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| UNITED
NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION |
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| Address
by Mr Koïchiro Matsuura |
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| Director-General
of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) |
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| Dakar,
26 April 2000, 14 h 30 |
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Mr Secretary-General,
Mr President, Ministers,
Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen, |
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Allow me to begin by expressing my deep gratitude to the Senegalese
authorities, and particularly to President Abdoulaye Wade, for
their outstanding efforts in support of this conference. I join
my congratulations to those already extended to him on his impressive
election, which turns a new page not only in the history of
Senegal, with a changeover of political power under particularly
exemplary conditions, but also for the African continent as
a whole in its advance towards democracy. |
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I am particularly moved, as the newly elected Director-General,
to be with you here today. From the first day of my election
at the head of UNESCO, I have given a clear and strong undertaking
that Education for All will be the foremost priority of this
Organization, its most urgent but also its noblest challenge.
I intend to fight this fight with all the resolve and all the
moral and intellectual force that I can muster, with the aid
of all UNESCO's partners. |
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The commitment made at Jomtien 10 years ago promised education
as a reality for all in 2000. Why make such a commitment? First
and foremost because education is a fundamental right enshrined
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a sine qua non
for the development of the individual; deprived of basic education,
individuals will remain unaware that this education to which
they were not given access was a right that they could have
demanded. Secondly, because education helps to improve security,
health, prosperity and ecological balance in the world, just
as it encourages social, economic and cultural progress, tolerance
and international cooperation. It is the essential bedrock for
the building of sustainable peace and development. You are all
strongly convinced of this, and that is why we are all here
together. |
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I listened carefully to the vibrant appeal of the Secretary-General
of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan, in favour of the priority
attention that we must give to girls' and women's education.
He knows that I share his beliefs in the matter. He can rely
on UNESCO to be among his most loyal partners in this fight.
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While, in some countries, progress has been made and hurdles
have been cleared in the past decade, very many are the countries
that have failed to reach the ambitious objectives set at Jomtien.
It has to be acknowledged indeed that we are still a far cry
from basic Education for All, that it is still but a distant
dream for hundreds of millions of children, women and men. |
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| Ladies
and Gentlemen, |
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At today's opening session, we noted with satisfaction the highly
impressive effort on the part of all countries to make an objective
analysis of their achievements and shortfalls in the field of
education since 1990. We have heard what goals and educational
priorities each major world region intends to set for itself
in the years ahead and we have heard the collective voice of
the non-governmental organizations, which are active and committed
partners in the Education for All Assessment 2000 and justifiably
claim the right to take part in shaping the educational strategies
that will arise from this conference. |
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I consider that this comprehensive and intense process of stocktaking,
of making an objective and lucid examination of what is known
as the "Jomtien decade", with all the lessons that may be learned
from it and the priorities which should emerge, is a significant
achievement in itself. This effort has been made in exemplary
fashion from the grassroots level upwards, involving all the
relevant actors at all levels and in every country. It has also
included a detailed self-appraisal of donor investments in this
area. The collective decisions that we take here at this conference
will therefore rest on a firm foundation. |
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The broad vision of Education for All proclaimed in Jomtien
10 years ago has lost nothing of its wisdom and relevance. What
we could not foresee, however, were the sometimes tragic events
of the decade, affecting all societies and consequently their
education systems. I refer to the proliferation of ethnic conflicts,
the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the process of globalization or the ever-increasing
rift between rich and poor. |
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Some countries have nevertheless made remarkable progress, thanks
to an unshakeable political will. I wish here to pay tribute
to them and to congratulate them. They demonstrate that the
success of Education for All hinges first and foremost on political
commitment. |
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The fact remains that, in at least six respects, we have strayed
from the original objectives :
1.
formal schooling has been the main preoccupation in the
field of education, entailing neglect of non-formal avenues
of learning;
2. many countries have been slow to redefine their educational
needs, in particular concerning educational content reflecting
cultural diversity and corresponding to the specific needs
of each society;
3. the inequalities within education systems have been increasing,
with the result that the poorest of the poor, minority groups
and people with special learning needs have hardly been
taken into account or may even have been excluded from the
mainstream of education;
4. early childhood education has shown little development
and still favours the better-off urban populations, rather
than those for whom an educational headstart in life would
be most beneficial;
5. the "digital divide" has marginalized the poorest social
sectors even further, jeopardizing their chances of having
the new information and communication technologies serve
their specific needs;
6. and lastly, basic education has been chronically under-financed
both by most countries themselves (less than 2% of gross
national product on average) and by the donor community
(again less than 2% of development aid); the distribution
of resources and responsibilities between the central State,
local government, parents and civil society as a whole has
not been sufficiently clarified and rationalized.
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In these six respects at least, we have strayed from the objectives
set. We must therefore now reassess the scope, nature and urgency
of our joint activities so that the Jomtien goals may be attained.
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| Ladies
and Gentlemen, |
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This World Education Forum, with the unprecedented participation
of governments, civil society organizations, the private sector,
education specialists, bilateral and multilaterial development
partners and the media, cannot - you will agree - be treated
as "just another major conference". It must close one chapter
in the history of universal literacy and open another. |
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I have no doubt that we shall manage, here in Dakar, to adopt
a global framework for action which will represent the international
community's clear and irreversible commitment to meeting the
basic learning needs of all children, young people and adults,
wherever they may live, by 2015. The last day in Dakar must
be the first day of a collective and victorious struggle to
achieve Education for All. |
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I call on all States to draw up national plans of action immediately
after Dakar. This will entail a transparent and democratic process
based on all the driving forces of the nation - civil society
as a whole, with teachers in the forefront (who, we must always
bear in mind, are the backbone of the entire education system),
non-governmental organizations and the private sector. These
plans should ensure in particular that the quality of basic
education is improved and that all forms of discrimination,
especially those based on gender, are eliminated. The right
to education is - let us never forget - the inalienable right
of every individual. |
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The public and private resources to be allocated to education
will need to be proportional to the vital importance we attach
to it. Governments will have to make clear, coherent and courageous
choices in this respect. |
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I am also fully aware of the need for a substantial increase
in the volume of aid for basic education. The donor community
must undertake to grant any country submitting a realistic and
practical plan in this field the financial and technical support
required to attain its objectives. Special grants, and not simply
loans, and an easing of the debt burden must be proposed in
exchange for social investment programmes, particularly in basic
education. |
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| Ladies
and Gentlemen, |
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UNESCO, as the United Nations Specialized Agency for education,
will go on fully assuming its responsibilities in this global
and collective bid to achieve Education for All. |
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We have been ensuring the coordination of the EFA movement for
the last 10 years. You can continue to count on UNESCO. Education
for All is at the very heart of the mandate entrusted to it
within the United Nations system. But we shall have to reinforce
follow-up by managing to move still closer to the countries
themselves and their specific, real needs. We should also seek
exemplary coordination with our partners, namely, donors, non-governmental
organizations and the organizations of the United Nations system.
For UNESCO needs all its partners in order to carry out its
mission to the full. |
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In particular, we shall have to improve monitoring and evaluation
tools. National capacity-building will be needed regarding the
collection of statistics that are both pertinent and as complete
as possible. I should like to emphasize that UNESCO has in that
respect an outstanding tool, namely its Institute for Statistics,
which can and must be the essential reference for statistics
on education worldwide. |
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But UNESCO, over and above this commitment, will on its own
launch an extensive programme to fulfil what, for many States,
is perhaps the twenty-first century's most urgent need: to develop
education systems that are at once authentic and modern,
and accessible to all, without any restricting conditions, whether
economic, social, cultural or geographical. Each country
will have to build a system that it can afford, and its citizens
can afford, and one that meets the highest quality requirements.
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I turn to you, distinguished ministers. UNESCO is with you,
by your side, as it has been for half a century now. You all
know how tirelessly it has sought to respond to your needs and
expectations. But in this tremendous challenge we are launching
today, it is you who take centre stage. For it is in your hands
that the future of the rising generations rests. Your determination
will be essential. |
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We for our part will help you in four different ways to strengthen
your capacity for action to accomplish what money alone will
not buy:
1.
To create an education whose contents and methods are
geared to your social and cultural realities. Your linguistic
heritage and your endogenous potential with regard to skills
and practices, and the values that underpin your society
must all be central to this education if it is to secure
the wholehearted approval of the populations for whom it
is intended. But this education must also be modern.
It is essential in this regard to strengthen science teaching
from primary level, this being a precondition for the autonomy
of each individual in a globalized society.
2. To develop basic education services accessible to all,
including the poorest, illiterate adults, children outside
the school system - whether at work, in the street or refugees
- through a strategy involving both the formal education
system and all the alternatives offered by the non-formal
sector. Basic education must become a field which is free
of all forms of exclusion and discrimination.
3. To harness the modern information and communication
technologies for all. The potential of these technologies
must be exploited in order to broaden the reach of basic
education, particularly in the direction of the excluded
and underprivileged groups; and to enhance and improve classroom
teaching.
4. To replace costly, rigid and culturally alienating educational
structures with less expensive delivery systems that are
more flexible, more diversified and universally affordable,
without ever sacrificing quality.
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These four ways of achieving an education that is authentic,
accessible to all without exclusion or discrimination, modern
and universally affordable, will provide each individual with
the keys to diversified and virtually limitless knowledge. This
is the type of education which can inspire a culture of peace,
a universal culture that all peoples, all human beings must
share in order to give meaning to their common humanity. This
is the type of education for which we are determined to fight.
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I intend to set UNESCO on this path in order to enable it to
develop its innovative potential and its capacity to guide and
inspire the action of all other actors on the ground - in a
word, its capacity to serve truly as a "knowledge organization".
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What resources do we command for this purpose? To be sure, we
have a very considerable fund of expertise accumulated by our
specialists over half a century. Our ability to stimulate cooperation
and the exchange of experience among the countries of the world
has been amply demonstrated. We are the recognized authority
with regard to the training of education specialists, teachers,
trainers, rural community organizers and other educational agents.
We also have available to us highly mobilized professional networks.
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But UNESCO's greatest resource is the sheer diversity of the
experience and initiatives accumulated by its Member States.
Let us not forget that UNESCO is not only the main international
organization with responsibility for education; it is also the
instrument of cooperation among its Member States within its
fields of competence. |
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One of the incomparable assets of UNESCO is its extensive network
of 188 National Commissions, which is unique within the United
Nations system. Acting as an interface between UNESCO and national
authorities, the National Commissions help to relay national
realities and marshal energies and initiatives on the ground
which may enable society at large to take on board the Organization's
message. Their role in the follow-up to major conferences such
as this one is therefore vital. |
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UNESCO's other outstanding asset is the solid and tightly knit
network of cooperation that it has forged through the years
with non-governmental organizations. Allow me to remind you
that there are now 337 such organizations in official relationship
with UNESCO. They are remarkably useful partners, firmly committed
by its side to strengthening and relaying its action in all
its fields of competence, and mainly in the field of education.
I count on their renewed support at the close of the conference
so that together we may continue to wage the battle of Education
for All. |
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UNESCO's essential asset is then, in short, as you will have
realized, that it is a multidisciplinary organization at the
interface between governments and civil society, capable of
organizing and stimulating dialogue among all the protagonists
of change. |
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| Ladies
and Gentlemen, |
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Education has neither always nor everywhere been used to free
people from the bonds of ignorance. It has also served, and
continues to serve, to buttress the powers that be, to generate
exclusion and violence, and sometimes, as we are bound to recognize,
to fan the flames of conflict. At the same time, basic education
remains the only hope of enabling all nations to attain a democratic
culture and thereby a degree of political stability, an essential,
or indeed indispensable condition for all human development
that respects human rights. This is something that our Senegalese
hosts, whom I thank for their enthusiastic and warm welcome,
have recently demonstrated in such a splendid and promising
manner. |
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