This blog is authored by Quentin Wodon, Director of UNESCO's International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA).

If you are like me, you probably get much of the information and knowledge you seek on education from the web. At UNESCO IICBA, over the last few years, we have seen a large increase in the number of users visiting our website. The Figure below provides the trends, with the number of web users in 2022 standardized at an index value of 100. In 2025, the number of users was about 25 times higher than in 2022. This blog explains how this was achieved and what some of the lessons learned are.
 

Starting in 2023, IICBA took steps to strengthen its communications, including: (1) the adoption of a new motto and visual identity for publications; (2) the launch of a new website; and (3) the launch of a weekly blog and electronic monthly newsletter. Through these and other steps, the Institute’s visibility increased, including the just mentioned 25-fold increase in website users. Website events, a measure of engagement, increased even more. Yet if you look behind headline numbers, specific actions helped.

First, in early 2024, we created country pages that provide in a succinct way key data and information on education systems. These pages are today among the most visited on our website, and we are currently updating and improving them further to provide more information across countries.

Second, a few months ago, we launched a new Africa Education Knowledge Platform. Supported in part by the Knowledge Innovation Exchange (KIX) program, the platform includes policy documents, case studies, research papers, and other knowledge products, emphasizing evidence-based decision-making and innovations. Aligned with the strategic areas of the African Union’s new Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA) 2026-35, the platform fosters knowledge-sharing and collaboration, connecting African and global education stakeholders and creating opportunities for mutual learning.

The platform currently holds close to 600 documents and each month additional references are added. It is easily searchable through filters (countries, types of documents, regional focus, themes or topics, year, language, and CESA 26-35 strategic areas). As stated in the CESA, its strategic areas (SAs) are as follows:

• SA1: Resources and enabling environment. This broad SA covers issues from pre-primary to higher education related to funding, governance, infrastructure, curriculum and learning resources, and sector-wide policy, including recognition of the fact that different service providers (public, private, faith-based, others) contribute in important ways to education systems.
• SA2: Teachers, educators, and caregivers. This SA covers issues pertaining to the recruitment, career progression, and professional development of teachers, educators or instructors (e.g., for TVET), and caregivers (e.g., for children under 3 years old) as well as their well-being. This relates to salaries and benefits, but also to leadership and accountability, and to teachers’ mental health and motivation.
• SA3: Pre-primary to secondary education, with a focus on early learning and foundational, socio-emotional, and 21st century and labor market skills. This SA focuses on outcomes for learners, recognizing the different types of skills that they need to acquire, as well as the fact that schools should promote health and well-being among students as well as 21st century skills, including for the labor market. The issues matter most for pre-primary to secondary education even if they remain relevant at higher levels.
• SA4: Higher Education and TVET. This SA covers post-secondary education where specific challenges must be met, including links between education, innovation, and economic development.
• SA5: Second chance programs and lifelong learning. This SA covers issues related to second chance programs for children and youth out-of-school, including to promote re-entry into school, and the need to provide lifelong learning opportunities for all.
• SA6: Gender, equity, and inclusion. This key SA emphasizes the need for education systems to serve the entire population, with special attention to be given to gender, equity, and inclusion.
• Cross-cutting themes: Several themes or mega-trends are cross-cutting and need attention, including (i) digitalization and AI; (ii) greening education; and (iii) education in emergencies.

Coverage of resources is currently better for the first three areas, with 188 resources for SA1 Resources and Enabling Environment, 128 for SA2 Teachers, Educators, and Caregivers, and 189 for SA3 Basic Education (Foundational, Socio-emotional, and Labor Market Ready Skills), as well as 129 for SA6 Gender, Equity, and Inclusion. Fewer publications are listed for other areas: 46 for SA4 Higher Education and TVET, 25 for SA5 Second Chance Programs and Lifelong Learning, and 88 for Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation (some publications may cover more than one area). As we expand the platform, we will pay special attention to the areas with fewer resources listed.

Third, linked to the platform, IICBA also started preparing Knowledge Kits related to the Africa Teachers Webinar Series, a monthly webinar series sharing experiences from good practices in teacher professional development and broader teacher policies. Webinars are organized in sets of three on a particular topic. After each set of three webinars, a Knowledge Kit is made available on IICBA’s website under Research – Knowledge Kits. The Knowledge Kits provides summaries and resources related to the webinars, with three sections: (1) Summaries of presentations made during the webinars by speakers; (2) General resources on teachers in Africa; and (3) Specific resources related to the topics of the webinars. The list of resources includes documents recommended by speakers, as well as other relevant research and thematic materials. All the documents listed are available on the platform.

Fourth, under its new publication series, IICBA launched Knowledge Briefs as well as Data Briefs. Many of these briefs are country-specific, analyzing data across countries on a common topic. For example, building on data collected by UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report, we just published a series of briefs on completion rates by education level and gender to make the data more accessible and used.

It will take a bit of time to assess whether these new services will prove useful, but we will keep learning by doing, expanding IICBA’s website so that it can provide more information for all those who care about educational outcomes in Africa and especially the role of teachers in improving those outcomes. We invite you to explore our website, and we welcome suggestions that you may have to improve it. To provide such suggestions, please write to info.iicba@unesco.org.

 Related links & resources

• Africa Teachers Webinar Series
• UNESCO IICBA
• Global Report on Teachers
• Teacher Professional Development Guide
• Regional Teachers’ Initiative for Africa (RTIA)

Image credit: Maglara/Shutterstock.com

This blog is authored by Quentin Wodon, Director of UNESCO's International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA).

Sharing experiences from good practices in teacher professional development and broader teacher policies is a priority shared by many organizations in Africa. In early 2025, five such organizations combined forces to organize a new, open access monthly webinar series – the Africa Teachers Webinar Series (registration is free here). Recordings of the webinars and the PowerPoint presentations used by speakers are made available after the webinars at https://www.iicba.unesco.org/en/webinars-events.

The five organizations co-sponsoring the webinar series are, alphabetically, (1) the Africa Federation of Teacher Regulatory Authorities, (2) the African Union represented by its Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation Department, (3) the European Union through its Regional Teachers Initiative for Africa, (4) the Global Partnership for Education through its Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX), a joint endeavor with the International Development Research Centre, Canada, and finally (5) UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA), whose staff lead the webinar series and work closely with each of the other organizations, including by managing the Africa 19 Hub for KIX with a focus on anglophone African countries.

The webinar series is organized in blocks of three sessions on specific themes, with experts, researchers, and practitioners sharing promising practices, useful resources and frameworks, and practical strategies. In 2025, the first block of three webinars focused on issues related to the continuous professional development (CPD) of teachers in Africa. The second block of three webinar focused on issues related to the new Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2026-2035 adopted by the African Union. The third block again with three webinars focused on education for health and well-being.

What have we learned so far?

Nine webinars were organized in 2025 with a total of about 2,800 participants for the year (including about 300 participants in person for two webinars that were hybrid). After each webinar, a short evaluation survey is sent to participants. As an illustration of results, responses after the first webinar on teacher continuous professional development (CPD) are tabulated in the Figures below. Most participants found that webinar useful to understand the evidence on the situation, best practices, and challenges faced in designing and implementing effective CPD programs. Participants also suggest that the webinar met their expectations. These results are encouraging, and similar findings have been observed for the other webinars organized in 2025.

There are also some areas for improvement. Translation is provided in English, French, and Portuguese for all webinars. Yet most participants come from anglophone countries, and very few are from Portuguese-speaking countries. The countries with high participation rates include Nigeria, Uganda, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Zambia, with Côte d’Ivoire being the only francophone countries appearing as a a top 5 country for the number of participants in some of the webinars. Clearly, additional efforts are needed to better reach francophone and Portuguese stakeholders. On the other hand, there is gender balance among participants, with almost exactly half being men, and half women. There is also a good mix between education officers, teachers, and others. Many participants join all three webinars in any given sub-series, even if some prefer to attend only one or two of the webinars in a sub-series.

Participants also gave us feedback through open-ended questions in the satisfaction surveys. They appreciate practical, localized case studies that help connect theory to classroom realities. This is why each webinar includes a short keynote, a main presentation, and three case studies. Although Zoom sends reminders to those who have registered, participants appreciate more reminders prior to webinars. They also appreciate interactions through Q&As. Some participants suggested adding more young people or even students as speakers. As to topics of interest, many suggestions were made, including peace education, higher education, inclusive education in large classrooms, digital technologies in areas without connectivity, AI-related teaching and learning, ICT integration in teaching and learning, teacher training in marginalized contexts, safe learning environments, ECE curriculum, violence in school, integration of health and well-being into lesson delivery, and school leadership (this list is not exhaustive).

Webinars are typically organized on a Thursday at 3 pm East African Time (GMT+3). In 2026, the first set of three webinars will focus on issues related to the potential of digital skills and AI to improve educational outcomes in Africa. The first webinar on Digitalization and AI in Higher Education: From Strategy to Practice will take place at 3 pm EAT on Thursday, February 26, 2026. The second webinar on Leveraging e-Learning for Teacher Professional Development: Lifelong Learning Opportunities will take place at 3 pm EAT on Thursday, March 26, 2026. The third webinar on Defining and Measuring Digital and AI Competencies: Frameworks for Educators and Institutions will take place at 3 pm EAT on Thursday April 23, 2026. If you have ideas of presenters for the second and third webinars, please let us know at info.iicb@unesco.org as we have not yet finalized the agenda for those two webinars.

The next series of three webinars will focus on education in emergencies, and how to strengthen teacher recruitment, professional development, and retention in such contexts. Key topics will include ensuring that children and youth who are refugees or displaced receive the education they deserve, while also recognizing the qualifications of teachers who may themselves be refugees and ensuring that teacher professional development is adapted to emergency contexts. Again, if you have ideas for presenters, do not hesitate to send us an email at info.iicba@unesco.org. And if you are interested in our webinar series, please register for future webinars at https://www.iicba.unesco.org/en/webinars-events. Together, let’s draw inspiration from the insights shared at the webinars and apply our knowledge to strengthen teaching and learning in Africa and beyond!  

Related links & resources

• Africa Teachers Webinar Series
• UNESCO IICBA
• Global Report on Teachers
• Teacher Professional Development Guide
• Regional Teachers’ Initiative for Africa (RTIA)

Image credit: UNESCO/Emily Pinna