The Regional Briefing “Connectivity in Education: Status and recent developments in nine non-European Union countries" was jointly organised by the ITU Office for Europe and the UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia. It was held virtually on Wednesday, 10 November 2021 from 10:00 to 11:45 CET.
This Regional Briefing was held within the framework of the ITU Regional Initiatives for Europe on broadband development (1) and digital skills (3), and in support of the priorities of UNICEF's LearnIn initiative in Europe and Central Asia, which operationalizes UNICEF's global Reimagine Education initiative in the region. It was also held within the context of the UN Digital Transformation Group for Europe and Central Asia (UN DTG4ECA), and with the support of the UN Development Coordination Office (DCO).
This briefing was the occasion to present and discuss the recently launched ITU-UNICEF report on Connectivity in Education: Status and recent developments in non-European Union countries which provides aggregate and country-level updates on connectivity in education in 9 countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The briefing also aimed to generate concrete impact at the country level by pinpointing key gaps, stimulating the discussion on country level needs, and identifying possible actions to be undertaken to address remaining challenges.
The report Connectivity in Education reviews the status of ICTs as drivers of i) digital skills development, ii) e-governance of education systems, and iii) smart and flexible education delivery at school and at home. For each country and at the aggregate level, it provides i) an overview of education systems and broadband markets at the country level, ii) an overview of government strategies in education and connectivity and the role foreseen for connectivity in education, iii) an account of multi-stakeholder partnerships and financing mechanisms for investment in school connectivity, and iv) an overview of the responses each country has undertaken to COVID-19 towards ensuring continuity of learning through ICTs.
Since 2019, ITU and UNICEF have also been collaborating on Giga, an initiative to connect every school to the internet and every young person to information, opportunity, and choice. Giga uses an 11-step approach to work with partner countries to systematically help governments connect every school to the internet: Map; Connect; Finance; Empower. As of October 2021, Giga is connected 2900 prototype in 19 countries, mapped 1 million schools across 40 countries, and has directly mobilized 22M USD in resources. Though Giga is not currently active in the European Region (besides some data collection/school mapping activities in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina), Giga will continue to mobilize resources, including the launch of a 5B USD Giga bond, to expand and deepen activities into additional countries. ITU and UNICEF could deepen collaboration on resource mobilization opportunities for Giga within the EU donor community, as well as identify potential future Giga countries in the region.
In line with the regional framework of the UN Sustainable Development System, this briefing provided an example of multi-agency cooperation strengthening the delivery of UN system in terms of accuracy, reach and impact at the regional level.
