PHILADELPHIA—As the leading global standards-setting organization and world’s largest credentials evaluation organization for nursing and allied health professions, CGFNS International, Inc. is acutely aware of the importance and relevance of academic, professional, and vocational education, especially within the health and allied professions.
In recognition of the International Day of Education, CGFNS International joined with the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), The Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE), and Dianova International in issuing a joint 26-point statement. The statement reaffirms education as a human right, a public good, and a public responsibility, and calls for “education to increase hope and decrease fear.”
As we look beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, the global migration of nurses, health workers, students, and others will most definitely increase. In this light, CGFNS affirms the right to education beyond borders. “Educational portability,” the statement reads, “whether for economic migrants, international students, displaced persons, or refugees, is now a requirement for our increasingly globalized world.”
What the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us in real time is the true determination and commitment of nurses and healthcare workers around the world. As a society, we must recognize the many contributions that healthcare migrants have made in filling workforce shortages and improving the nation’s health. This of course is a product of their lifelong learning continuum from initial education to licensure and practice to continuing education, professional development, and revalidation.
Within the context of the International Day of Education, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the momentous UN Global Compact for Migration, CGFNS International recognizes both the importance of education in transforming individuals into global citizens and in enabling that education to be recognized across borders.
The joint statement closed with an urgent call for “advocacy and partnerships for education among civil society organizations, and among NGOs, the UN System, and States.”
Read the full statement here.