The African Union Commission's Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation Department (AU-ESTI) held an the in-person Continental Coordination and Capacity Forum for CESA Thematic Clusters on 28-30 April 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya to advance implementation, resilience, and monitoring of CESA 26–35 and CTVET-34. AU-ESTI formally inaugurated and operationalized the CESA thematic clusters together with their governance structures and reporting mechanisms, and provided an opportunity for the representatives of Member States, RECs, and partners present to enhance coordination among themselves. The forum also discussed the draft cluster workplans presented, and explored ways to build institutional capacity for implementation and monitoring, and to facilitate knowledge exchange on best practices.

AU-ESTI confirmed ADEA as co-lead, together with AU/IPED, for the CESA Cluster on Education System Governance, Policy, and Finance. As a follow-up, ADEA is co-organizing with AU/IPED a virtual inaugural meeting of this cluster on Thursday, 1st October 2026, from 10am – 12pm GMT. 

The objectives of the meeting include: 

• Presentation of the Cluster, its scope under the four focus areas (policy and system governance; education financing; partnerships and coordination; and education Data, M&E and SDG 4). 
• Membership composition.
• Agreement on the rotational coordination of the four focus areas, and the draft work plan.

The forum is expected to have between 20 and 30 participants from countries, RECs, and key partners.