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EFA
Africa Bulletin Board-
N° 1 - June 2001
•
Country Actions
• EPT meetings in Africa
• Documents
Editorial
Dear
partners and interested EFA readers,
We
are pleased to send you the first issue of the monthly EFA Africa
Bulletin. The aim of this bulletin is to keep you regularly informed
of the activities taking place in sub-Saharan Africa with regard
to the follow-up of the World Forum on Education For All (EFA),
as well as of progress made in achieving EFA goals.
The
World Education Forum (Dakar - Senegal, 26th to 28th April 2000)
ended with a new collective commitment to the realisation of Education
for All which was demonstrated by the adoption of a new framework
of action. This call for action should, first and foremost, find
concrete expression within UNESCO, which has been given the responsibility
of coordinating the Education For All movement.
In
this connection, the UNESCO regional office for education in Africa
(BREDA) has been asked to play a special role, in particular, as
" The educational challenge is greatest in Africa. Here 22 countries-about
half of all countries in the region-are unlikely, unless serious
action is taken, to reach the target of universal primary enrollment
by 2015. In seven of these countries, around half of all children
of primary age are currently not in primary school. In 12 countries,
primary enrolments have increased over the decade, but at a rate
that will be insufficient to ensure that all children are in primary
school by 2015. It is quite possible that half-way through the next
decade, more than 30 percent of children will never attend primary
school… The educational challenge for Africa, […]is being undermined
by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In the worst-affected countries in Africa,
10 percent of teachers are expected to die over the next five years.
Over the same period, and in the same countries, the number of HIV/AIDS
orphans will rise to more than 20 percent of all school-age children.
The disease will sharply reduce girls' school attendance as they
are forced to become household caregivers." (Extract from a joint
message issued by EFA Partners on the first anniversary of the Dakar
Forum)
Our
bulletin has been conceived so that you have a better idea of the
Education for All movement in the Africa region on a day-to-day
basis. We will inform you regularly of the latest advances made
with regard to EFA in the different countries. I take this opportunity
to inform you that we have installed a new interface, keeping in
mind the goals of the movement. Our Web site, (http://www.dakar.unesco.org)
will help you to get to know BREDA, its terms of reference, its
method of functioning and its activities. Here, you will find a
section dedicated to Africa EFA news, which will give you access
to detailed and updated information from the Bulletin.
Please
do send us your views, comments and suggestions. We will be happy
to take them into account to enrich the contents of the Bulletin
as well as that of our site, in order to serve you and the cause
of education in Africa better. We hope you enjoy reading the latest
information and visiting our site.
Armoogum
Parsuramen
Director,
BREDA
Country Actions
National
Days for Awareness-raising and Promotion of EFA
National
Days for creating awareness and promoting Education for All were
organised between 15th and 17th May 2001. The central theme was
"EFA, a factor in the fight against poverty". The days were devoted
to sensitising and mobilising all the actors involved in education
- decision makers, local elected representatives, donors, NGOs and
the public at large.
While
the crucial importance of education in the overall process of development
was underlined, the main idea was, in fact, to generate national
and international interest for EFA. With this in mind, it was decided
to set up a think tank that would serve as a framework for involvement
of all the partners in the drawing up of the National EFA 2000-2015
Action Plan.
During
the Days, presentations were made on the contribution of EFA to
population growth control and health improvement and on the development
of a culture of peace. The aim of these actions was to fight against
poverty and the scourges ravaging the country such as illiteracy
(50.3%), AIDS (12% prevalence) and the mismatch between training
and employment. Contact :
Salimata
BLE
National EFA coordinator (Côte d'Ivoire)
E-mail : sblecnept(a)globeaccess.net
RWANDA :
EFA National Forum
The
Minister of Education set up recently (on 23rd May 2001) a National
EFA Forum in charge of organising the working groups for the preparation
of the National EFA Action Plan.
The
forum consists of representatives of the State house, the Prime
Minister's office, various ministries, agencies belonging to the
United Nations system that are EFA partners, civil society and churches.
The tasks assigned to the forum are promotion and advocacy, resource
mobilisation, follow-up, production and sharing of information on
EFA. The forum is chaired by the Ministry of Education and a secretariat
has been set up.
In
addition, six working groups corresponding to the six goals of the
Dakar Framework of Action have been constituted. Their role is to
prepare thematic reports, conduct and disseminate studies and analyses
of activities relating to EFA, participate in follow-up/assessment,
give advice and express views, to defend at all times quality basic
education. The schedule provides for the organisation of a national
conference on EFA and the finalisation of the EFA report by July
2001 as well as the holding of a seminar for endorsing the National
EFA Plan of Action in October 2001.
Contact
: Paul MPAYI MANA,
Education expert, UNESCO Yaoundé
E-mail : p.mpayimana@unesco.org
CENTRAFRIQUE :
Set up of a national multisectoral coordinating and follow up Committee
as well as a National Action Plan drafting Committee.
The
Minister for National Education and Higher Education has appointed
a National EFA Co-ordinator and set up a National Multi-sectoral
EFA Co-ordinating and Follow-up Committee as well as a Drafting
Committee for the National EFA Action Plan.
The
National EFA Co-ordinating and Follow-up Committee which is chaired
by the National EFA Co-ordinator, is made up of representatives
of the ministries, UNICEF, the French Co-operation, the NGO representative,
the representative of the teachers' union, the employers' representative
and the representative of the Central African National Commission
for UNESCO.
The
Committee's aims are to:
-
ernsure the preparation and implementation of the National EFA
Action Plan;
- sensitise
and mobilise EFA partners and propose remedial measures;
-
readjust the EFA Plan during its execution through a more sophisticated
follow-up mechanism and within the available financial means;
-
prepare quarterly reports and report to the Government, EFA partners
and donors;
-
organise EFA meetings and seminars.
A
drafting team for the National EFA Action Plan, headed by the National
EFA Coordinator has also been constituted. This team is made of
representatives of the ministries, the representative of the public
and private sector teachers' union, the representative of UNICEF
and that of the Central African National Commission for UNESCO.
A $61,000 project document jointly prepared by the Yaounde Office
and the Ministry of Education, was submitted to the EFA Sponsors.
Contact
: Paul MPAYI MANA,
Education expert, UNESCO Yaoundé
E-mail : p.mpayimana@unesco.org
CAMEROUN:
national Education Partners workshop in education.
The
UNESCO Yaounde Office (Cameroon), along with the EFA partners, the
Ministry of Education and the Cameroonian National Commission for
UNESCO, organised a National Workshop for Education Partners on
20th April 2001.
Political
authorities, representatives of ministries, ambassadors; representatives
of political parties represented in the National Assembly, the Heads
of Agencies of the United Nations system, representatives of bilateral
and multilateral co-operation agencies, NGO representatives, Education
Secretaries (private education sector), the media, representatives
of teachers' unions, the representative of the parent-teacher association
and the representative of the private sector took part in the workshop.
The
workshop was held in the presence of the Minister of Education.
Two presentations were made respectively on "The State of Education
in Cameroon" and "the Dakar Framework of Action and guidelines for
the preparation of the National EFA Action Plan". These presentations
were followed by wide-ranging discussions on the future of EFA in
Cameroon.
At
the end of the workshop, the participants adopted the list of members
of the Multi-sectoral EFA Co-ordinating and Follow-up Committee
and the EFA Drafting Committee as proposed by the Minister of Education.
Further,
the Yaounde Office prepared a SPPD (Support Services for policy
and programme development) project document entitled " Support for
follow-up to the Dakar Forum on EFA: Preparation of National (Cameroon)
and Sub-regional (Central Africa) Action Plans ". This project document
with a budget of $95,000 was endorsed by the Local Committee for
Project Scrutiny (CLEP) set up by UNDP Yaounde. It will be jointly
signed by the UNESCO and UNDP Representatives in the presence of
the Minister of Education.
A
meeting of the members of the National Multi-sectoral EFA Co-ordinating
and Follow-up Committee and those of the drafting team for the EFA
National Action Plan is scheduled for 29th May 2001 at the UNESCO
Yaounde Office.
Contact
: Paul MPAYI MANA,
Education expert, UNESCO Yaoundé
E-mail : p.mpayimana@unesco.org
GUINEE
EQUATORIALE : Meeting of education partners in Malabo
The
UNESCO Yaounde Office (Cameroon) organised a seminar for education
partners in Malabo from 6th to 8th March 2001 to sensitise and mobilise
partners with regard to the implementation of the Dakar Framework
for Action and to set up the Framework follow-up mechanism in Equatorial
Guinea.
The
participants heard presentations on the following topics:
-
State of basic education in Equatorial Guinea
-
Dakar Framework for Action on EFA
-
Education funding · Teacher training in view of the EFA challenges
-
Relation between health (HIV/AIDS) and education
-
Girls Education
-
Guidelines for the preparation of the National Action Plan
During
the workshops, the participants defined the problems, needs, actions
and strategies in accordance with the six goals of the Dakar Framework
of Action. Two committees were set up. The first was the Dakar Multi-sectoral
Co-ordinating and Follow-up Committee, made up of representatives
of ministries, UNICEF, the Spanish Cooperation, the NGO representative,
the private sector representative. The second committee was the
EFA Drafting committee for the National Action Plan made up of representatives
of the ministries, UNESCO and UNICEF.
A
SSPD (support services for policy and programme development) project
document entitled "Support for follow-up to the Dakar Forum on EFA:
Preparation of the National Action Plan in Equatorial Guinea", with
a budget of $55,000 was prepared by the Yaounde Office and submitted
to UNDP Malabo for funding.
Contact
: Paul MPAYI MANA,
Education
expert, UNESCO Yaoundé
E-mail : p.mpayimana@unesco.org
SENEGAL :
Official launch of the Senegalese Plan of Action for Education For
All
On
Friday 27th April 2001, the official launch of the Senegalese Education
For All Action Plan took place at the Meridien President Hotel in
Dakar. This event coincided with the first anniversary of the World
Education For All Forum, which Senegal had the honour of hosting
at the same venue.
The
Senegalese Minister of Education, Kansoubaly Ndiaye, officially
launched the National Education for All Action Plan which will guide
the efforts of the country to achieve universal access to primary
school and to improve the standard of learning.
"Today,
one out of three children are not in school," Ndiaye said, while
thanking UNESCO for its support in mobilising the main education
partners - governments, education experts, non-governmental organisations,
technical and financial partners.
The
Action Plan will be implemented in three phases. The first phase
(2001 to 2003) will focus on improving quality, increasing access
and decentralising the budget and management of education. The second
phase (2003 to 2007) will be devoted to extending these initiatives
on a larger scale to ensure that all children have the opportunity
to attend the first four years of basic education. Finally, the
last phase (2007-2010) will concentrate on local capacity building
to enable sound management of the budget and the administration.
This would pave the way for a programme of universal access to lower
secondary education
The
procedure for preparing the EFA Plan was laid down in a memorandum
of understanding signed by the Government and the EFA partners,
namely UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Bank, ILO and UNESCO/BREDA.
This
tool was unprecedented and set a standard in terms of attracting
the human
and material resources needed for the development and implementation
of the National EFA Action Plans. It was also used in other countries
of the sub-region.
Link
to the EFA National Plan of Action of Senegal (PDF) in French:
http://www.dakar.unesco.org/efa/pdf.docs/pnapdef.pdf
Contact
: Armoogum PARSURAMEN,
Director,
UNESCO
Dakar (BREDA)
E-mail
: a.parsuramen@unesco.org
EFA Meetings in Africa
Workshop
on the Bamako follow-up,
In
collaboration with the Collective Consultation of NGO's on Education
For All, the World Bank and UNESCO held a workshop in Dakar from
21st to 23 rd May in Dakar aa a follow-up to the seminar on NGO/CSO
contributions to Education for All which was held in Bamako in December
2000.
The
aim of this workshop was (i) to endorse the recommendations made
in Bamako and to organise the sama throughout the region; (ii) to
develop the conceptual framework of a training program for local
NGO/CSO of the region, and (iii) to explore the possibilities of
setting up a support fund for this program.
Participants
were representatives of national and international NGO's, local
associations, the governments who attended the Bamako seminar and
bilateral and multilateral partners.
Contact :
S.Schnuttgen
UNESCO
Paris
E-mail
: s.schnuttgen@unesco.org
Contact:
I. Bah-Lalya
UNESCO
Paris
E-mail
: i.bah-lalya@unesco.org
Contact:
Y.Yao
UNESCO
Bamako
E-mail
:ydo@afribone.net.ml
Contact :
R. RAMPIN
UNESCO Dakar (BREDA)
E-mail
: r.rampin@unesco.org
Consultation
of the EFA Partner Agencies in the Africa Region
The
Director of the UNESCO Regional Office (BREDA) in Dakar, invited
the representatives of the Education For All partners, namely UNICEF,
UNFPA, the World Bank and other key partners in the region (OAU,
ADB, ADEA, the Dutch Cooperation) for a consultation. The meeting
took place on 5th May 2001 at Antananarivo (Madagascar), on the
fringes of the Steering Committee meeting of the Association for
Development of Education in Africa.
The
main objective of the meeting was to consult on the drawing up of
a co-ordinated regional Action Plan for follow-up and support of
EFA for the Africa region. A preliminary draft prepared by BREDA
was presented. It revolved around five major elements - co-ordination
and follow-up on progress of Education for All, communication and
advocacy, regional and sub-regional cooperation, capacity building,
support for key innovations with respect to EFA. The participants
welcomed this initiative and expressed their support through suggestions
and recommendations. Some of the most important points mentioned
were as follows:
- The
regional action plan must encompass the entire post Dakar period.
It must be implemented in a phased manner and have a modular approach.
- Top
priority should be given to follow-up on progress and advocacy.
- The
Plan should focus on strategic interventions, for instance, the
preparation of national action plans, gender issues etc.
- The
African states must be consulted through various existing mechanisms
so as to ensure a broad consensus for the Plan.
In conclusion,
the participants also spoke about the initiatives taken by their respective
organisations within the framework of the Dakar follow-up and reaffirmed
their desire and commitment to support national efforts to meet the
challenges thrown up by Education For All. The regional action plan
was viewed as a means to achieve this end.
Contact
: Armoogum PARSURAMEN,
Director,
UNESCO
Dakar (BREDA)
E-mail
: a.parsuramen@unesco.org
EFA Documents Africa
Recommendations
on HIV/AIDS and Education in West Africa
The
recommendations of theConference
of
Senior Experts on HIV/AIDS and Education in West Africa, organized
from 18-23 March in Elmina, Ghana,have been finalized. The conference
brought together more than 130 participants from 13 countries to
assess the scale of the pandemic in the region, and the needs and
inadequacies within current national policies as regards the prevebntive
sector. The conference was organized by UNESCO and was a continuation
of two major UNESCO meetings on HIV/AIDS preventive education for
experts in curriculum development and teacher training in Dakar
1997 and in Accra 1998.
Contact:
Marie Paule Roudil, UNESCO
E-mail:
mp.roudil @unesco.org or
Anna-Maria
Barthes-Hoffman
E-mail:
am.barthes@unesco.org
Link
to recommendations : http://www.dakar.unesco.org/efa/pdf.docs/ghana_sida_recom.pdf
Link
to EFA National Plan of Action of Senegal (PDF) in French http://www.dakar.unesco.org/efa/pdf.docs/pnapdef.pdf
Contact : ak.takahashi@unesco.org
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