Calls for urgent investment to empower people amid rising disinformation, racism, and polarisation

Irish Global Citizenship Education sector launches Vision to 2030

The Global Citizenship Education (GCE) sector today called for greater investment to empower people to respond effectively to the challenges of an increasingly divided and uncertain world. The call came at the launch of Vision 2030: Towards a Society of Active Global Citizens - a new roadmap for Global Citizenship Education across the island of Ireland to 2030.

Speaking at the launch, Ruairí McKiernan, CEO of the Irish Development Education Association (IDEA), said:

“We are living in an age of great turbulence and division - marked by climate breakdown, hunger, conflict, and the marginalisation of vulnerable groups, alongside a dangerous rise in disinformation, racism, and social polarisation.

Global Citizenship Education offers a vital antidote. It helps people make sense of a complex and interconnected world, to join the dots between local and global issues, and to see their own power to create change. Above all, it builds resilience, empathy, and shared understanding - the foundations of peace and democracy. There has never been a greater need for investment in this work.”

Senator Alice-Mary Higgins, member of both the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Joint Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy, said:

“We are all citizens of an amazing world. Global Citizenship Education shows you how you are already connected to what's happening around the world. It helps you understand how you are part of it. It allows you to build solidarity with others and understand how you can make positive change. In policy and politics, we make decisions about how we want to live together. Global Citizenship Education equips people to be part of that decision. It also makes you think about who is in the room, and what are the values that inform these decisions.”

Deputy Cathal Crowe TD, Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth, said:

“Vision 2030 shows how Global Citizenship Education can be embedded more deeply across our education system - from schools and youth work to higher and adult education. It’s about equipping learners with the understanding and skills to engage critically with the world around them, and to become active citizens shaping a fairer, more sustainable future.”

Bobby McCormack, Chair of IDEA and CEO of Development Perspectives, added:

“Between 2021 and 2024, Ireland invested €33.6 million in programmes that enabled more than 1.2 million people across this island to become informed and active global citizens. That investment created strong foundations across education systems and communities, positioning Ireland as a European leader in this field. Now those foundations must be protected and strengthened to counter the rising tides of intolerance and misinformation.”

Developed by IDEA and its members, Vision 2030 sets out clear priorities for the decade ahead, including:

• Increased investment to meet the internationally recognised target of 3% of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for Global Citizenship Education by 2030.
• A coordinated, cross-departmental approach to integrate Global Citizenship Education across national policies in education, international development, climate action, and community development.
• Expanded reach and equity across formal, non-formal, and informal learning settings throughout the island of Ireland.
• Enhanced impact and accountability, through stronger measurement, research, and promotion of the IDEA Code of Good Practice for Development Education.
• Strengthened cross-border collaboration, connecting practitioners North and South through coordinated initiatives and shared learning.

Global Citizenship Education contributes directly to Ireland’s policy goals in education, climate action, justice, youth, and international development - helping to build a society of engaged, informed, and active citizens. Vision 2030 outlines how this can be achieved and what supports are needed at government level to ensure quality Global Citizenship Education is available to everyone.

Speakers at the event included Deputy Cathal Crowe TD, Senator Alice-Mary Higgins, Ruairí McKiernan (CEO of IDEA), Bobby McCormack (CEO of Development Perspectives and Chair of IDEA), Conor O’Leary (Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board), Kirsten Baltazar (participant in STAND’s Global Citizenship Education Programme), and Leigh Brady (Policy and Advocacy Manager at IDEA).

Vision 2030 is available here.