|
UNESCO
invites NGOs to discuss global initiative
on EFA
UNESCO is organizing a consultation between
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
representatives from bilateral and multilateral
organizations on the global initiative on
2 March 2001 at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris.
The consultation is part of the follow-up
to the mandate given to UNESCO in Dakar to
co-ordinate a global initiative aiming at
mobilizing the resources needed to provide
effective support to national efforts in the
achievement of the goals of Education for
All by the years 2005 and 2015.
The
consultation will build on the discussions
and decisions of the expert meeting of bilateral
and multilateral organizations planned to
take place 28 February-1 March 2001. The debate
will be based on UNESCO's recent discussion
paper entitled 'Development Partner Cooperation
in Support of Education for All: Rationale
and Strategies', currently being discussed
with partners. A draft version is available
at http://www2.unesco.org/wef/en-news/Presentation%2013_UNESCO.shtm
If your organization is interested in participating,
at its own cost, in the 2 March consultation,
please send a reply by email before 20 February
2001, confirming the name of the participant,
who will represent your organization.
Contact: Susanne Schuttgen, UNESCO Paris
Email: s.schnuttgen@unesco.org
Experts
to assess funding needs in education
The
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is planning
an Expert Group meeting 12-13 March 2001 to
help bridge knowledge gaps about the financing
of education. An important focus of the meeting
will be to examine the possibility of determining
the levels of resources needed to ensure adequate
education for all and the most effective use
of these resources.
The
Expert Group will comprise leading national
and international specialists from institutions
that collect education-finance data or make
extensive use of it. It will provide an opportunity
to present the findings of an important strategy
paper prepared by UIS on the challenges of
improving finance indicators, and will be
invaluable in defining the roles of UIS and
other partner agencies in pursuing alternative
data-collection strategies. The meeting will
be followed by a report published later this
year.
Contacts in UIS: Doug Lynd (d.lynd@unesco.org)
or Albert Motivans (a.motivans@unesco.org)
2001 Annual Meeting of the Collective Consultation
of NGOs on Literacy and EFA
The Collective Consultation of NGOs on Literacy
and Education for All (CCNGO/EFA), is planning
to hold its 2001 annual meeting in Kathmandu,
Nepal, from 6 to 9 April 2001, back to back
with the EFA ministerial regional meeting
for South Asia (10-12 April 2001).
The
objective of the meeting is to develop strategies
and concrete proposals for action on how the
UNESCO-NGO partnership programmes can most
effectively contribute to the implementation
of the Dakar Framework for Action worldwide.
The meeting will also adopt revised rules
and working procedures and put in place a
steering committee to co-ordinate the programme's
activities and to represent the CCNGO/EFA
in the follow-up to Dakar.
A
number of NGOs will be mandated to present
the results of their deliberations to the
EFA subregional meeting. NGOs interested in
receiving an invitation should contact the
programme co-ordination team by email: s.schnuttgen@unesco.org
Regional up-date on EFA activities
Latin
America and the Caribbean: Partners to co-ordinate
EFA-related efforts
The
recent inter-agency meeting for co-ordinating
the Dakar follow-up strategy in Latin America
and the Caribbean underlined the value and
necessity of creating synergy in their EFA-related
efforts. The
meeting held at World Bank headquarters in
Washington D.C., 1-2 February 2001, decided
to expand co-operation amongst the thirteen
participating organizations (comprising bilateral
and multilateral donor agencies and development
banks) in two core areas: communication and
information related to EFA and the co-ordination
of national and regional efforts.
Communication
and information activities include a mapping
of ongoing EFA-related regional activities,
preparation of EFA kits aiming at different
target groups, organization of regional meetings
with EFA key players, identification of EFA
goodwill ambassadors and the setting up of
an EFA website for the region.
Co-ordination activities include the analysis
of existing national education plans, integration
of new EFA initiatives into existing ones
(such as the EFA flagship programmes) and
the establishment of EFA thematic groups at
the country level which could link with national
EFA forums.
The decisions of the meeting will be presented
to the Ministers of Education at the Seventh
Meeting of the Regional Intergovernmental
Committee of the Major Project in Education
in Latin America and the Caribbean (PROMEDLAC
VII) to be held 5-7 March 2001 in Cochabamba,
Bolivia.
The
next meeting of the inter-agency group will
be held in September 2001 but the group will
continue to communicate virtually. Contact:
Ana Luiza Machado, Director, UNESCO Santiago
E-mail: machado@unesco.cl
The
Pacific: Series of meetings to stimulate Dakar
follow-up process
As
the office responsible for co-ordinating Dakar
follow-up in the Pacific region, UNESCO Samoa
is organizing a series of meetings on EFA
in the coming months.
Directors
of Education in the sixteen Pacific Member
States will be briefed on Dakar follow-up
from 12-16 February 2001 in Samoa. The meeting
will discuss the assistance needed by each
country to move ahead with national forums
and national plans of action, and decide on
timeline and target dates for 2001.
Bilateral agencies and key United Nations
agencies working in the Pacific will meet
2-6 April in Samoa to identify regional and
national priorities in the Dakar follow-up
and to request funding and other support to
accelerate the process.
UNESCO
and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
are co-organizing a meeting of Pacific Ministers
of Education, 4-6 May in Niue, to brief them
on latest developments in the Dakar follow-up
process and to call for support of officials
doing the work.
UNESCO's
Institute for Statistics is planning a workshop
in the collection and management of educational
statistics, 11-15 June, in Fiji, and finally,
13-17 August, a consultation of Pacific National
Commissions to UNESCO in Niue, will receive
a briefing on progress made in implementing
the Dakar Framework for Action in the region.
Contact:
Edna Tait, Director, UNESCO Samoa
E-mail: edna.unesco@samoa.ws
or e.tait@unesco.org
e.tait@unesco.org
The
Caucasus: Meeting of the Network of the Pedagogical
Institutes to discuss Dakar follow-up
The
new Network of the Pedagogical Institutes
of the Caucasus region will organize a meeting
from 16-18 May 2001 in Baku, Azerbaijan to
discuss, inter alia, the implementation of
the Dakar Framework for Action in the region.
The Network includes so far the pedagogical
and language institutes of Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Georgia, and the initial phase is co-ordinated
by the Tbilisi Pedagogical University.
Contact:
Alexandre Sannikov, UNESCO Paris
E-mail: a.sannikov@unesco.org
Nine
High-Population Countries (E9): China hosts
conference in August 2001
Within
the framework for the Dakar follow-up, the
government of China has decided to organize
an E9 conference 23-24 August 2001 in Bejing.
The main theme of the conference is "Distance
Education and Information Technologies for
Basic Education to Reach the Unreached" and
will be attended by Ministers of Education
of the nine high-population countries as well
as education experts.
UNESCO's
Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura will attend
the conference, which will also review progress
in the setting up of national EFA forums and
the drafting of national plans of action.
UNESCO will facilitate the organization of
the conference.
Contact: Wolgang Vollmann, E9 co-ordinator,
UNESCO Paris
Email: w.vollmann@unesco.org
Central
Africa: NGO consultation launches network
on EFA
A recent consultation of more than 100 representatives
of non-governmental organizations and civil
society groups of Central Africa decided to
establish a regional network for an education
for all campaign. The consultation took place
23-24 January 2001 in Brazzaville, the Republic
of Congo, and adopted a series of recommendations
and an action plan for the year 2001.
The plan of action includes the organization
of two subregional forums, capacity-building
of NGOs and civil society groups in the subregion,
support to national NGO campaign activities
and the publication of a quarterly email bulletin.
The
NGO consultation received financial assistance
from ActionAid and UNICEF Congo.
Countries in action (in this issue: Lithuania)
Lithuania
During
a UNESCO mission to Lithuania at the end of
January 2001, the Lithuanian Minister of Education
and Science, Algirdas Monkeviius, thanked
the Organization for the proposed support
to launch the EFA national plan of action
and to assist in the establishment of a national
education forum. As an initial step, it was
agreed to organize a brain-storming seminar
involving all EFA partners to launch the Dakar
follow-up process in the country. UNESCO and
UNDP will co-finance the meeting which is
planned for the first half of 2001.
The
Minister also expressed his interest in organizing
a subregional meeting for the Baltic countries
on curriculum development in collaboration
with UNESCO's International Bureau of Education
(IBE) in Geneva.
More
information on both meetings in an upcoming
issue of the Bulletin Board.
Dakar follow-up on the agenda
The
third International Donors Conference will
be organized 22-23 February 2001 in St. Petersburg,
the Russian Federation, on the theme "International
Partnerships in the Field of Education in
the Russian Federation". Among the issues
on the agenda of the Conference is EFA in
the Russian Federation. UNESCO will be represented
by Alexandre Sannikov from Headquarters.
The Global Campaign on Education is organizing
a World Conference on Education, 13-16 February
2001, in New Delhi. The conference will aim
at mobilizing broader support for the Global
Campaign, and reviewing its progress and achievements,
and agreeing on advocacy goals for the coming
two years.
For more information please visit http://www.campaignforeducation.org/
UNESCO will lead a roundtable 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.
|
