Governments across the Asia-Pacific region have signed on to a range of international agreements to protect and uphold the rights of all children and young people to a safe and quality education.

For millions of learners in Asia-Pacific, the reality on the ground does not reflect those commitments – particularly for those with diverse sexualities and sex characteristics, or who do not conform to the gender roles that society has defined for them. For these learners, the promise of “inclusive and equitable quality education” captured in Sustainable Development Goal 4 remains elusive.

A UNESCO-led regional consultation addressed these issues by bringing together experts from around the region to review education sector responses to these issues as well as identify priority actions for follow-up at the national and regional levels.

A diverse group of education stakeholders – from ministry officials to human rights NGOs and teacher training institutes – met for “From Insult to Inclusion: Regional Consultation on Education Sector Responses to School Violence on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE)", from 6-7 November in Manila. Read more via UNESCO