In preparation for the World Conference on Higher Education (Paris, 5-9 October 1998), chaired by the Minister of Education of Senegal, an Africa Region Consultation (go to unesco.org/educnews/96) was held in Dakar from 1 to 4 April 1997, at which the Declaration and the Plan of Action on Higher Education in Africa were adopted. This “African position”, based in particular on the results of seminars on higher education in Africa organized in the framework of the Priority Africa Programme 1990-1995, and the recommendations of Audience Africa, was brought to the attention of the World Conference.

The seventh Conference of Ministers of Education of African States (MINEDAF VII) (Durban, South Africa, 20-24 April 1998), organized by UNESCO in cooperation with the Organization of African Unity, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the South African Government, had as its theme lifelong education for all in Africa. The discussions dealt in particular with :

-Basic education in Africa; providing universal access to education
-Looking to the Future II: closing the gender gap
-Looking to the Future III: promoting relevance and efficiency, and improving the quality of education
-Education and African regional integration
-Mobilizing and introducing measures to promote lifelong education.

The following documents on education in Africa were prepared by UNESCO for the Conference:

Lifelong education for all in Africa: what strategies for the twenty-first century?, which is based primarily on the promotion of continuing education for all, and takes into account both the United Nations Special Initiative on Africa and the work of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Decade of Education in Africa (1997-2006).

Development of Education in Africa : statistical study. This document contains a quantitative analysis of trends observed in the development of education since 1988.

Report on the state of education in Africa, 1997: Challenges and reconstruction, which is an in-depth study of action to promote the development of education on the African continent, education being rightly regarded as the prerequisite for sustainable global development.

Report on the state of education in Africa, 1995. Education strategies for the 1990s - Orientations and achievements deals with the follow-up efforts in the Africa region to implement the MINEDAF VI recommendations (Dakar, 8-11 July 1991).

The Conference afforded an opportunity for ministers to commit themselves to working for a new vision of Africa, based on the strengthening of education and the untiring promotion of human rights and the culture of peace and democracy, particularly in the year 2000 - the International Year for the Culture of Peace.

At the conclusion of its work, the Conference adopted the Durban Statement of Commitment (go to DURBAN Conference) which contains the following Final Resolve :

We, the Ministers of Education of African Member States, conscious of our commitments as articulated in the foregoing, are resolved to work together towards regional integration within the framework of OAU and the African Economic Community, and call upon UNESCO and our regional and international partners to give priority support to our capacity-building and reform efforts, so that together we can shape education as the lead instrument in the fashioning of the African Renaissance.