Global Citizenship Education & Advocacy | IDEA

IDEA signs citizenship statement and encourages organisations to support

October 6, 2026

IDEA has signed a joint civil society statement, We build Ireland together: Citizenship is how we make that official, and encourages other organisations to lend their support. Led by the Irish Refugee Council, the initiative calls on Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, to withdraw proposals that would make it harder to gain Irish citizenship. The statement argues that citizenship recognises the belonging of people who put down roots here through working, studying, raising families, paying taxes and contributing to community life. It warns that granting citizenship only to people with a high income and no experience of hardship risks treating some people as more deserving of belonging than others. It also raises concerns about the proposals alongside wider changes to family reunification, income requirements for migrant workers and international protection. Taken together, the statement warns, these measures make it harder for migrants, people seeking protection and refugees to build secure lives in Ireland. IDEA members including AkiDwA, ActionAid Ireland, Africa Solidarity Centre Ireland, Comhlámh and Síolta Chroí have signed, alongside organisations from across civil society. IDEA’s support reflects the emphasis in Development Education and Global Citizenship Education on human rights, equality, solidarity and participation in society. It is also an expression of solidarity with colleagues, educators and communities who could be affected by these proposals. People who put down roots here and contribute to our communities should have a fair opportunity to gain citizenship and the security and recognition it brings. The statement calls on the Minister to focus instead on building a cohesive society that recognises the people who live, work and build Ireland together. To find out more or add your organisations support please get in touch through IDEA or the Irish Refugee Council direct.

IDEA calls for GCE to be included in Northern Ireland’s new curriculum framework

October 6, 2026

IDEA calls for GCE to be included in Northern Ireland’s new curriculum framework IDEA recently shared its views on the new draft Northern Ireland Curriculum Framework as part of the public consultation, which closed on 30 September. Our submission welcomed the framework’s aim to give learners “access to powerful knowledge and develop the skills needed to participate fully in society, the economy and civic life.” However, we also highlighted a key gap: “global” has been dropped from the scope of citizenship education within the curriculum. Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is not mentioned at all. Alongside an important focus on the local reality in the North, we consider it vital that the curriculum also addresses the global reality. As UNESCO puts it, “economically, environmentally, socially and politically, we are linked to other people on the planet as never before” (UNESCO, 2026). We recommended integrating key dimensions of GCE and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into the framework without creating a new strand or making widespread amendments. Changes to the language and framing could embed GCE and ESD principles in the core capabilities and in subjects such as Geography, History, English and Drama, and Personal, Social, Civic and Careers (PSCC). Our recommendations echoed the key asks of the CADA submission . IDEA also contributed to that submission through a focus group discussion and by reviewing and providing feedback on the draft. Our recommendations were to: Include GCE and ESD as concepts in the capabilities document and cross-reference them in the subjects for Geography, History, English and Drama and PSCC. Include the concept of global citizenship in the capabilities document and in PSCC, as a distinct but complementary concept to citizenship and civic understanding. Include the concepts of solidarity, justice and local-global interconnection and interdependence (and thus shared responsibility) in the subjects English and Drama and PSCC. Increase the progression of human rights knowledge in PSCC across Stages towards its global application by Key Stage 3. Add shared responsibility and justice as key dimensions of sustainable development and global inequality to the environmental and ecological responsibility capability, as well as to Geography. Include addressing misinformation, disinformation and factchecking under the language and communication capability and in English and PSCC. Build on Northern Ireland’s experience of peace education by including opportunities, particularly in History and PSCC, for pupils to explore connections between peace and reconciliation locally and globally as part of GCE and ESD. Thank you to IDEA members who reviewed our submission and provided feedback. You can read our full submission here .