Together with UNESCO, APCEIU co-hosted the fourth iteration of the GCED Actors' Platform Meeting on 16 November 2022. The meeting gathered regional coordinators, members and related stakeholders from 4 Regional GCED Networks, including the Arab States, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa, to share their achievements in advancing GCED in their respective regions over the past year and discuss potential ways to strengthen GCED implementation on both regional and global levels. 

The meeting began with the opening remarks from Mr Hyun Mook Lim, Director of APCEIU. In his remarks, Mr Lim reiterated the objectives of the annual GCED Actors' Platform Meeting. Furthermore, he shared APCEIU's commitment to continue its support for the regional GCED network activities, including a new initiative involving UNESCO Chairs relating to GCED. 

Following the opening remarks, Ms Cecilia Barbieri, Chief of the Section of Global Citizenship and Peace Education at UNESCO, welcomed the participants and provided highlights on the progress of GCED implementation on national, regional and global levels. As gaps and challenges remain, she also mentioned the importance of ongoing dialogue with stakeholders from various regions to understand how GCED has been implemented to ensure effective programmes and strategies responding positively to the needs on the ground. Additionally, Ms Barbieri shared UNESCO's plans to review the realization of SDG 4 on Quality Education starting in 2023 and her anticipation for how this meeting will contribute positively to this effort. 

Building on these remarks, Ms Barbieri gave a presentation on the future directions of GCED. APCEIU also gave participants updates on APCEIU programmes and activities for 2022. Regional coordinators and key partners from 4 regions were also invited to share the latest GCED programmes/initiatives, identified challenges and opportunities for implementing GCED and suggestions for joint GCED actions. 

The participants also engaged in a discussion session led by Director Lim of APCEIU. The discussion covered issues such as the inclusion of teachers and young people's voices in the integration process of GCED into the national curriculum, the importance of GCED capacity building targeting teachers and teacher trainers, expansion of Network activities, availability of GCED-related platforms and materials in local languages, and ways for stakeholders to contribute to the revision of the 1974 UNESCO Recommendation concerning education for international understanding, co-operation and peace and education relating to human rights and fundamental freedoms.

In the closing session, Ms Lydia Ruprecht, Team Leader of the Section of Global Citizenship and Peace Education at UNESCO, provided a summary of the meeting discussion. Three trends were shared, including 1) interdisciplinary/intersectionality of the works on GCED, 2) data and research usage to ensure informed and strategic programme implementation, and 3) increasing regional dynamics on GCED contextualization. Ms Ruprecht also shared the entry points to enhance GCED implementation, covering the issues of assessment, involvement of youths and higher education, and the criticality of GCED as a politically relevant issue to tackle contemporary challenges.