Parliamentarians campaign for EFA


Most educationists would agree. Political will is the motor of Education for All (EFA). What better way to ensure that EFA benefits from the highest political support than through parliamentarians.

"Parliaments can stiffen the spire of political will, which is the essential basis for the drive to bring education to all," said John Daniel, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education. He was speaking at the meeting organized by UNESCO Dakar to lay the foundations for a Forum of African Parliamentarians for Education (Dakar, 21-23 January 2002). "This Forum," says Omar Sarr, Co-ordinator of the Network of Parliamentarians for Education and a Culture of Peace, "puts parliamentarians at the centre of the struggle against illiteracy and poor schooling in Africa."

The Forum, to be launched in December this year, will review legislation, monitor progress and engage in advocacy for EFA. "It's an ambitious initiative," says Graciela Samuels, Chief of the Section for UNESCO Clubs and New Partnerships. "The fifty-three country members will commit themselves to setting up EFA Commissions within their Education Committees." Armoogum Parsuramen, Director of UNESCO Dakar, hopes that this parliamentary support will result in more human and financial resources for schools and better quality education all round.

The usefulness of the Forum leaves no doubt in the mind of Ibrahim Fall, Secretary-General of the African Parliamentary Union: "Parliamentarians are the best placed to know the aspirations of the people and translate them into laws or to bring them before government," he says.

Other regional parliaments are also adopting the education-for-all banner. Representatives of the Latin American and Caribbean parliament, PARLATINO, and UNESCO Santiago met in São Paolo, Brazil, 15 and 16 March, to explore how best to push the EFA agenda forward.

In late May, European Development Ministers will agree on an action plan on basic education. The European Union's Resolution on Basic Education for Developing Countries in the context of the UN Special Session on Children in May goes in the same direction. "We will be pressing for action for basic education at the Special Session and at the G8 meeting in the summer," says Glenys Kinnock, Member of the European Parliament.

Contacts: A. Parsuramen, UNESCO Dakar,
E-mail: a.parsuramen@unesco.org;
and G. Samuels, Section for UNESCO Clubs and
New Partnerships; E-mail: g.samuels@unesco.org

Much more on www.unesco.org/education/efa

Education Today, Executive Office, Education Sector, UNESCO
7, place de Fontenoy - 75352 Paris 07 SP - France - Tel: 33 1 45 68 21 27 - Fax: 33 1 45 68 56 26/27
E:mail: t.murtagh@unesco.org