Global priorities

We implement UNESCO’s Global Priorities Africa and Gender Equality across our activities. 

Gender equality is a global priority for UNESCO and inextricably linked to its efforts to promote the right to education and support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Within the Education 2030 Framework for Action, SDG 4 aims to ‘[e]nsure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’, and SDG 5 to ‘[a]chieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’.

The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) works towards realizing gender equality in lifelong learning, with a particular focus on literacy programmes, adult learning and education (ALE) and gender equality in the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC).

Education in Africa is a major priority for UNESCO and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL). UIL thus assists African UNESCO Members States in strengthening lifelong learning on the continent with a particular focus on youth and adults, and on policies and systems conducive to lifelong learning pathways. To achieve this, UIL provides targeted support in the areas of policy, research, monitoring, capacity-building, networking and advocacy.