Global Dialogue addresses AI risks and disparities

7 July 2026 | ITU

​The Preliminary Report by the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence provides an evidence-based assessment of the risks and opportunities presented by a defining technology of our time. “Concentrated commercial and geopolitical interests are largely dictating the speed and direction of the development and deployment of AI,” said Panel Co-Chair Yoshua Bengio. “We need a coordinated international and democratic approach with science and compassion remaining as our compass in navigating AI.”

Blog: More than medals - The role of sport in building stronger communities

8 July 2026 | Commonwealth Secretariat

Access to sport for all is incredibly important because when intentionally utilised, sport serves as a bridge to a better and more integrated society. In the Commonwealth, sport is a high value asset that brings together communities and societies. It has a popular appeal, particularly to our young people, who make up around 60 per cent of the 2.7 billion population across the 56 member countries. Globally and around the Commonwealth, 2026 is a big year for sport. In July, the 2026 Commonwealth Games will take place in Glasgow from 23 July to 2 August.   

Gender equity in access to education in Africa: A look at gender equity in education in Africa to accompany the 2026 GEM Report

2026 | UNESCO

This policy paper is an accompanying publication on gender equity and access to education in Africa to the 2026 GEM Report developed by the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and the GEM Report. The paper examines progress and persistent challenges in advancing gender equity in education access across Africa, focusing on key indicators of participation and attainment. It explores out-of-school and completion rates in primary and secondary education, as well as enrolment and attainment in post-secondary education.

Advancing Caribbean Teachers’ maths programme completed by 29 Bajans

3 July 2026 | Barbados Today

Twenty-nine Barbadian secondary school teachers have completed a six-month regional mathematics training programme aimed at tackling persistent weaknesses in the subject and improving classroom practice across the Caribbean. They joined 55 teachers from Dominica and Grenada to form the second cohort of the Advancing Caribbean Teachers (ACT) in Mathematics Initiative. They were recognised in a closing ceremony held at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) headquarters on Thursday.

UNESCO's Caribbean AI Roadmap wins regional backing

7 July 2026 | UNESCO

The UNESCO Office for the Caribbean was pleased to present the UNESCO Caribbean Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy Roadmap at the 126th Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development – Information and Communication Technologies (COTED-ICT), a principal organ of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). During the meeting, members of COTED-ICT endorsed the Roadmap, sending a significant and strong signal of the region's shared approach to AI.

AFTRA sponsors appreciation engagement celebrates partnerships that drove continental success

3 July 2026 | The Voice, Botswana

The Bot­swana Teach­ing Pro­fes­sion­als Coun­cil (BOTEPCO) as the host author­ity of the Africa Fed­er­a­tion of Teach­ing Reg­u­lat­ory Author­it­ies (AFTRA) 13th Teach­ing and Learn­ing Con­fer­ence and 15th Round Table, con­vened an AFTRA Spon­sors Appre­ci­ation Engage­ment on Thursday, 25 June 2026 in Gabor­one. The ses­sion served as a formal post­con­fer­ence review, bring­ing together the spon­sors and part­ners whose sup­port under­pinned the suc­cess of the con­tin­ental con­fer­ence, and invited them to reflect on its out­comes, con­sider feed­back, and con­sol­id­ate les­sons for future col­lab­or­a­tion.

Govt plans zero-rated education platforms to improve school internet

30 June 2026 | The New Times, Rwanda

The Ministry of Education is working with internet service providers to introduce zero-rated access to education platforms used in schools and host frequently used school services in local data centres as part of efforts to improve internet performance. The plans were outlined on Monday, June 29, during a hearing before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), where lawmakers raised concerns that Internet coverage remains limited in some parts of schools and connection speeds remain slow despite significant investments in connectivity.

SPARC-led project marks major milestone in advancing gender equality nationwide

9 July 2026 | Daily Parliament Times, Pakistan

The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and Bedari, with the support of Global Affairs Canada (GAC), successfully concluded the three year Empowering Women & Girls (EWG) Project. The project completion ceremony brought together policymakers, government officials, development partners, civil society organizations, academia, journalists, community leaders, and project beneficiaries to celebrate its achievements, reflect on key lessons learned, and reaffirm a shared commitment to advancing gender equality and empowering women and girls across Pakistan.

TVET Commission to be finalised by year-end, says Zahid

5 Jul 2026 | The Star, Malaysia

The establishment of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Commission, together with the tabling of the related legislation in Parliament, is expected to be finalised by the end of this year. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the commission would be set up to replace the National TVET Council as part of efforts to further strengthen the country's TVET ecosystem.

Frugal AI: Bringing practical, locally governed AI within reach

2 July 2026 | Commonwealth of Learning

Recently, Google DeepMind released Gemma 4 12B, a 12-billion-parameter multimodal language model designed to run locally on laptop-class hardware with sufficient memory. The model supports text, image, and audio inputs, works across 140 languages, and is released under the Apache 2.0 licence, allowing broad use, adaptation, and deployment. While the release attracted little fanfare, it raises an important point for education across the Commonwealth: where AI runs matters.