Check-in for guests @ Raddison Blu Hotel, Lemigo Hotel & Mövenpick Hotel
Registration and badge pick-up @ Kigali Convention Centre
Global Learning Conference 2026 in Africa
Global Learning Conference 2026 in Africa
Global Learning Conference 2026 in Africa
Welcome
The Global Learning Conference in Africa convenes leading educators, thought leaders, policy and decision makers, entrepreneurs and multi-generational learners to address these systemic issues, to reshape the future of learning, and to drive impact at scale. The conference was co-founded by the Global Learning Council, the Villars Institute and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and the 2026 edition in Africa is co-hosted by the Rwanda Ministry of Education. This gathering offers a unique opportunity to collaborate across geographies, sectors and disciplines, to design resilient pathways for the future of learning and education, and to spark innovations that respond to our most pressing global challenges.
Afternoon
This opening session of the Global Learning Conference will take a glimpse into the current state of global education and the disruptions and dynamics reshaping learning worldwide. The conference co-hosts share the vision and goals for the event and invite participants to collectively reimagine the future of education and learning in today’s fast-changing world through insight-driven, collaborative action.
Subra Suresh
Michelle Gyles-McDonnough
Claudette Irere
Advances in artificial intelligence and automation are transforming how people enter, navigate, and progress through the workforce, reshaping career pathways and eroding many of the traditional entry points into employment. This plenary examines how these shifts are redefining the relationship between learning systems and work, and the systemic questions they raise for education, access, and lifelong opportunity. By reframing how career pathways are evolving, the session invites reflection on what future-ready skills may matter most—and how education systems can remain responsive in a time of profound workforce transformation.
Illah Nourbakhsh
By 2030, it is estimated that up to 825 million young people may lack the skills required to secure employment or participate fully in society - a growing disconnect that is accelerating rapidly as artificial intelligence and environmental pressures reshape the future of jobs and growth, particularly in economies with expanding youth populations. This plenary will explore which future-ready skills will enable learners to thrive in changing economies and societies, and how education and training systems must evolve to develop these skills at scale.
Lee Howell
Evening
This meal is prepared based on the recommendations of the EAT-Lancet Commission’s Planetary Health Diet, which provides scientific guidelines to ranges of different food groups that together constitute an optimal diet for human health and environmental sustainability.
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