Regular monitoring of the state of education in the world is vital to measure progress towards the Education-for-All goals and to hold all stakeholders to account for the promises made at the World Education Forum (Dakar, 2000).

This is done essentially through the EFA Observatory and the EFA Monitoring Report.

The EFA Observatory

The EFA Observatory is located in the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Its tasks include mapping the needs for statistical data in countries and regions, conducting training workshops, developing new indicators, assisting countries improve their capacity to collect and analyse data and promoting awareness of the need to use data to inform policy-making.

The EFA Monitoring Report

The purpose of the EFA Monitoring Report is to provide an account of the progress that countries and agencies are making towards the EFA goals as well as to highlight important trends and findings.

The EFA Monitoring Report 2001 was prepared by UNESCO with inputs from the EFA partners. As from the second version -- the EFA Monitoring Report 2002 -- it will be produced by an independent team based at UNESCO. Core data will come from the annual statistical exercise run by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, but it will be supplemented by data from the World Bank, the OECD and selected national agencies.

The EFA Monitoring Report will be advised by an Editorial Board of EFA partner agencies, bilateral agencies and NGOs. Its editor is Professor Christopher Colclough, formerly of the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University, United Kingdom.

The 2002 Report, the outline of which was presented to the 3rd Meeting of the Working Group on Education for All (22-23 July), will examine the progress made since the World Education Forum. How are governments interpreting the Education for All goals in their educational policies and plans? Is civil society more actively involved in the planning and implementation processes? How has the wider international community responded to its commitments? What are the prospects for progress? How will the resources be generated and the capacities developed to achieve Education for All?