What:  The African Union Commission (AUC), through the Pan African Institute for Education for Development (AU-IPED) and as part of the Global Partnership for Education’s Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX) Africa 19 consortium, is convening the 3rd KIX Knowledge Café for Developing Country Partners (DCPs). The session will explore the theme: “Building Financially Sustainable Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) for Africa’s Future”.

When: 7 October 2025, from 14:00 – 16:00 (EAT)

Where: Virtual

Register Here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/_Ed4cfHnSXWANYkeQGz-hA#/registration

Registration is required. Upon registering, participants will receive a confirmation email and calendar invite with details on how to join.

Who: The African Union Commission through the African Union Pan African Institute for Education for Development (AU-IPED), in collaboration with the Global Partnership for Education’s Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Why:

Strong, reliable, and financially sustainable EMIS are essential for effective education planning, policymaking, and equitable resource allocation. Yet many countries across Africa continue to face chronic underfunding and dependence on short-term project-based support. This Knowledge Café will provide a collaborative platform for policymakers, EMIS leads, and partners to share experiences, explore innovative financing approaches, and discuss how to integrate EMIS into domestic budgets, align donor support, and advocate for long-term investments in education data systems.

Objectives

• Facilitate peer learning and knowledge exchange on sustainable EMIS financing.
• Explore strategies for integrating EMIS costs into domestic budgets.
• Share innovative models and best practices for long-term financing.
• Highlight persistent challenges and overlooked operational costs of EMIS.
• Contribute to building resilient, data-driven education systems aligned with CESA 26-35 and SDG 4.

The Knowledge Café builds on the July 2025 session, which focused on responsive national EMIS policies, and moves the conversation forward by addressing how these policies can be matched with sustainable financing. The programme will feature interventions from EMIS Leads in Ethiopia, Lesotho, Liberia, and Sierra Leone who will share their challenges and opportunities in financing EMIS, alongside insights from the African Population and Health Research Centre (APRHC) - a KIX grantee, and UNICEF.

For media inquiries, please contact:

1. Mr. Lukman Olawale Jaji | Policy Officer ICT and Documentation, Pan-African Institute of Education for Development (IPED) | Email: JajiL@africanunion.org
2. Mr. Gamal Eldin Ahmed A. Karrar | Senior Communication Officer | Information and Communication Directorate (ICD), African Union Commission | E-mail: GamalK@africanunion.org