Refat Alsabaah Opening Speech - World Assembly 23-25 March,2021

First, I would like to express my sincere thanks an appreciation to everyone who contributed to the preparation of this historic meeting, and in particular the secretariat staff, headed by Mr. Grant, as well as every member of the Board of Directors 

This meeting takes place in an extremely complex situation and exceptional historical conditions…. It comes during one of the most difficult crises experienced by humankind. This pandemic obliged us all to stay at home for a long time, forced millions of children to leave their classrooms, put everyone in a strange psychological and social situation, and left its effects on all of us. It has challenged our abilities to understand the situation and made us confused and unable to deal with the impossibilities. Everyone is in a complicated situation

Teachers found themselves facing a difficult test, while parents also lived in shock after they were forced to partially play the roles of the school and the teachers. All these came suddenly without any introductions, and created a state of confusion. It weakened with time, but many aspects are still present and will remain present for years, as the educational and the psychological effects of the pandemic will not disappear once it fades away, because even its vanishing is questionable in light of the of successive and weird new waves 

Deep consequences and effects, millions of people have lost their daily food and livelihood, and hundreds of millions of people are stranded, so that much of what has been accomplished over decades and years become in danger. Here I am talking in particular about free and compulsory education, as well as the chances of achieving our goals for a comprehensive, inclusive and quality education, to realize equality, as well as our continuous work to achieve the goals of education for all. All these issues have become difficult matters to accomplish in light of the effects of the pandemic; I say difficult but not impossible, as there is still a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel 

I say a glimmer of hope because, despite this black gloom, humanity is always able to innovate in overcoming its crises. The cumulative work that have been brought by some international alliances have had good results, making us to build on what we already have there, and to capitalize on what has been achieved in order to face the challenge 

Here we can say that the best example of this, is the Global Campaign for Education, as it is a historical movement based on non-discrimination, the balance of power among its members, respect for the diversity of cultures, religions and languages, pluralism, and freedom of decision and political visions. All these aspects qualify GCE to play a balanced role in the scene, especially with the insight, vision and passion of its leaders and members, as only those who are able to confront crises, are worthy of representing this historical movement 

I say that, and I am aware of what I am saying, and I mean what I say 

The GCE movement, with its historical leadership of national networks, institutions and coalitions, was able to recover quickly. It was aware of everything that might undermine the right to education, taking action and drawing up plans and interventions, and quickly succeeded in spreading hope in the souls of its members, assuring all of them that they are capable to contribute in overcoming this crisis through the slogan and approach of "We don’t see Education as a Victim, Education is the Solution" 

Dear all

From the beginning, the campaign has taken into consideration the importance of government policies, especially for the marginalized, the vulnerable, the poor and for people with disabilities. The campaign was aware -and is aware- that the pandemic may bring, economic and social problems that will affect public spending on education, specifically on poor countries that are still under the burden of accumulated debts for years. The campaign also realizes that millions of people have not been able to access distance learning, raising the alarm about the potential learning loss and the imminent possibility of an increase in illiteracy and dropout rates, without forgetting the harm caused to adult education programs, due to the absence of government related policies, which may also bring us back to the first square, which is, decades ago 

Diverse factors, profound implications, short and long term effects….Our movement was aware of all these….. and all its members become involved in the confrontation during the last period, and are still in the battle of facing the consequences. Still and without embellishment, what is coming is difficult, and we will not be able to confront it unless we rearrange our situation, administrative structures, the way we work and our strategies, and reinforce our solidarity as human beings. It has become imperative for us to be interconnected. Partnership is no longer an option, but rather a necessity and we are called upon to strengthen it as an approach and culture. The campaign is able to play an important role in this regard, with its components and credibility 

From all these comes the importance of this historical meeting of a historical movement. It is historical in every sense of the word, as it contains different religions, languages, races, cultures, nationalities and political backgrounds, within a single visional educational framework. We, as a great and effective movement, are facing many challenges that require knowledge and review of our working mechanisms, in order to influence the international, regional and national policies that may reduce the right of all people to education and to live in dignity. It is our duty to show solidarity with all poor countries in their ordeals, and to mobilize every effort to demand the cancellation of their debts, while calling on those countries at the same time to fight corruption and adopt a fair tax system 

In the last period, the campaign was able to establish a balance in its internal power, so it pushed towards strengthening the partners and coalitions, making there a distribution of power between the center and the periphery (our movement and its partners), so that this balance would be able to carry the load of the next stage, and would be able to address the challenges at the national level. The campaign continues with its targeted policy to give strength to those who address serious problems in a direct way, and to give voice to youth, disabled, women, minorities and the marginalized, because they are the power of this movement

Based on the above, we will discuss in this meeting the mechanisms and strategies of our work, the methods of our communication, the nature, shape and criteria of the membership of this movement. All this requires a review of the structure of the bodies that constitute this movement and its response to the effects of this pandemic 

The pandemic has created challenges that include our way of thinking, our methodologies of work and our patterns of management, which forces us to democratize our work and make the parts matching with the whole in its work system, its performance and its ability to integrate everyone into this comprehensive and inclusive system 

It will be, indeed, very necessary that the voice of young people prevail in the meeting, as they are now in a position to assume the historical responsibility and must take advantage of this opportunity, by taking control of matters to lead the movement. You - and I mean the youth - are not here to fill a void in the campaign, and are not here just to represent the coalitions as members of the campaign; you are here for the future, for our sake and for yours. So please interact, lead, question, do what you think is appropriate for your interest, and set your conditions as you wish, so that this movement is a global, inclusive, capable and empowering one 

Now, it is time for the youth to take the lead of the GCE. It is time to vaccinate the movement with the fresh souls of our youth 

Warm greetings and appreciation to everyone of you, whishing a great success to this historic victory 

Together we started, together we continue, together we will succeed