| |
|
News
bulletin board of UNESCO's Education
Sector
|
|
No.
4
|
| |
|
| 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). Please forward it to other
interested colleagues. |
| |
|
Contents (18 September 2000)
- Celebration of International Literacy
Day 2000
-
Working Group on Education for All
to meet in Paris (22-24 November 2000)
- Meeting to inform Permanent Delegations
to UNESCO (20 September 2000)
- Mission of UNESCO's Assistant Director-General
for Education to the United States
- Regional mobilization for Education
for All
- Latin America and the Caribbean:
PROMEDLAC to discuss EFA action
- Asia: Sub-regional EFA Forums under
consideration
-
Africa: First meeting in preparation
- The Arab States: Meeting to take
place in October 2000
- The Caucasus: New network to co-ordinate
Dakar follow-up
-
Dakar follow-up on the agenda
- Straight off the press
|
| |
|
Celebration
of International Literacy Day 2000
|
| |
 "The
combat waged by UNESCO is first and foremost
that of education for all. Education is
fragile and still too unequally distributed.
Literacy is the gateway to education.
To be useful and functional, literacy
must be directly related with improving
economic and social status," said Koïchiro
Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO in
his message on the occasion of International
Literacy Day 2000. The day was celebrated
with festivity in a great number of countries
around the world for the thirtieth successive
year. In Paris, UNESCO's five International
Literacy Prizes were awarded to organizations
in Bolivia, Iraq, the Philippines, Senegal
and Zimbabwe that have distinguished themselves
by making a particularly meritorious and
effective contribution to the struggle
against illiteracy (for more information
visit http://www.unesco.org/education).
|
| |
| Education
- its challenges, purpose and potential
in the age of electronic communication
- was also the subject of a lively debate,
Building Learning Societies: Knowledge,
Information and Human Development, organized
by UNESCO, the World Bank and Germany's
Foundation for International Development
as part of EXPO2000 in Hanover, Germany,
from 6 to 8 September. |
| |
| During
three days, some 100 participants from
a wide range of professional and social
backgrounds sought to examine the key
challenge of the new millennium: Understanding
how people, societies and economies acquire
and use knowledge - and why they sometimes
fail to do. |
| |
| The
event closed with the launch of the first
International Adult Learners' Week in
a televised debate called Platform for
the Future, which brought together Edelgard
Bulmahn, Germany's Federal Minister for
Education and Research, and Seydou Sanan,
Education Minister of Burkina Faso, and
featured messages from UNESCO Director-General
Koïchiro Matsuura and United Kingdom Education
Secretary David Blunkett. |
| |
|
=========
|
| |
| Working
Group on Education for All to meet in
Paris (22 to 24 November 2000) |
| |
| The
first meeting of the Working Group on
Education for All will take place at UNESCO,
Paris, from 22 to 24 November 2000. Chaired
by UNESCO's Assistant Director-General
for Education a.i., the group will serve
as an informal mechanism to provide technical
guidance to the EFA movement. The group
will also formulate suggestions in preparation
for the high-level, informal group that
UNESCO's Director-General will convene
in the first quarter of 2001. For further
details, see the 'Outlines of the Action
Plan for the Follow-up to the Dakar Forum'
http://www2.unesco.org/wef/en-news/action%20plan.shtm. |
| |
| The
Working Group will comprise some 40 members,
including representatives from countries
and regions, national and international
non-governmental organizations and foundations,
bi-lateral donor agencies, multi-lateral
and regional agencies, the OECD and the
G-8. The list of participants will be
distributed in a forthcoming issue of
the Bulletin Board. Membership of the
group will be on a rotating basis for
most of the seats in each category. |
| |
| The
provisional agenda of the meeting consists
of three main parts: a) information sharing
on progress and constraints in Dakar follow-up
by participants, b) in-depth discussion
on strategic issues including flagship
programmes based on conceptual/methodological
papers prepared for the meeting and c)
suggestions for the agenda of the meeting
of the high-level group. |
| |
|
=========
|
| |
| Meeting
to inform Permanent Delegations to UNESCO
(20 September 2000) |
| |
|
All Permanent Delegates and Observers
to UNESCO are invited to attend an information
meeting on the follow-up to the Dakar
Forum. The meeting will take place on
20 September in UNESCO, Paris (Room XII,
Fontenoy), from 11.30 a.m. to 12.45 p.m.
The main objective of the meeting, which
will be chaired by UNESCO's Assistant
Director-General for Education a.i., is
to inform Permanent Delegations about
UNESCO action since the World Education
Forum last April and present the Country
Guidelines on the preparations of national
EFA plans of action. These guidelines
aim at stimulating follow-up action at
country level, particularly to promote
the setting-up or revival of national
EFA forums. |
| |
|
|
The
country guidelines in English
and French are attached to this Bulletin
Board and are also available on the World
Education Forum website http://www2.unesco.org/wef/en-news/countryguidelines.shtm.
They are currently being translated
into Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
|
| |
|
=========
|
| |
| Mission
of UNESCO's Assistant Director-General
for Education to the United States |
| |
|
Jacques Hallak, UNESCO's Assistant Director-General
for Education a.i. last week headed a
mission to the United States to continue
the on-going dialogue on Dakar follow-up
activities. |
| |
|
He had fruitful meetings with Carol Bellamy,
the Executive Director of UNICEF and her
education team, Maris O'Rouke, head of
the World Bank's EFA Taskforce, Emily
Vargas-Baron, Deputy Assistant Administrator
of USAID, as well as several non-governmental
organizations, including Stephen Moseley,
President of the Academy for Educational
Development. |
|
|
| Representing
the Director-General of UNESCO, Jacques
Hallak gave the keynote address entitled
Global Connections: Expanding Partnerships
and New Challenges at the National Conference
on Educational Technology 2000. The conference
was organized by the Department of Education
of the United States. |
| |
|
|
=========
|
| |
| Regional
mobilization for Education for All |
| |
|
|
Momentum is now picking up at regional
level. All regions are discussing how
best to co-ordinate Dakar follow-up activities
and facilitate EFA action at country level.
The situation is still unclear in many
regions, but as the regional briefs below
indicate, consultations between various
EFA stakeholders are currently taking
place, showing the enthusiasm and political
will to move forward the EFA agenda. |
| |
|
|
"It is important for UNESCO that the regions
themselves take the main responsibility
in formulating an EFA strategy," comments
Jacques Hallak, Assistant Director-General
for Education of UNESCO a.i. "It is the
only way to ensure a real impact at both
regional and national levels." |
| |
|
|
In most cases, the 'former' Regional Technical
Advisory Groups (RTAGs), which were established
to facilitate the EFA 2000 Assessment,
are seen as important building blocks
in the implementation of the Dakar Framework
for Action. However, most regions are
keen to ensure a better representation
of all stakeholders in the new regional
forums. |
| |
|
|
The main functions of the regional mechanisms
will be to identify the needs of each
region, mobilize resources within the
region and, finally, to set up collaborative
mechanisms that will allow countries to
prepare and implement their national plans
of action. |
| |
|
|
=========
|
| |
|
| Latin
America and the Caribbean: PROMEDLAC VII
to discuss on EFA action |
| |
|
|
The implementation of the Dakar Framework
for Action in Latin American and the Caribbean
will be on the agenda of the Seventh Meeting
of the Regional Intergovernmental Committee
of the Major Project in Education in Latin
America and the Caribbean (PROMEDLAC VII).
The conference will take place in Cochabamba,
Bolivia from 30 October to 1 November
2000. |
| |
|
|
In a special session, participants will
discuss how to promote and organize regional
co-operation in response to the Dakar
Forum. A special effort will be made to
involve all major stakeholders in the
EFA movement, including education ministers,
United Nations organizations, development
banks, bilateral donor agencies and non-governmental
organizations in this session. PROMEDLAC
will also analyse the results of the Major
Project in Education, which has inspired
the majority of education reforms undertaken
by governments in the region during the
past twenty years. |
| |
|
|
=========
|
| |
|
| Asia:
Sub-regional EFA Forums under consideration |
| |
|
|
The creation of four sub-regional EFA
Forums is currently being discussed in
Asia and the Pacific. The idea is that
these forums would continue the work of
the former RTAGs in the region, but would
have an enlarged membership to ensure
that all stakeholders, including country
representatives, non-governmental organizations
and multinational organizations, are well
represented. |
|
| |
|
|
The four regions are East and South East
Asia, Central Asia and the Trans-Caucasus,
the Pacific, and South and West Asia.
UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for
Education a.i. will go on mission to India
in late September to meet with directors
of UNESCO offices in the region, as well
as representatives of international organizations
to discuss in further details the role
of the sub-regional forums. |
| |
|
=========
|
| |
|
| Planning
meeting of APPEAL |
| |
|
|
The Asia Pacific Programme on Education
for All (APPEAL) held a planning meeting
on regional activities in basic and continuing
education from 11 to 13 September 2000
in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A. Hakeem, APPEAL
co-ordinator, underlined the importance
of developing effective regional follow-up
programmes to respond to the challenges
identified in the EFA 2000 Assessment
and the Dakar Framework for Action. "It
is necessary and timely for APPEAL to
renew its vision, strategies and modalities,"
he said. |
| |
|
|
APPEAL is well known in the Asia Pacific
Region, particularly for its innovative
work in literacy and continuing education.
As a follow-up to Dakar, APPEAL is planning
to provide technical assistance to Member
States in preparing their national EFA
plans. It will further consolidate and
expand the Community Learning Centers,
which were established with communities,
NGOs and governments across the region.
They symbolize APPEAL's response to put
the expanded vision of basic education
into practice and respond to the Dakar
goals in an integrated manner. |
| |
|
|
=========
|
| |
|
| Africa:
First meeting under preparation |
| |
|
|
Consultations are currently taking place
to decide on the most effective follow-up
mechanism in Africa. A preparatory planning
meeting is scheduled to take place in
October 2000. More information will be
published in a forthcoming issue of the
Bulletin Board. |
| |
|
=========
|
| |
|
| The
Arab States: Meeting to take place in
October 2000 |
| |
|
|
A one-day consultation on Dakar follow-up
activities in the Arab region is planned
to take place in October 2000, probably
in UNESCO Beirut office. The meeting is
expected to set the basis for renewed
EFA efforts in the Arab region. An Arabic
version of the country guidelines will
be distributed to participants in advance
and will help define the role of ARABEFA,
the former RTAG, in assisting Member States
in the development of EFA national plans
before 2002. |
| |
|
|
ARABEFA is planning to develop its activities
through four thematic working groups:
Early Childhood Development, Primary Education,
Non-formal and Literacy Education and
Education of Women and Girls |
| |
|
|
=========
|
| |
|
| The
Caucasus: New network to co-ordinate Dakar
follow-up |
| |
|
A new Network of the Pedagogical Institutes
of the Caucasus region was established
in the beginning of June 2000. As the
network is the only educational network
in the region, it is expected to be instrumental
in the follow-up to the Dakar Forum. It
will also work closely with UNESCO major
programmes in education (through the UNESCO
Chairs, the Associated Schools Project
etc). The Network includes so far the
pedagogical and language institutes of
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and the
initial phase is co-ordinated by the rector
of the Tbilisi Pedagogical University.
|
| |
| |
|
=========
|
| |
|
| Dakar
follow-up on the agenda |
| |
|
-
The forthcoming session of UNESCO's
Executive Board (9-25 October 2000)
will examine the action taken by Organization
in the follow-up action to the World
Education Forum and give recommendations
of future directions for UNESCO in
the Education for All movement.
- The Director-General of UNESCO will
meet with the OECD's Development Assistance
Committee on 2 October 2000 to discuss
the financial implications of the
Dakar Framework for Action.
- The OECD Development Centre and
UNESCO are jointly organizing a seminar
on 4 October 2000 in Paris to share
experiences, knowledge and practices
in the field of education and development.
This first policy dialogue will focus
specifically on Africa where challenges
in education are huge and will include
a special session on follow-up to
Dakar. It is expected that the meeting
will lead to improved operational
activities and effective implementation
of policies directed towards the broad
goals of development. The seminar
will bring together policy-makers
and experts in an attempt to explore
synergies and possible future collaboration
in similar policy dialogues.
- The Standing Conference of European
Ministers of Education to take place
in Krakow, Poland from 15 to 17 October
2000 will also touch upon issues raised
at the Dakar Forum. UNESCO will be
represented by Jacques Hallak, Assistant
Director-General for Education a.i.
and Alexandre Sannikov, Chief of the
Europe Desk, who will present a just-published
report on UNESCO's educational activities
in the region 1998-2000. This document
will shortly be available on Internet
http://www.education.unesco.org
|
| |
|
=========
|
| |
|
| Straight
off the press |
| |
|
|
The final issue of the EFA 2000 Bulletin
focuses on the World Education Forum in
Dakar. It includes an "opinion article"
by the Director-General of UNESCO, as
well as the global results of the EFA
2000 Assessment. It also features the
Dakar Framework for Action. |
| |
|
|
Published by UNESCO since 1990 for the
now disbanded Education for All Forum,
the quarterly Bulletin appeared in five
languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French
and Spanish). It had a strategic worldwide
distribution to more than 30,000 subscribers,
including ministers of education, government
officials, bilateral donor agencies, UN
agencies, NGOs, the media, etc. |
| |
|
|
UNESCO will continue to keep its partners
up to date on the issues and challenges
facing the Education for All movement
worldwide through advocacy materials,
publications and the electronic press. |
| |
|
|
The EFA 2000 Bulletin can also be found
on the Internet |
| |
|
| http://www2.unesco.org/efa/05EFAbul.htm |
| |
|
|
The September-November issue of Countdown,
UNESCO's education sector newsletter is
now available in English (the French will
come out in two weeks-time) Countdown
can be viewed on http://www.unesco.org/education/educnews/new_idx.htm
|
| |
|
|
=========
|
| |
| |
| Information
Contact: Anne Muller (a.muller@unesco.org) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
