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Remarks
by the Honourable Maria Minna
Canada's Minister for International Cooperation |
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| on behalf
of bilateral donors: Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United
Kingdom and the United States, at the closing plenary of the
World Education Forum |
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| Dakar,
28 April 2000 |
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 Prime
Ministers, Presidents, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates.
|
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| I
am very pleased to have this opportunity to make remarks today
on behalf of the following bilateral donors: Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland,
the United Kingdom, the United States, and my country, Canada.
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| After
three days of discussion, our goals still remain unchanged.
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We remain guided by the comprehensive vision provided in
the World Declaration on Education for All as agreed in
Jomtien and renewed here in Dakar.
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| While
we support all the goals discussed this week, two in particular
have received emphasis. |
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We remain committed to supporting universal primary education
for all children by the year 2015.
We remain
committed to demonstrating progress toward gender equality
and the empowerment of women by supporting the elimination
of gender disparities in primary and secondary education
by the year 2005.
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| So,
on behalf of the bilateral donors, I would like to offer some
thoughts on the future direction of achieving Education for
All, led by developing countries. |
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| First,
we must focus on equity, ensuring all are included in gaining
equal access to a quality education. |
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| Never
before in human history have we been so well equipped to achieve
our goal of educating girls as well as boys. It's now our responsibility
to do everything in our power to make universal education a
reality. And as it's already been said this week: educating
girls will transform the world as we know it The same applies
to educating women. This is an issue that is fundamental to
our approach to development. |
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| A
second focus must be on quality education. This goes beyond
the number of hours or days that children spend in the classroom.
It means that the education provided is more relevant to the
needs of the learners and the environment in which they live.
Quality is particularly reflected in better teacher training,
curriculum and education materials that lead to quality learning.
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| Over
the past few days it has also been acknowledged that technology
is an important tool for increasing access to information, knowledge
and educational opportunities. Solutions to connectivity must
be appropriate, affordable, and sustainable within each and
every country context. |
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| We
attach great importance to programs which are designed to include
children who are marginalized due to poverty, language, race,
geographic isolation, disability or war. The excluded children
are often girls. |
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| Flexibility
must be a mantra that guides us when the needs of the world's
children are much greater than the resources of the world's
donors. And that means that when we make investments in education,
they address the most critical needs in the low income countries
we support. As donors, we have difficult choices to make. One
of those choices must be to place special emphasis on supporting
countries where there has been a demonstrated commitment to
a basic education program. |
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| However,
where countries have demonstrated a commitment to education
but lack the required resources and capacity to carry it out,
we should be prepared to consider additional assistance to make
the goals they establish attainable. |
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| It
boils down to an issue of political will by all partners involved.
We will look for examples of this will from developing countries
in the implementation of policies such as: |
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transparent budgets;
the necessary
allocated resources; and
a demonstration
of good governance.
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| If
developing countries can make these types of commitments, the
onus will then fall upon donor countries to demonstrate the
political will to make the resources available. |
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| One
example has already been clearly demonstrated. Our support for
the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative will allow
developing countries to focus on their priorities - like education
- without the burden of paying back crippling international
debts. |
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| Another
example - on a personal note - is a fundamental shift I have
taken to programming in my department, the Canadian International
Development Agency. I have reorganized our priorities to reflect
a social development agenda,focusing on four fundamental themes
to development: education; protecting children; health and nutrition;
and fighting HIV/AIDS. Throughout these priorities, the notion
of gender equality is fundamental. These are priorities that
are designed to enhance, not supersede, other important aspects
of development. They all reflect the ultimate goal of poverty
reduction. |
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| But
let's be frank. Without an educated, healthy society - free
from disease and exploitation - there is no real hope to move
forward in development. And without this social development,
there will be no economic development. The two go hand in hand.
And the approach is really one that links the fundamentals.
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| As
donor countries, I believe another important approach to delivering
education is pooling our resources and investing through sector-wide
investments in basic education. It means for each of us as donors
to lower our respective flags and harmonize our own procedures
so as to focus our collective resources to have the biggest
impact in the areas of most need. |
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| Flowing
from that, we support the emerging consensus on the follow-up
mechanisms that were discussed earlier today. This means a strengthened
and reformed UNESCO which we expect to serve as a global mechanism,
mandated in coordinating Education for All partners. This includes
a complete restructuring of their education program, reflecting
the outcomes and priorities of the Dakar conference. |
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| As
we look forward, we want to put the emphasis on action. We do
not need any more global talk shops. We need action on the ground
- country, by country, by country. |
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| It
is my hope and that of my counterparts that such strategic investments
will be a defining feature of the new Education for All alliance.
It is the best that donors can do to help achieve education
for all. The rest is in the hands of the real owners of education
efforts - the families, schools, organizations and governments
of developing countries and civil societies themselves. |
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