Worldwide Action in Education Regional Action for Education

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The Regional Programmes

The Bases of Regional Co-operation

Street Libraries in Manila

In the regions, UNESCO's mission is to assist in establishing and operating institutions dedicated to education, research and cultural development; help countries to formulate national policies that will achieve these goals; stimulate debate on important topics; strengthen institutional capacity for research and training so that countries and regions can find their own paths to self-sufficiency rather than depend on imported expertise; provide linkages and networking facilities that enhance the work of both individuals and institutions through resource-sharing and community partnerships.

The Regional Programmes:

Instruments for Expanding and Reforming Primary Education and Promoting Adult Education

The building blocks of UNESCO's global action in favour of literacy and education for all are its regional projects and programmes for literacy: the Major Project in the field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Regional Programme for the Eradication of Illiteracy in Africa, the Asian and Pacific Programme of Education for All, and the Regional Programme for the Universalization and Renewal of Primary Education and the Eradication of Illiteracy in the Arab States by the Year 2000. In addition, an information-exchange network based at the UNESCO Institute for Education (Hamburg) provides a mechanism for facilitating co-operation among industrialized countries faced with problems of 'functional illiteracy', i.e.an inability to use reading and writing with adequate proficiency to cope with the challenges of life in complex modern societies. All regions of the world are now covered.

The regional literacy programmes are examples of unity in diversity. All are based on two fundamental principles: technical co-operation among developing countries (TCDC) and the need to combat illiteracy through a global approach combining the universalization and renewal of primary education with stepped-up literacy work among out-of-school youth and adults. All programmes give special attention to the education of women and girls and to literacy follow-up activities designed to encourage the reading habit. But each programme is unique, adapted to the special needs and circumstances of the region it serves. They differ in the specifics of the objectives they pursue, in their modalities of operation and in the manner in which they are guided or governed. Yet, the ultimate goal of all programmes is the same: education for all.

These programmes have originated in the periodic Conferences of Ministers of Education convened by UNESCO. Since it is Member States themselves which have conceived these programmes, their committment to success is evident. The major difficulty affecting these programmes and limiting their impact concerns the economic constraints confronted in the developing regions they serve. Progress towards regional goals evidently depends upon the success of national efforts. But, in many countries, these efforts are faltering because of the economic crisis which has severely restricted the development of education. Thus, while viable and valuable mechanisms for regional co-operation are in place, the resources needed to give added impetus to them are in critically short supply. Fortunately, with the growing realization that education is the essential key to development and the increased commitment of the international community following the World Conference on Education for All, both the mobilization of internal resources and the availability of external support to basic education activities in developing countries have improved.

The Bases of Regional Co-operation 1981 - Launching of the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean 1984 - Launching of the Regional Programme for the Eradication of Illiteracy in Africa 1987 - Establishment of a network for exchange of information and documentation on functional illiteracy among industrialized countries at the UNESCO Institute for Education (Hamburg) 1987 - Launching of the Regional Programme for Universal Provision and Renewal of Primary Education and Eradication of Illiteracy in Asia and the Pacific (APPEAL) 1989 - Launching of the Regional Programme for the Universalization and Renewal of Primary Education and the Eradication of Illiteracy in the Arab States by the Year 2000 (ARABUPEAL)

Street Libraries in Manila Books are coming to the streets of Manila, and with them ‘street librarians’, thanks to Movement ATD Fourth World and UNESCO. The street libraries are aimed at creating an environment in the poorest districts of Manila where everybody is encouraged to learn, and where both children and parents have access to knowledge without the routine of their daily lives being disrupted. ATD Fourth World and UNESCO have designed their pilot project to train ‘street librarians’ how to run their libraries and, more important still, to instil in them an understanding of what the street libraries can come to represent for children and their families. For it is children who have been deprived of schooling and literacy who have to make their own way to learning through the street libraries and encourage adults to join them. The future ‘street librarians’ are students of the National University of the Philippines and volunteers who are eager to share their knowledge and demonstrate to the underprivileged children of Manila that they too can learn. They will be trained by members of ATD Fourth World’s volunteer force, and some of the children and parents with whom they will be working will play an active part in the training process.