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Pledge
by the United Nations General Assembly
to integrate education into all poverty
eradication strategies
At
its 55th session in December 2000,
the United Nations General Assembly
confirmed UNESCO's leadership role
in the Education for All movement
and in the follow-up to the World
Education Forum. By adopting the resolution
55/586 on the implementation of the
first United Nations decade for the
eradication of poverty,The
General Assembly emphasized the critical
role of both formal and non-formal
education, particularly basic education
and training for girls, in the empowerment
of those living in poverty
The General Assembly called upon UNESCO
and UNICEF, in collaboration with
other United Nations partners, to
promote the inclusion of education
in anti-poverty strategies, as stated
in the Dakar Framework for Action.
The
resolution also underlined the importance
of microcredit 'as an important anti-poverty
tool that promotes the generation
of production and self-employment
and empowers people living in poverty'
(paragraph 15). In line with UNESCO's
poverty eradication strategy, the
Organization has recently integrated
its micro-finance unit into the Education
Sector with a view to developing integrated
approaches towards empowering the
poor, especially women.
Update
on meeting of experts to discuss resource
mobilization for EFA
The dates of the meeting of experts
from bilateral and multilateral organizations
have now been confirmed. The meeting
will take place 28 February and 1
March 2001 at UNESCO headquarters
in Paris and will discuss the mobilization
of funds for Education for All.
Based on UNESCO's recent discussion
paper entitled 'Development Partner
Cooperation in Support of Education
for All: Rationale and Strategies',
participants of the meeting will specifically
focus on the actions needed to put
the global initiative, described in
paragraph 11 of the Dakar Framework
for Action, into effect.
UNESCO
organizes roundtables at the World
Social Forum
UNESCO is organizing two roundtables
at the World Social Forum in Porto
Alegre, Brazil (25-30 January 2001).
The first roundtable, scheduled for
29 January, is devoted to 'non-state
actors in democratic governance' and
the second on 30 January will look
into 'the connections/articulations
between the States, the inter-governmental
organizations, the non-governmental
organizations and the private sector
to promote the public good'.
UNESCO
considers the two round tables to
be closely related to the Dakar follow-up
process. "We want to stress the importance
of an open democratic process in implementing
the Education for All goals," comments
Aïcha Bah Diallo, UNESCO's acting
Assistant Director-General for Education,
adding that national EFA plan must
be elaborated in direct and systematic
consultation with national civil society.
"Governments cannot be forced to work
with NGOs and civil society; they
need to be convinced," she says.
The
World Social Forum takes place at
the same time as the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It will
provide an opportunity for building
economic alternatives, for exchanging
experiences and for strengthening
South-North alliances between NGOs,
unions and social movements. It will
also be an opportunity for developing
concrete actions, to educate the public
and to mobilize civil society internationally.
Round
table on EFA at the Third United Nations
Conference on the Least Developed
Countries
UNESCO will lead the round table on
'Education for All and Development
in the Least Developed Countries'
to be organized in conjunction with
the Third United Nations conference
on the Least Developed Countries (LDCIII),
in Brussels, 14-20 May 2001.
"This round table is especially important
as basic education is one of the principal
challenges in the least developed
countries," says Aïcha Bah Diallo,
UNESCO's acting Assistant Director-General
for Education, adding that "We have
to find ways of translating the Dakar
Framework for Action into concrete
action in these countries."
Regional
up-date on EFA activities
Africa
UNESCO Dakar and other EFA partners
(multilateral as well as bilateral
donor agencies) have now drawn up
'Memorandums of Understanding' in
Senegal, Liberia and Sierra Leone
which provide a framework and financial
resources for the development of national
EFA plans of action.
In
recent months, national EFA co-ordinators
in five west African countries (Cape
Verde, Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone
and Senegal) have, in close collaboration
with UNESCO regional and field offices,
prepared draft work plans for the
preparation of national EFA plans
of action. These have been reviewed,
revised and endorsed at country level,
and UNESCO Dakar, in collaboration
with the other EFA partners, is now
facilitating the technical and funding
arrangements required in each country.
Contact: A. Parsuramen, Director,
UNESCO Dakar
E-mail: a.parsuramen@unesco.org
or
Susan Nkinyangi, Senior Education
Adviser, UNESCO Dakar
E-mail: s.van-vynkt@unesco.org
Latin America (1)
A
general information note
and the agenda
of the inter-agency preparatory meeting
for co-ordinating the Dakar follow-up
strategy in Latin America and the
Caribbean are now available and attached
to this Bulletin Board. Convened by
the UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA and
the World Bank, the meeting will be
held in the World Bank headquarters
in Washington D.C., 1 to 2 February
2001.
The
objectives of the meeting are three-fold:
1) To work out an inter-agency regional
strategy for the support of national
EFA plan of action. It is foreseen
that Latin American and the Caribbean
countries complete their national
plans of action by the year 2001.
2)
To define, co-ordinate and support
mechanisms for the follow-up of Education
for All.
3) To develop co-ordination strategies
of national, subregional and regional
attempts for the support of national
programs.
Contact: Ana-Luiza Machado, Director,
UNESCO Santiago
E-mail: machado@unesco.cl
Latin
America (2)
A
subregional meeting on EFA is being
organized in Quito, Ecuador, 22-24
February 2001. The aim of the meeting
is to create a subregional strategy
for the implementation of the Dakar
commitments in the Andean region (Argentina,
Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador
and Peru). Participants will include
under-secretaries of education, as
well as representatives of UNESCO,
UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World
Bank. The Minister of Education of
Ecuador will chair the meeting.
Contact: A. Garcia Rivas, Director,
UNESCO Quito
E-mail: uhqui@unesco.org
Consultation of CIDA's basic education
action plan begins today
The Canadian International Development
Agency (CIDA) today launches a public
consultation of its Basic Education
Action Plan. The consultation will
run though to 2 March 2001. To encourage
the widest possible participation
in the consultation process, participants
will be invited to share their comments
and analysis via the Internet. All
interested stakeholders including
development experts, educators, governmental
ministries, non-governmental organizations,
as well as concerned citizens and
grassroots organizations in the North
and in the South are welcome to participate.
For
more details on the consultation and
to find out how to subscribe, go to
CIDA`s web site at http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/education-e.
Meetings
in the European Union on donor co-ordination
in EFA
The
European Commission is organizing
an information meeting on Dakar follow-up
and, more specifically, on resource
mobilization within the global initiative
on Education for All. The meeting
will take place on 9 February 2001
in Brussels and UNESCO's finance strategy
discussion paper will be presented
by Lene Buchert.
Contact:
J. Paniagua, the Development Directorate-General,
European Commission
E-mail: Jose.Paniagua@cec.eu.int
ActionAid Alliance is organizing a
meeting on 8 February 2001 for members
of the European Parliament in Brussels
to discuss co-ordination of donor
assistance to education within the
European Union. At the meeting, Actionaid
Alliance will present a recent study
on donor co-ordination in education
in Burkina Faso, Bolivia and the United
Republic of Tanzania, highlighting
the challenges involved in providing
more efficient donor aid to basic
education. Lene Buchert will also
represent UNESCO at this meeting.
Contact: Joel Bedos, Aide et Action,
France
E-mail: partenariats@aide-et-action.org
Dakar
documents: please order copies now
The
three documents: a) 'The Dakar Framework
for Action', b) the 'Dakar World Education
Forum Final Report' and c) 'Preparation
of National Plans of Action: Guidelines'
are, as you know, available in English,
French and Spanish. The Arabic, Chinese
and Russian versions will come off
the press mid-February.
Kindly
inform us as soon as possible of the
number of copies of each document
you can make use of, taking into account
up-coming meetings and events in your
country/region, and specifying the
languages required.
All documents are also available on
UNESCO's education website at http://www2.unesco.org/wef/en-news/Dakar%20Follow-up.shtm
Contact:
Anne Muller (a.muller@unesco.org)
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