Goals of the Second Decade of Education

This brief on the educational performance of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Regional Economic Community tracks the status of the eight components of the African Union’s Plan of Action for the Second Decade of Education. The coverage of education statistics for the associated member states is notably poor and hence much remains to be learned about the region. However, this brief serves as a basis for review until the opportunities arise to investigate and learn more about the region’s education and training sector.

Beyond the African Union’s soon-ending Second Decade of Education for Africa, education and training continues to resonate with the continental body’s 50-year “Agenda 2063” strategy, placing a premium on human capacity development and youth empowerment. This brief explores ECOWAS progress in achieving the goals of the Second Decade, which stretches from 2006 to 2015, to help answer the “what next” question in the post-2015 development agenda.