16 January, 2002 - Education Ministers, senior government officials, non-governmental organizations, UN and bilateral donor agencies from Central Asian republics will meet in Almaty on 17 and 18 January in the Hyatt Regency Hotel, as a Central Asian Education Forum.

Organized jointly by the regional offices of UNESCO and UNICEF in Almaty, the conference is part of the follow-up to the World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal in April 2000, where 164 countries including the Central Asian republics (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) committed themselves to providing a quality education to all children, youth and adults. The meeting will also consider education issues within the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child.

The Forum is a major milestone for education in the region, according to the regional directors of UNESCO and UNICEF in Central Asia. It will provide a platform for high-level decision-makers to review and monitor current education reform processes. The organizers also hope that it will result in closer partnership between the governments, international
agencies and NGOs and foster more and better collaboration and exchanges between the five countries.

The Central Asian Education Forum is expected to nominate a president amongst the government members who will head a Secretariat set up to support the Forum's annual and technical meetings. The presidency will subsequently rotate between the five countries.

According to their commitment made at the Dakar Conference, countries have until the end of this year to develop national action plans on Education for All. Efforts are currently underway in all five countries to meet this deadline.

The national plans are expected to tackle the specific challenges facing education systems in Central Asia. These include the need to expand early childhood care and development as well as vocational and life skills training for the youth, HIV/AIDS prevention, the provision of textbooks, the management of education systems and overall education reform to cope with social and economic challenges.

As a special event, leaders of Central Asian media organizations will participate in a roundtable in the afternoon of 17 January to discuss how the media can play a more important role in the promotion of education in the region.

Media contacts:
Marina Polyakov, Consultant, United Nations Department of Public Information
Tel : 582 442 * E-mail: marina.polyakov@undp.org

Aigul Khalafova, Education Programme Specialist, UNESCO Cluster Office
Tel: 582643/46 * E-mail: a.khalafova@unesco.org

Tanya Aderkhina, Education Programme Assistant, UNICEF CARK
Tel: 503927 * E-mail: taderkhina@unicef.org

Background document