Education and development to take centre stage at 34th session of UNESCO’s General Conference (16 October – 3 November)

The next session of the General Conference which governs UNESCO will open on 16 October in Paris.

Two ministerial round tables – on education and on science – a youth forum and an international civil society forum are on the agenda of the session. Close to 2,000 participants are expected, including numerous ministers and some ten heads of State and government * who will take the floor before representatives of the Organization’s 192 Member States.

Education and development to take centre stage at 34th session of UNESCO’s General Conference (16 October – 3 November)

The next session of the General Conference which governs UNESCO will open on 16 October in Paris.

Two ministerial round tables – on education and on science – a youth forum and an international civil society forum are on the agenda of the session. Close to 2,000 participants are expected, including numerous ministers and some ten heads of State and government * who will take the floor before representatives of the Organization’s 192 Member States.

The E-9 Initiative

The E-9 Initiative was launched by heads-of-state or government of Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan in 1993. 'E' stands for education and 9 for those nine countries which were pledged to universalize primary education and to significantly reduce illiteracy in their respective countries. These nine nations include half the population of the world; their progress would necessarily imply global progress in education and literacy.

Since then the Ministers of Education of the E-9 countries have met occasionally to review achievements in basic education, reconfirm their commitment, exchange experiences and define possible joint programs. The education of girls and women has been at the top of the E-9 agenda, as well as teacher training and literacy. These areas of basic education are strategically considered the most important for reducing population growth and enhancing development perspectives.

Go to the E-9 Website.

Read the Monterrey Declaration promulgated by the E-9 Ministers of Education in February 2006.

The E-9 Initiative

The E-9 Initiative was launched by heads-of-state or government of Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan in 1993. 'E' stands for education and 9 for those nine countries which were pledged to universalize primary education and to significantly reduce illiteracy in their respective countries. These nine nations include half the population of the world; their progress would necessarily imply global progress in education and literacy.

Since then the Ministers of Education of the E-9 countries have met occasionally to review achievements in basic education, reconfirm their commitment, exchange experiences and define possible joint programs. The education of girls and women has been at the top of the E-9 agenda, as well as teacher training and literacy. These areas of basic education are strategically considered the most important for reducing population growth and enhancing development perspectives.

Go to the E-9 Website.

Read the Monterrey Declaration promulgated by the E-9 Ministers of Education in February 2006.

Ambassador Oliver Calls For Focus, Supports Budget Increase

Ambassador Louise Oliver addressed the Executive Board of UNESCO on October 3. Her remarks are published on the website of the U.S. Permanent Delegation to UNESCO. After expressing support for the medium term strategy, she said:

However, despite the hard work of the drafting group and its excellent co-chairmen, we think that the C5 (report with the proposed program and budget) is still overly ambitious. Certainly we are pleased that the C5 includes expected results for UNESCO’s initiatives, but is it really possible for the Secretariat to achieve those results in only two years, especially if we insist that their work is of high quality?

And what will happen if Member States continue to add to the work of the Secretariat with resolutions that call for new activities and programs, instead of focusing on the ones we already have? Unfortunately it seems that we still have multiple visions for UNESCO.

Mr. Director General, we are pleased that your vision includes strengthening UNESCO’s organizational structure so that our programs can achieve long-term sustainable results. Although the United States has consistently advocated a zero nominal growth budget, and believe that was needed in past budget cycles to encourage UNESCO to become more efficient and effective, we have decided to support your $631 million dollar budget scenario because the additional funds will help reinforce UNESCO’s infrastructure, establish an ethics program for UNESCO staff, and strengthen initiatives focused on the needs of Africa and the developing world.

Read the full speech.

Ambassador Oliver Calls For Focus, Supports Budget Increase

Ambassador Louise Oliver addressed the Executive Board of UNESCO on October 3. Her remarks are published on the website of the U.S. Permanent Delegation to UNESCO. After expressing support for the medium term strategy, she said:

However, despite the hard work of the drafting group and its excellent co-chairmen, we think that the C5 (report with the proposed program and budget) is still overly ambitious. Certainly we are pleased that the C5 includes expected results for UNESCO’s initiatives, but is it really possible for the Secretariat to achieve those results in only two years, especially if we insist that their work is of high quality?

And what will happen if Member States continue to add to the work of the Secretariat with resolutions that call for new activities and programs, instead of focusing on the ones we already have? Unfortunately it seems that we still have multiple visions for UNESCO.

Mr. Director General, we are pleased that your vision includes strengthening UNESCO’s organizational structure so that our programs can achieve long-term sustainable results. Although the United States has consistently advocated a zero nominal growth budget, and believe that was needed in past budget cycles to encourage UNESCO to become more efficient and effective, we have decided to support your $631 million dollar budget scenario because the additional funds will help reinforce UNESCO’s infrastructure, establish an ethics program for UNESCO staff, and strengthen initiatives focused on the needs of Africa and the developing world.

Read the full speech.