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| News
bulletin board of UNESCO's Education Sector |
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No.
3
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| Welcome
to the electronic news bulletin board of UNESCO's Education
Sector, informing you about UNESCO's follow-up activities
to the World Education Forum in Dakar (April 2000). The bulletin
board currently exists in English, but will shortly be available
in French as well. Please forward it to other interested colleagues. |
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Contents (4 August 2000)
- Country guidelines now on the table
- UNESCO establishes informal secretariat on EFA
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NGO participation in working group on Education for
All
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UNICEF visits UNESCO to discuss new Global Agenda for
Children
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Electronic mailing list in process - your help would
be appreciated
-
Summer break for bulletin board
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| Country
guidelines on the preparation of national EFA plans of action
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 The
Dakar Framework for Action states it very clearly: the heart
of EFA activity lies at the country level. UNESCO has now
prepared a set of guidelines, giving countries a roadmap of
how to accelerate Education for All efforts at national level.
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| "We
are happy to share with you these guidelines, which are an
important tool for ensuring meaningful and efficient follow-up
to Dakar," comments Jacques Hallak, Assistant Director-General
for Education at UNESCO. |
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| The
guidelines, attached to this bulletin board, provide
recommendations and advice to countries on how to establish
national EFA forums and generate credible national EFA action
plans by 2002 at the latest. Noting that they are not "a perfect
recipe" or "a magic formula" that should be applied mechanically
in every county, the guidelines emphasize that "Each country
has the responsibility for fulfilling the version of Education
for All it chooses for itself. Each country's guidelines should
reflect this sense of responsibility and become one means
through which national ownership and direction of EFA efforts
are pursued". |
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An earlier draft of the country guidelines was shared with
the heads of UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank, and their
comments have been incorporated in the present draft. A final
version of the document will be available in September 2000
and will be widely distributed in all countries. |
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| UNESCO
establishes informal secretariat on EFA |
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| An
informal technical secretariat has been established under
the office of UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Education
to co-ordinate follow-up activities to the Dakar Forum. The
team of about ten professional staff members is drawn from
all parts of the Education Sector. |
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| Participation
of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in working group
on Education for All. |
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| In
a letter of 28 July 2000 addressed to the NGO community, UNESCO
outlined how non-governmental organizations will participate
in the working group on Education for All currently being
established. The working group will comprise four to six NGO
representatives selected by UNESCO on the basis of their contributions
to the EFA 2000 Assessment and of extensive consultations
with members of the NGO community. |
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Membership of the working group will be on a rotating basis
and, since the focus of the Dakar Framework for Action is
on action at country level, three to four seats will go to
national NGOs from different regions and one or two to international
NGOs/NGO networks. |
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The names of the selected NGO representatives will be communicated
to you in September. The working group of some thirty members
will also include representatives of developing countries,
and bilateral and multilateral agencies, as well as representatives
of regional networks, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) and the G-8. Its first meeting, scheduled
for November 2000, will be chaired by UNESCO's Assistant Director-General
for Education. |
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| UNICEF
visits UNESCO to discuss new Global Agenda for Children |
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This week Sheldon Shaeffer, Chief of Education in UNICEF,
visited UNESCO Paris to discuss preparations for the General
Assembly's Special Session on Children to be held in September
2001. |
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Mr Shaeffer met with key people in UNESCO's Education Sector
and discussions focused mainly on the education component
of a new Global Agenda for Children, including specific objectives,
targets, strategies and indicators, to be adopted at next
year's meeting. The first draft of this document is currently
being written in UNICEF. |
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| Electronic
mailing list in process - your help would be appreciated |
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We would like to make sure that this bulletin board reaches
everyone interested in the Education for All movement. We
should therefore be grateful if you could send us the e-mail
addresses of colleagues in your organization wishing to receive
information on Dakar follow-up. If you do not want to receive
the bulletin board, please return this message to sender,
indicating 'unsubscribe' in Subject box. |
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| Summer
break for bulletin board |
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This is the last bulletin board before the holiday season
starts in Paris. We will get back to you in mid-September
with more news about UNESCO's follow-up activities to the
World Education Forum in Dakar. Happy holidays! |
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| Information
Contact: Anne Muller (a.muller@unesco.org) |
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