Launch of the 2008 edition

Education for All by 2015:
Will we make it?

This report assesses progress towards the six education for all goals midway to the target date for achieving them -- 2015;

There have been some real gains since 2000:

• the number of children starting primary school has increased sharply,
  
• there are more girls in school than ever before and
• spending on education and aid has risen.

But poor quality, the cost of schooling for poor families and high levels of adult illiteracy are militating against the chances of achieving education for all.

Read the Summary Report.

The full report is to be released on Thursday. The full report, regional overviews, statistical search tool, background papers, video interviews and UNESCO Courier feature stories are to be on line on 29 November.

Major environmental education conference in India

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger

Studying butterflies in France

UNESCO co-sponsored the Fourth International Conference on Environmental Education on 24-28 November in Ahmedabad, India. Some 1500 participants are expected.

Mark Richmond of UNESCO’s Education Sector will deliver a keynote address on behalf of the Director-General on 26 November.

Read the interview with Peter Woods, an expert on education for sustainability, who represents the Australian Government at Ahmedabad and other international environmental forums.

Educational governance at local levels

Educational governance at local levels
UNESCO, November 2007.

How can educational governance at local levels enable the empowerment of excluded groups? Two new publications from UNESCO address this and other related questions.

“Educational governance at local levels: policy paper and evaluation guidelines” includes a policy paper on implementing educational decentralization as well as evaluation guidelines.

A second, complementary publication, “Educational governance at local levels: modules for capacity building”, provides capacity-building activities in four modules. Both publications can be downloaded from the links below. Printed copies and a CD/ROM are also available on demand.

• Educational governance at local levels: policy paper and evaluation guidelines
  
  
• Educational governance at local levels: modules for capacity building
  

How volunteering at Unesco changes lives

In UNESCO and other international organizations, interns are often welcome to work alongside staff on development programs and special projects. And, fortunately for the agencies, many young people are willing to do just that, offering their time in exchange for experience. So, what drives this motivation, and what challenges and lessons are learned along the way?

Read the full explanation by Melinda Sung, an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development, who was a volunteer in the Culture Unit, Unesco Bangkok. It is published in The Nation (Bangkok).

Interns have been of great service to Americans for UNESCO, and we are always looking for new volunteers to help with these blogs.

UNESCO to offer video encyclopaedia on India

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) has started to publish online a rich video-based encyclopaedia on Indian heritage and culture. It is to be found on a special website -- IndiaVideo.org. The collection will soon cover all States and Union Territories, highlighting the cultural diversity,craft and traditional knowledge of each region.

Read about the initiative:

• On the UNESCO website
• In the Hindu Times

Go to the IndiaVideo.org website

As an example of the content, check out the video on Odissi:

Odissi is the classical dance form which originated in Orissa, an Eastern state in India. Like Bharatanatyam, this classical dance is also centuries old. This enchanting classical dance form of Orissa traces its origin to the temple dances of the Devadasis (temple dancers).

Sujata Mohapatra is one of the famous Odissi dancers of India. She is the disciple and daughter -in- law of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.

The U.S.A. at UNESCO’s 34th General Conference

UNESCO held its 34th General Conference at its Paris Headquarters from October 16 to November 2, 2007. The General Conference is held every other year, and is the governing body of the organization, The United States fielded a large delegation for the conference, and participated fully in the event.

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings led the U.S. delegation supported by White House Science Advisor, Dr. John H. Marburger, III and National Science Foundation Director Arden Bement..

The Conference notably adopted, by consensus, a resolution on “Holocaust Remembrance” introduced by the United States, Russia, Australia, Canada, and Israel and co-sponsored by 65 other UNESCO member states. The resolution “requests the Director-General to consult with the United Nations Secretary-General regarding outreach programs that could play in promoting awareness of Holocaust remembrance through education and in combating all forms of Holocaust denial.”

Also adopted was a Resolution introduced by the U.S. and co-sponsored by many African states that urged UNESCO to expedite implementation of the Teacher Training Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa (TTISSA).

The United States Library of Congress chose the General Conference as a platform to launch the World Digital Library project. The project was launched with an exhibit that illustrated how the World Digital Library will operate. Librarian of Congress Dr. James H. Billington hosted a reception for a large number of people at the Conference and the Library of Congress and UNESCO signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate future collaboration on the project.

Finally, NASA and NOAA provided a special exhibit, a digital video globe displaying various data, called the “Magic Planet,” which was the focal point for a presentation entitled "Observing and Understanding our Globalized World through History, Sciences, Culture, and Communications." This exhibit helped make the overall theme of the General Conference, “Planet Earth: from Space to Place,” a great success.

International Conference on Women's Leadership for Sustainable Development

Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
addresses the Conference

Jerusalem and Haifa, Israel
18-22 November 2007

The conference, a biennial event held by the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center, was cosponsored by UNESCO and Mashav (the Foreign Ministry-operated official body for international cooperation).

UNESCO Deputy Director-General Prof. Marcio Barbosa expressed gratitude to the government of Israel for hosting such a major event and to the eminent women leaders who had participated with such great enthusiasm.