, addressing systemic changes and development justice, such as changing the global rules and decision-making powers and processes, remains unclear. Beyond GAWE 2026, GCE will remain steadfast in its advocacy for the convening of the UN Framework Convention on Sovereign Debt.
GAWE 2026 as a meeting point of all education movements and advocates
Now that the campaign is almost at the end, the question will be asked: What are your gains in conducting GAWE 2026? The answers will be indefinite and will not only be about policy gain. As advocates, we must always remind ourselves of our roles in changing or creating the 3P’s: Policy, Process, Public Opinion. Many of us are familiar with policy development and reform. But equally important is transforming the processes and power structures behind it—making education governance more inclusive, transparent, and people-centred.
GAWE 2026 is a meeting point—perhaps similar to a scramble crossing, but with more time to connect—bringing together politicians and the public, amplifying voices, influencing change, and building partnerships with a unified objective and diverse voices. Then, we go on our own journeys (and also meet at different policy engagements) to make a difference in transforming education for all. Until next year!
