MESSAGE
FROM UNESCO TO THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE SECOND ANNUAL GLOBAL
ACTION WEEK ORGANISED BY THE GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR EDUCATION
(GCE)
2-8
APRIL 2001
Warmest
greetings from UNESCO to the Second Global Action Week on
Promoting Education for All. It is heartening to see students,
teachers, politicians, journalists and many other lifelong
learners around the world join together to champion the
cause of education. UNESCO is with you in heart and spirit
during this week, which is another milestone in strengthening
a broad-based movement around education and in contributing
to the building of learning societies around the world.
As
we move closer to the first anniversary of the World Education
Forum in Dakar, the Second Global Action Week rightly focuses
on EFA at the country level where the commitment of national
authorities and their partners is needed to finalise the
Action Plans by the year 2002. Last year, in the run-up
to Dakar, your campaign targeted the international level.
This year, you have called upon civil society at the country
level to plan and carry out advocacy activities. This is
especially appropriate since those of you who work at the
national level witness each day the consequences of poverty
and exclusion from education. UNESCO will do everything
in its power to convince governments of the absolute need
to involve civil society in the formulation of their national
plans. This is stipulated in the Dakar Framework for Action
and UNESCO is convinced of the validity of this process
and has spelt it out in the guidelines it sent out to assist
countries to set up their national EFA forums. UNESCO will
continue to reinforce this message at every possible opportunity.
UNESCO
is currently mapping the latest developments regarding the
preparation of national action plans on EFA and will soon
make the information available on the Internet. The global
movement will thus have a clearer picture of EFA country
efforts: which bilateral and multilateral partners are participating,
the resource gaps, the technical assistance required and
whether civil society is involved.
At the
country level, you have a clear sense of what kinds of schools
and programmes are needed in specific cultural and social
contexts. Indeed, NGOs and community-based organizations
have worked hand-in-hand with UNESCO in developing creative
approaches to education, aimed at providing opportunities
for all learners and promoting development.
As you
know, UNESCO is a source of knowledge and experience regarding
formal and non-formal approaches to providing learning opportunities
for all, including support to the development of national
education plans. UNESCO works at several levels: with policy-makers
and decision-makers within government ministries but also
directly with those excluded from the right to education,
such as working and street children, marginalised youth,
illiterate women and men, and people affected by the HIV/AIDS
pandemic. We are aware that these learners are at the centre
of your concern.
UNESCO
appreciates the growing collaboration with the Global Campaign
for Education in the Global Initiative to design the strategies
and mobilise the resources needed to provide effective support
to national efforts in the achievement of the EFA goals
and targets. You are all invited to make suggestions as
to how UNESCO may further strengthen and improve its collaboration
with civil society in the follow-up to Dakar.
The
synergy between local and global efforts still needs to
be strengthened in order to move effectively towards EFA.
Indeed, as was agreed in Dakar, civil society has to be
involved in EFA efforts at the international and regional
levels but above all at the national level.
UNESCO
wishes you every success for this Second Global Action Week
and looks forward to learning about its outcomes.
