Inclusion, Civil Society, and the Right to Education: Advancing Peace and Equity through Advocacy and Accountability

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

The Comparative and International Education Society’s 2026 Annual Meeting calls for critical reflection on how education can both promote peace and sustain division. This symposium responds by bringing together four complementary papers that examine civil society’s role in advancing inclusive and peaceful education systems through advocacy, human rights frameworks, and gender and social inclusion (GESI) strategies. Drawing from the experiences of the Right to Education Initiative (RTE), the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), and the University of Minnesota (UMN), the panel demonstrates how civil society organizations (CSOs) are uniquely positioned to hold governments and global funders accountable, confront entrenched inequalities, and reimagine education as a pathway to peace.

Each paper builds from engagement with Education Out Loud (EOL), the Global Partnership for Education’s fund for advocacy and social accountability. Collectively, these contributions illustrate how EOL has enabled civil society actors in diverse contexts to develop new strategies for confronting exclusion and fostering equitable participation in education systems. By examining EOL-supported initiatives from different perspectives – human rights law (RTE), identity-based exclusion (IDS), gender and social inclusion advocacy (NFER), and regional coalition-building and media advocacy in the South Pacific (UMN) – the symposium provides a multi-dimensional exploration of how education, inclusion, and peace are negotiated in divided societies.

The panel rests on a shared theoretical foundation, while each contribution highlights a different dimension of civil society’s engagement with education. The Right to Education Initiative situates its analysis in human rights law, emphasizing education as a legally binding right and demonstrating how CSOs use human rights mechanisms to strengthen their advocacy. IDS draws on peace studies, particularly Johan Galtung’s notion of “positive peace,” to interrogate how education can either foster social cohesion or reproduce structural violence when exclusion persists. NFER applies the lens of intersectionality to show how marginalized learners experience overlapping disadvantages in education and how CSOs advocate for inclusive responses. The University of Minnesota integrates regional evidence and practical initiatives, illustrating how digital storytelling, peer learning, and advocacy narratives can deepen both the evidence base and the capacity for civil society advocacy. Together, these perspectives provide a coherent lens for understanding how civil society contributes to peace through inclusive education.

Each paper brings a unique contribution to this discussion. RTE’s paper examines how international funding frameworks shape local advocacy strategies and demonstrates that the language of rights embedded in program design can empower CSOs to frame demands in binding legal terms. IDS focuses on how civil society challenges deeply rooted forms of exclusion related to indigeneity, ethnolinguistic identity, religion, and LGBTQIA+ status, which are issues often neglected in low-income contexts. NFER sheds light on the intersectional nature of exclusion, presenting examples of advocacy that successfully challenged policy barriers, such as civil society action in Senegal that enabled undocumented students to sit for national exams. UMN combines insights from a South Pacific workshop on media-based advocacy and a GESI analysis of Asia-Pacific advocacy reports, showing how regional evidence generation and local capacity-building can reinforce each other to strengthen inclusive education systems.

Despite their different emphases, several cross-cutting findings emerge across the four papers. One recurring theme is the power of inclusive language and framing. Whether through the invocation of human rights law, the design of donor programs, or the ways CSOs articulate advocacy priorities, the framing of education strongly influences how civil society can advance change. Another shared finding is that exclusion constitutes a barrier to peace. Education that fails to address disability, indigeneity, religion, language, gender, or sexuality is not neutral; rather, it reproduces inequities that exacerbate division and conflict. At the same time, civil society emerges as an innovator, pioneering intersectional advocacy, grassroots media, and community-led data generation. The symposium also highlights the persistent challenge of inadequate data. Across contexts, the lack of disaggregated education data prevents effective policy responses, and civil society frequently steps in to generate the evidence needed to influence decision-making. Finally, all four papers underscore the risks that accompany advocacy. Civil society actors often work in environments of political hostility and limited civic space, making resilience, coalition-building, and protective strategies essential to sustaining their work.

The contributions of the symposium are significant for both scholarship and practice in inclusive education, and comparative and international education. Theoretically, the panel links inclusion, gender, disability, human rights law, peace studies, intersectionality, and civil society theory to develop a comprehensive framework for analyzing education as a site of both division and peacebuilding. Empirically, it presents evidence from multiple regions. Practically, the symposium highlights concrete approaches that can be adapted across contexts: invoking legal frameworks to hold governments accountable, building coalitions to address politically sensitive exclusions, mobilizing intersectional advocacy, and equipping civil society with media tools to amplify marginalized voices. These insights are directly relevant to policymakers, practitioners, and donors seeking to strengthen education systems in fragile and divided contexts.

In conclusion, this symposium argues that the role of civil society in education is more critical now than ever. As conflict, polarization, and democratic erosion increase worldwide, CSOs stand as both advocates and architects of inclusive, peaceful, and rights-based education systems. By foregrounding the voices and experiences of marginalized groups and holding states accountable, civil society contributes directly to the realization of education as both a human right and a foundation for peace. Through comparative analysis of initiatives supported by Education Out Loud, the panel underscores the urgent need to invest in, protect, and learn from civil society as an indispensable partner in reimagining education for peace.

Sub Unit

• Inclusive Education SIG

Chair

• Matthew Schuelka, Fora Education

Individual Presentations

• Using Human Rights Law and Mechanisms for Research and Advocacy in Education - Delphine Dorsi; Juliana Lima Vaz de Carvalho Pinheiro Moreira, Right to Education Initiative

• Combatting Educational Disparities in Low-Income Countries: How Can Civil Society Challenge Dominant Narratives and Deep-Seated Exclusions? - Colin Anderson, Institute of Development Studies; Gauthier Marchais, Institute of Development Studies

• Gender and Social Inclusion in Education Out Loud: The Role of Civil Society in Advocating for Policy Change - Gustavo Henndel Lopes, National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER); Geeta Gambhir; Maria Jose Guevara Duque; Katarzyna Kubacka

• Amplifying Voices, Advancing Inclusion: Civil Society Advocacy on Gender Equity and Social Inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean - Matthew Schuelka, Fora Education; Aditi Ashok Arur; Nancy Pellowski Wiger, University of Minnesota; Joan DeJaeghere, University of Minnesota; Christopher Johnstone, University of Minnesota