Bramble Network
Bramble Network is set to culminate the International Day of Education Stakeholders’ Dialogue on March 6 at American Corner Ikeja, Lagos, in partnership with American Corner Lagos and Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Association of Nigeria. The event is tagged The Power of Youth in Co-creating Education and will continue conversations around the UN’s 2026 focus on shaping the future of education through meaningful youth involvement.
The International Education Stakeholders’ Dialogue has remained Bramble Network’s annual initiative to mark the International Day of Education, bringing together educators, stakeholders, education practitioners and students to discuss ways in which education can be enhanced and improved.
For 2026, the event began in Ibadan and was also held in Ogbomosho and Ondo in January, drawing participation from education practitioners, school administrators, policy advocates and students to explore the theme of shaping the future of education with the involvement of youth.
The recent editions opened conversations on the indelible role youth can play in transforming education for the better in the future. Speakers and panelists at the events emphasized youth empowerment and inclusion as core approaches to building an effective and strong support system for sustainable education policies.
Moreover, according to a recent UNESCO Lead with Youth report, published on January 23, 2026, ahead of International Day of Education, only one in three countries currently has formal mechanisms to involve young people in education decision-making, and only 20 percent of youth organisations feel truly heard in shaping these policies.
This reveals a global gap between inviting youth to the table and actually listening to them. In cases where youth and student organisations show participation, it is often less effective, as they are merely invited to the table without being truly heard.
In response, the global community seeks to co-create sustainable education not only with governments and primary education stakeholders, but by building frameworks that recognize, empower and include the active participation of youth.
Bramble Network has committed, through this Education Stakeholders’ Dialogue, to starting conversations that reinforce and sensitize youth on the importance of their role and the impact they can create within the education sector.
So far, the dialogues have explored and highlighted youth empowerment as one of the major ways to ensure meaningful contribution. This also requires government effort in encouraging youth participation, while creating frameworks that recognize and include youth contributions in strengthening the education sector.
