GIAN: For the Right to Education

Part of the wider Global Ignatian Advocacy Network, the Core Group on the right to education gathered last week in Madrid to coordinate advocacy strategies in the framework of the international education commitments and the post-2015 sustainable development goal agenda. Ana Vázquez Ponzone, who supports the coordination of these efforts on behalf of the International Federation of Fe y Alegría, shares on the outcomes of this encounter and what the way forward might look like. 
I would like to begin by sharing a tweet from a meeting held by the Global Ignatian Advocacy Network core group for the right to education this past week:
“Equality, quality and access are some of the next global education goals. How can we contribute as the Global Ignatian Advocacy Network? #edujesuit”
During this meeting, which took place between October 29^th and 31^st in Madrid, we launched not just a tweet or a question, but a common challenge for all individuals as well as social and educational institutions that form part of the vast network of the Society of Jesus around the world. On our minds: the 58 million children who cannot attend school and the 250 million that attend school but are not learning basic skills.
[pullquote align=”right”]Equality, quality and access are some of the next global education goals. How can we contribute as the Global Ignatian Advocacy Network?[/pullquote]Aware of our limitations and weaknesses, but convinced of our enormous possibilities and responsibilities, this meeting held in Madrid had the goal of strengthening and moving forward the building of a global Ignatian network to defend the right to education for all.
At this meeting, the education coordinators of four Jesuit conferences were present: Luis Ugalde (CPAL), Augustin Kalubi (JESAM), Trevor Miranda (South Asia) and Ricardo Angulo (JECSE). Patxi Álvarez, the Secretariat of Social Justice and Ecology in Rome, was also in attendance as well as Lucía Rodríguez from the International Federation of Fe y Alegría and the coordinator of this network.
If we had to respond to the question that was launched in the tweet, with a lot of modesty, we would say that in the short term, as a network, we are going to contribute by carrying out a global awareness raising strategy among collaborators and institutions linked to the Society on the right to education building on significant innovative experiences and educational offerings for the most vulnerable. We will also work to design and implement a public advocacy strategy within the framework of the international commitments found in Education for All and the education agenda of the post-2015 sustainable development goals. Finally, we are also preparing a website set to launch in 2015 that will allow for contact and networking among the Jesuit social and educational institutions interested in working together to promote the right to education.
In order to support these efforts, Dani Villanueva SJ from Jesuit Networking and Jaime Tatay SJ from Ecojesuit (GIAN Ecology) participated in the encounter to support in the development of social networking strategies. This way, along with the web, we will little by little also gain presence through social media.

We believe that education opens doors and that global coordination and collaboration help to contribute to achieving local impact in education policies and priorities. If you are interested in learning more about this network, you can take a look at the Position Paper, offer your feedback and insights by sending a message to [email protected] or using the hashtag #edujesuit, and join us in supporting the right to education for all.

Interesante documento sobre educación margenes Compañía de Jesús. http://t.co/9AnvyYuTeq #edujesuit @JesuitasESP @Entreculturas

— Ana Vazquez Ponzone (@avponzone) October 30, 2014

Interesados en redes advocacy jesuitas, este es documento referencia. http://t.co/xWJSTOegfT #edujesuit @jesuitnetwork @JesuitasESP

— Ana Vazquez Ponzone (@avponzone) October 30, 2014

This post was written by Ana Vázquez Ponzone, a program officer for the Public Advocacy Program at the International Federation of Fe y Alegría.