The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) has placed gender equality at the center of education reform through its GPE 2025 strategy, integrating gender considerations into planning, financing, and policy dialogue. As a result, all GPE implementation grants now include at least one activity promoting gender equality, and the share of funding supporting gender-focused initiatives increased from 34% to 68%. Programs such as the Girls’ Education Accelerator and Ethiopia’s expan

This week’s Field Notes point to a growing tension: digital technologies and AI are expanding rapidly, while the systems meant to govern them are struggling to keep pace. Across recent reports and policy discussions, a consistent pattern emerges. Technology is opening new pathways for education, innovation, and social participation,but without strong safeguards, it is also introducing new forms of risk, particularly for children and other vulnerable groups. Efforts to regulat

Uganda has begun a national consultation process with UNESCO to assess how the country can responsibly adopt artificial intelligence while protecting human rights. Through the UNESCO AI Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM), government institutions, researchers, civil society groups, and youth innovators are working together to evaluate Uganda’s technological capacity, data systems, and governance structures before expanding AI use. The goal is to ensure that AI development

This report highlights an important challenge for today’s digital generation: while online platforms such as social media, gaming, and video-sharing services provide opportunities for learning and connection, they also expose children to risks like exploitation, harmful content, and privacy violations. Governments are increasingly introducing regulations to make digital spaces safer, but these policies must be carefully designed to protect children while respecting rights suc

This case shows that digital technology and artificial intelligence are not only tools for innovation, but also potential drivers of educational equity. UNESCO’s work in Eastern and Southern Africa demonstrates how technology can help close learning gaps when it is designed with accessibility in mind. Through the Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future (O3) program, mobile phones, radio, and messaging platforms are used to deliver essential information on health, gender equality,