Education for All (EFA) Developments

Read the Address by Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the Information Meeting for Permanent Delegations on Education for All (EFA) Developments (30 May 2007).

Educational problems remain severe in the world. 77 million children are not in school and over ten times that many adults lack basic literacy skills. Gender inequalities, the poor quality of education and the lack of early childhood learning and of non-formal opportunities for young people, as well as issues of capacity and system reform – all these are the challenges we face.

Today, seven years after the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, at which the six EFA goals were adopted, we are almost exactly half way to 2015. The 2007 EFA Global Monitoring Report focused on the first goal – early childhood care and education. The Report showed that children who participate in early childhood programs are more likely to enter and complete primary education. It also demonstrated the link between early childhood education and future academic achievement, as well as the overall efficiency of education systems.

Secretary-General Matsuura has

decided to set up an International Advisory Panel on EFA – the IAP – of about 15 people and comprising the four main constituencies of EFA: developing countries; donors; multilateral agencies; and civil society and the private sector. The IAP held its first meeting on 21 May.

This year the EFA Global Monitoring Report will be crucially important. It will not examine a specific EFA theme, as it has in the past, but rather take stock of overall EFA progress. The focus will be on equity, equality and quality, and the report will examine the nature of the challenges up to 2015.

Reporting on financial resources, Mr. Matsuura said:

The funding of EFA is a constant and urgent concern. Recent data from the GMR shows some worrying trends, both in terms of domestic funding and external assistance.

Out of the 67 developing countries for which we have data, 39 have increased public expenditure on education as a share of GNP since 1999, while in 28 countries public spending has actually decreased, in some cases significantly. This is an extremely disturbing development. Strong and sustainable domestic funding is absolutely key to EFA progress. It is therefore crucial that developing countries reprioritize spending towards basic education. We should not forget: investment in education is one of the most productive investments a nation can make.

The picture for international aid is likewise mixed.

New pledges of significant funds, such as the UK commitment for the next ten years, were a welcome development in 2006. The EFA Fast Track Initiative (FTI) has become a trusted channel of funding for primary schooling and has a growing financial envelope as well as an increasing number of partner countries where funds are at work......

The recent Brussels conference, gave further shape to how existing funding will be spent, but.....stopped considerably short of raising the sums needed to achieve universal primary schooling, let alone the other EFA goals.

And there are more troubling signs. Total external commitments to basic education in low-income countries increased steadily year by year from 1.6 billion US$ in 1999 to 2.6 billion US$ in 2003, before rising rapidly in the following year to 4 billion US$. However, according to initial analysis of OECD/DAC aid data by the GMR team, it appears that commitments then fell in 2005 to just 2.4 billion US$.

UNESCO has three core initiatives in EFA:

• UNESCO’s Literacy for Empowerment initiative (LIFE) targets the 35 countries that face the greatest literacy challenges, and is already up and running in 11 countries.
• The EDUCAIDS Initiative within the UNAIDS framework addressing HIV/AIDS.
• UNESCO’s Teacher Training Initiative for sub-Saharan Africa (TTISSA), which is a ten year project aimed at increasing the quantity and improving the quality of the teaching force in sub-Saharan Africa, where needs are particularly acute.

UNESCO's Education Sector reform seeks to strengthen UNESCO’s role in education, above all in the priority area of EFA. The reform has created a more streamlined, integrated and accountable structure, providing UNESCO with the framework it needs to fully exercise its leadership role. Mr. Matsuura said that "the recent departure of the ADG for Education will not in any way affect the ongoing implementation of these reforms. Board Members firmly agreed, endorsing the direction I have taken, and giving me a strong mandate to proceed. At this critical juncture in our efforts to achieve EFA, UNESCO must not, and will not, be seen to waver."

Education for All (EFA) Developments

Read the Address by Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the Information Meeting for Permanent Delegations on Education for All (EFA) Developments (30 May 2007).

Educational problems remain severe in the world. 77 million children are not in school and over ten times that many adults lack basic literacy skills. Gender inequalities, the poor quality of education and the lack of early childhood learning and of non-formal opportunities for young people, as well as issues of capacity and system reform – all these are the challenges we face.

Today, seven years after the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, at which the six EFA goals were adopted, we are almost exactly half way to 2015. The 2007 EFA Global Monitoring Report focused on the first goal – early childhood care and education. The Report showed that children who participate in early childhood programs are more likely to enter and complete primary education. It also demonstrated the link between early childhood education and future academic achievement, as well as the overall efficiency of education systems.

Secretary-General Matsuura has

decided to set up an International Advisory Panel on EFA – the IAP – of about 15 people and comprising the four main constituencies of EFA: developing countries; donors; multilateral agencies; and civil society and the private sector. The IAP held its first meeting on 21 May.

This year the EFA Global Monitoring Report will be crucially important. It will not examine a specific EFA theme, as it has in the past, but rather take stock of overall EFA progress. The focus will be on equity, equality and quality, and the report will examine the nature of the challenges up to 2015.

Reporting on financial resources, Mr. Matsuura said:

The funding of EFA is a constant and urgent concern. Recent data from the GMR shows some worrying trends, both in terms of domestic funding and external assistance.

Out of the 67 developing countries for which we have data, 39 have increased public expenditure on education as a share of GNP since 1999, while in 28 countries public spending has actually decreased, in some cases significantly. This is an extremely disturbing development. Strong and sustainable domestic funding is absolutely key to EFA progress. It is therefore crucial that developing countries reprioritize spending towards basic education. We should not forget: investment in education is one of the most productive investments a nation can make.

The picture for international aid is likewise mixed.

New pledges of significant funds, such as the UK commitment for the next ten years, were a welcome development in 2006. The EFA Fast Track Initiative (FTI) has become a trusted channel of funding for primary schooling and has a growing financial envelope as well as an increasing number of partner countries where funds are at work......

The recent Brussels conference, gave further shape to how existing funding will be spent, but.....stopped considerably short of raising the sums needed to achieve universal primary schooling, let alone the other EFA goals.

And there are more troubling signs. Total external commitments to basic education in low-income countries increased steadily year by year from 1.6 billion US$ in 1999 to 2.6 billion US$ in 2003, before rising rapidly in the following year to 4 billion US$. However, according to initial analysis of OECD/DAC aid data by the GMR team, it appears that commitments then fell in 2005 to just 2.4 billion US$.

UNESCO has three core initiatives in EFA:

• UNESCO’s Literacy for Empowerment initiative (LIFE) targets the 35 countries that face the greatest literacy challenges, and is already up and running in 11 countries.
• The EDUCAIDS Initiative within the UNAIDS framework addressing HIV/AIDS.
• UNESCO’s Teacher Training Initiative for sub-Saharan Africa (TTISSA), which is a ten year project aimed at increasing the quantity and improving the quality of the teaching force in sub-Saharan Africa, where needs are particularly acute.

UNESCO's Education Sector reform seeks to strengthen UNESCO’s role in education, above all in the priority area of EFA. The reform has created a more streamlined, integrated and accountable structure, providing UNESCO with the framework it needs to fully exercise its leadership role. Mr. Matsuura said that "the recent departure of the ADG for Education will not in any way affect the ongoing implementation of these reforms. Board Members firmly agreed, endorsing the direction I have taken, and giving me a strong mandate to proceed. At this critical juncture in our efforts to achieve EFA, UNESCO must not, and will not, be seen to waver."

President Bush Discusses U. S. International Development Agenda

Read the full speech made at the United States Global Leadership Council on May 31.

The President stressed the importance of trade, and of opening of trade relations. He described the effort made by the United States and other nations of the G8 to reduce the debt burden of poor nations. Since 2001 U.S. development spending across the world has increased

from about $10 billion in 2000, to $23 billion in 2006. It's the largest increase in development assistance since the Marshall Plan..... The first four years of my administration, we doubled our assistance to Africa. At the G8 summit in 2005, I promised our assistance to Africa would double once again by 2010.

President Bush described three key goals of foreign assistance:

• to help developing countries build democratic and accountable institutions and strengthen their civil societies,
• to improve education, and
• to fight the scourge of disease in Africa and other parts of the developing world.

Here is the specific wording of the discussion of the education priority:

All of this will go for naught if people don't have a good education. So the second way we're using our aid is to improve education so that the young in the developing world have the tools they need to realize their God-given potential. Many parents across the world either have no access to education for their children, or simply cannot afford it. It's a fact of life, something the world needs to deal with, particularly those of us who have got some money.

In many nations, girls have even less educational opportunity. It robs them of a chance to satisfy their ambitions or to make use of their talents and skills, and it's really sad, when you think about it. It really is. The question is, does the United States care? Should we do something about it? And the answer is, absolutely. If boys and girls in Africa and other developing nations don't learn how to read, write, and add and subtract, this world is just going to move on without them. And all the aid efforts we'll be trying will go to naught, in my judgment.

And so in 2002, I launched the African Education Initiative to help address the great need. Through this initiative, we have provided about $300 million to expand educational opportunities throughout the continent, and we're going to provide another $300 million by 2010. We will have doubled our commitment........

And we need to do more, for not only children on the continent of Africa, but poor children throughout the world. And so I'm calling on Congress to fund $525 million over the next five years to make our educational initiatives even more robust. And the goal is to provide basic education for 4 million additional children on the continent of Africa and across the globe.

We've got another interesting idea, and that is to establish new Communities of Opportunity centers in poor nations to provide skills and language training for 100,000 at-risk youth; giving these young people in these countries the skills they need to succeed, we're going to give them keys to a brighter future.

The speech concluded:

The initiatives I've discussed today are making a difference in the lives of millions; our fellow citizens have got to understand that. We're talking about improving lives in a real, tangible way that ought to make our country proud. That's why we've asked these folks to come. It's one thing for the President to be talking about stories; it's another thing for the people to see firsthand what our help has done.

I'm so proud of the United States of America. This initiative shows the good character and the decency of the American people. We are a decent people. We feel responsible for helping those who are less fortunate. And I am proud to be the President of such a good nation.

President Bush Discusses U. S. International Development Agenda

Read the full speech made at the United States Global Leadership Council on May 31.

The President stressed the importance of trade, and of opening of trade relations. He described the effort made by the United States and other nations of the G8 to reduce the debt burden of poor nations. Since 2001 U.S. development spending across the world has increased

from about $10 billion in 2000, to $23 billion in 2006. It's the largest increase in development assistance since the Marshall Plan..... The first four years of my administration, we doubled our assistance to Africa. At the G8 summit in 2005, I promised our assistance to Africa would double once again by 2010.

President Bush described three key goals of foreign assistance:

• to help developing countries build democratic and accountable institutions and strengthen their civil societies,
• to improve education, and
• to fight the scourge of disease in Africa and other parts of the developing world.

Here is the specific wording of the discussion of the education priority:

All of this will go for naught if people don't have a good education. So the second way we're using our aid is to improve education so that the young in the developing world have the tools they need to realize their God-given potential. Many parents across the world either have no access to education for their children, or simply cannot afford it. It's a fact of life, something the world needs to deal with, particularly those of us who have got some money.

In many nations, girls have even less educational opportunity. It robs them of a chance to satisfy their ambitions or to make use of their talents and skills, and it's really sad, when you think about it. It really is. The question is, does the United States care? Should we do something about it? And the answer is, absolutely. If boys and girls in Africa and other developing nations don't learn how to read, write, and add and subtract, this world is just going to move on without them. And all the aid efforts we'll be trying will go to naught, in my judgment.

And so in 2002, I launched the African Education Initiative to help address the great need. Through this initiative, we have provided about $300 million to expand educational opportunities throughout the continent, and we're going to provide another $300 million by 2010. We will have doubled our commitment........

And we need to do more, for not only children on the continent of Africa, but poor children throughout the world. And so I'm calling on Congress to fund $525 million over the next five years to make our educational initiatives even more robust. And the goal is to provide basic education for 4 million additional children on the continent of Africa and across the globe.

We've got another interesting idea, and that is to establish new Communities of Opportunity centers in poor nations to provide skills and language training for 100,000 at-risk youth; giving these young people in these countries the skills they need to succeed, we're going to give them keys to a brighter future.

The speech concluded:

The initiatives I've discussed today are making a difference in the lives of millions; our fellow citizens have got to understand that. We're talking about improving lives in a real, tangible way that ought to make our country proud. That's why we've asked these folks to come. It's one thing for the President to be talking about stories; it's another thing for the people to see firsthand what our help has done.

I'm so proud of the United States of America. This initiative shows the good character and the decency of the American people. We are a decent people. We feel responsible for helping those who are less fortunate. And I am proud to be the President of such a good nation.

James G. McCargar

James McCargar accepting the
Col. Michael Kovats Medal of Freedom
from the American Hungarian Federation

We regret to inform you of the death of James G. McCargar, a long time member of the Board of Directors of Americans for UNESCO. Mr. McCargar died on the afternoon of May 30, 2007.

A graduate of Stanford University, James McCargar, briefly a reporter on the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, was commissioned a Foreign Service Officer in 1942. He was Vice Consul at Vladivostok 1942-43, and Secretary of Embassy, Moscow, 1943. Assigned to the Dominican Republic in 1943, he was commissioned in the Naval Reserve in 1944, and served as Foreign Liaison Officer with the Soviet Navy and Merchant Marine at Akutan and Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Appointed Secretary of Legation, Budapest, in 1946, he was Chief of the Political Section and, under State Department authorization and orders, established an escape network in then-Russian-occupied territory which saved more than sixty democratic Hungarian and Romanian political leaders and pro-Western figures and their families in danger of arrest, deportation and/or death.

At Genoa during the Italian elections of 1948, McCargar was then detailed to the Office of Policy Coordination, in the CIA, where he served until 1950 as Chief, Division of Southeastern European Affairs. He served at the Paris Embassy as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Allied Coordinating Committee, 1950-53. In 1955 he joined the Free Europe Committee in New York, as liaison with the United Nations and the Assembly of Captive European Nations. European Director at Paris of political, social and cultural programs for the Committee, 1956-58, he continued at Paris as a Consultant to the President of the Committee until 1960. That year he was co-founder and Secretary, Americans Abroad for Kennedy.

As Special Assistant to the Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1978-1982, McCargar was the Coordinator, Executive Branch, on cultural policy for the U. S. National Commission on UNESCO. He attended two UNESCO General Conferences as an expert, and in 1982 was a member of the U. S. Delegation to the Second UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policy. At the invitation of the Norwegian National Commission for UNESCO, he was the U. S. Observer at the 1991 UNESCO European Regional Conference on Cultural Development at Oslo. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Americans for the Universality of UNESCO from 1985, and continues as a member of the Board of Americans for UNESCO.

From 1940 to the present McCargar published articles, fiction, and book reviews under his own name and as "Christopher Felix" in a dozen publications, and from 1960 on authored or co-authored four books. He was also ghostwriter for Men of Responsibility, the 1965 memoirs of Dirk U. Stikker, former Foreign Minister of The Netherlands, and Secretary-General of NATO.

Read this long letter by James McCargar published in Commentary magazine refuting an article on the U.S. departure from UNESCO.

James G. McCargar

James McCargar accepting the
Col. Michael Kovats Medal of Freedom
from the American Hungarian Federation

We regret to inform you of the death of James G. McCargar, a long time member of the Board of Directors of Americans for UNESCO. Mr. McCargar died on the afternoon of May 30, 2007.

A graduate of Stanford University, James McCargar, briefly a reporter on the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, was commissioned a Foreign Service Officer in 1942. He was Vice Consul at Vladivostok 1942-43, and Secretary of Embassy, Moscow, 1943. Assigned to the Dominican Republic in 1943, he was commissioned in the Naval Reserve in 1944, and served as Foreign Liaison Officer with the Soviet Navy and Merchant Marine at Akutan and Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Appointed Secretary of Legation, Budapest, in 1946, he was Chief of the Political Section and, under State Department authorization and orders, established an escape network in then-Russian-occupied territory which saved more than sixty democratic Hungarian and Romanian political leaders and pro-Western figures and their families in danger of arrest, deportation and/or death.

At Genoa during the Italian elections of 1948, McCargar was then detailed to the Office of Policy Coordination, in the CIA, where he served until 1950 as Chief, Division of Southeastern European Affairs. He served at the Paris Embassy as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Allied Coordinating Committee, 1950-53. In 1955 he joined the Free Europe Committee in New York, as liaison with the United Nations and the Assembly of Captive European Nations. European Director at Paris of political, social and cultural programs for the Committee, 1956-58, he continued at Paris as a Consultant to the President of the Committee until 1960. That year he was co-founder and Secretary, Americans Abroad for Kennedy.

As Special Assistant to the Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1978-1982, McCargar was the Coordinator, Executive Branch, on cultural policy for the U. S. National Commission on UNESCO. He attended two UNESCO General Conferences as an expert, and in 1982 was a member of the U. S. Delegation to the Second UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policy. At the invitation of the Norwegian National Commission for UNESCO, he was the U. S. Observer at the 1991 UNESCO European Regional Conference on Cultural Development at Oslo. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Americans for the Universality of UNESCO from 1985, and continues as a member of the Board of Americans for UNESCO.

From 1940 to the present McCargar published articles, fiction, and book reviews under his own name and as "Christopher Felix" in a dozen publications, and from 1960 on authored or co-authored four books. He was also ghostwriter for Men of Responsibility, the 1965 memoirs of Dirk U. Stikker, former Foreign Minister of The Netherlands, and Secretary-General of NATO.

Read this long letter by James McCargar published in Commentary magazine refuting an article on the U.S. departure from UNESCO.