Secretariat
A promise in peril
In 2015, the international community committed to include a goal on education among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). SDG 4, ‘Quality Education’ committed to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’. With just ten years to go, that promise is at serious risk.
At current rates of progress, half of the world’s 1.6 billion children and youth will be out of school or failing to learn by 2030. Meanwhile, twice as many girls as boys will never start school.
The power of parliamentary networks
The International Parliamentary Network for Education was co-founded by Executive Director Joseph Nhan-O’Reilly and former Member of the UK Parliament, Stephen Twigg, now Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
We were alarmed that the commitment set out in SDG 4 had not been followed by the necessary sustained action and political leadership.
We knew however that parliamentarians held the key to get children’s learning back on track. We had also seen the transformative impact that other parliamentary networks had achieved in driving long-term sustainable development in a range of policy areas, but there were no similar networks solely focused on education.
The Network is born
With initial financial support from Education Cannot Wait, we were able to get IPNEd up and running and appoint a small secretariat team.
The secretariat team coordinates the day-to-day activities of the Network and establishes and maintains relationships with our members and key stakeholders in the global education sector. IPNEd is hosted by RESULTS UK in London.
Joseph Nhan-O’Reilly
Executive Director
Joseph is an experienced education expert and advocate. He worked for over a decade at Save the Children leading the design and delivery of education programming and advocacy.
In 2010 Joseph was elected by northern civil society to the newly constituted Global Partnership for Education board and from 2014 to 2017 was the inaugural chair of GPE’s Strategy and Policy Committee.
He was a member of the design team for Education Cannot Wait the new global fund for education in emergencies and served on its Executive Committee. He participated in ECW’s first country visit, which was to Uganda, and resulted in ECW’s first Multi-Year Resilience Programme.
He was appointed by the UK’s Secretary of State for International Development to the UK National Commission for UNESCO where he supports the UK’s engagement with UNESCO on global education.
He is currently the Chair of the Global Book Alliance a multi-stakeholder initiative working to transform book development, procurement and distribution to ensure that no child is without books.
Beth Gum
Senior Policy and Advocacy Adviser
Beth has been working in the education sector over the last 10 years in different capacities, contexts and countries. She began her career teaching early years and primary students in low- and middle-income contexts, as well as developing curricula and resources on inclusive learning.
She holds a master’s degree in Gender Studies from Utrecht University in the Netherlands focusing on decolonial and inclusive education systems.
In her recent work in international development, Beth has conducted global training workshops on education and child protection, led advocacy and policy initiatives, and coordinated multi-stakeholder collaborations.
Corinna Keefe
Communications Officer
Corinna Keefe is a communications professional, author, and local politician. Before working in communications, she gained experience teaching and developing resources in several countries, including Spain and Austria.
She holds a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, where she studied Archaeology & Anthropology. She currently serves as a borough councillor in Tunbridge Wells.
Alongside her work with IPNEd, Corinna is also a published children’s author. Her recent books include activities and story collections for young children, drawing on storytelling traditions from all over the world.
For current opportunities to join the IPNEd Secretariat, visit our Jobs page.