The Director of the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises has been invited by AVSI to the Rimini Meeting, where she will participate in a panel discussion on the interconnection between education and new leadership, on August 21.
Furthermore in the margins of the meeting, seeking stronger partnership with Italian institutions, Ms. Sherif will also meet Italian Foreign Affairs Vice-Minister Marina Sereni, along with several representatives of the Italian development cooperation sector and a number of diverse NGOs.
Yasmine Sherif, the Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), will be in Rimini on August 21, upon invitation of AVSI. ECW is the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. It supports quality education outcomes for girls and boys caught in armed conflicts, forced displacement, climate induced disasters and other crises. ECW works in close partnership with governments, public and private donors, UN agencies, civil society organizations, and other humanitarian and development aid actors, with the purpose of reaching and helping all children and young people whose education is disrupted by crises by 2030, so no one is left behind. Established by the World Humanitarian Summit, the fund is hosted by UNICEF.
On Saturday, August 21 at 1 PM CEST, Ms. Sherif will participate in the panel discussion “The roots of a new leadership”, which will take place in the Sala Ravezzi, at the Rimini Expo Centre. Drawing from the speakers’ different perspectives and experiences, the discussion will explore how education could best play a role in shaping a new generation of developing countries leaders who will be able to best pursuit their citizens common good, according to their own countries vision within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The panel will also benefit from the contribution of Giovanna Bottani, Senior Operation Consultant, STMicroelectronics Foundation, a corporate foundation active in Africa to address the digital gap; Erneste Nzeyimana, Director of Telecom Services Provider Ltd in Rwanda, a young manager whose education was sponsored since childhood by AVSI; Giampaolo Silvestri, AVSI Secretary-General. Paolo Lembo, former WGEO Director-General, will moderate the meeting.
The panel discussion will be open to the public and will be broadcasted on the Rimini Meeting website and all social media (www.meetingrimini.org).
Afterwards, Ms. Sherif will take part in two additional meetings: first (at 3:30 PM), with Marina Sereni, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation of Italy, along with several representatives of the Italian Development Cooperation sector, foundations and NGOs networks. Second (at 5 PM), with AVSI’s staff involved in education projects, with a focus on how to translate lessons learned during the pandemic into innovative strategies and programs benefitting the broadest youth population, particularly those young people and children whose right to education is being denied.
This visit of the Director of Education Cannot Wait is a great opportunity for AVSI, which, in its 50-year history, has always thought of education as the pivot for any development project and humanitarian intervention. For this reason, addressing the educational challenge has always been a core priority for AVSI.