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EFA
Africa Bulletin Board-
N° 1 - November 2001
•
Country Actions
• EPT meetings
Dear
Partners and Readers of the EFA Bulletin,
It
gives us great pleasure to continue to provide you with an update
on EFA activities and we thank you for your continued interest in
our Bulletin. This is our second issue.
We
would also like to thank you once again for your valuable
contributions. Indeed, for the preparation of the EFA Bulletin,
it is
essential for us to receive relevant documentation from diverse
sources and more importantly to obtain information on the concrete
action taken by the 46 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The frequency
of this newsletter and the quality of its contents are entirely
dependent on the frequency of inputs from EFA partners and the pace
at which these are submitted to BREDA. Through your contributions,
it will be possible to optimise the quality of the subject matter
of the EFA Bulletin thereby fostering dialogue and constant interaction
among the various EFA partners.
The
second issue carries information on the progress of work regarding
the preparation
of EFA action plans as reported during several national and international
meetings. In addition, it mentions the methodological
approaches used or being contemplated by some of the countries in
the
elaboration of their EFA plans.
Our
experience in the area of communication and information on Education
in general and EFA in particular, will be further strengthened through
the partnership agreements instituted between BREDA/UNESCO and PANAPRESS
and the implementation of the "MEDIATISATION DE L'EDUCATION"
project in the
near future.
We
are open to any suggestions on improving the EFA Bulletin. We do
hope, in the meanwhile, that you will enjoy reading the rich and
varied
information contained in it.
A Parsuramen
Director BREDA
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COUNTRY ACTIONS
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CONGO
******
Implementation of the Dakar Framework for Action and mobilising
support for Congo's National Plan
A "Round
Table" was organised in Brazzaville on 27th and 28th July 2000.
The purpose of the meeting was to create public awareness about
the Dakar Framework for Action and to develop instruments for its
implementation.
A National Ad-hoc Steering Committee for the National EFA Plan has
been set up and it has been decided that the National Action Plan
would be carried out in 3 year phases.
Two
major projects are already underway with the technical and financial
assistance of some of the partners, namely:
* "Supervision
of Early Childhood" supported by UNICEF
* "Support
for the Rehabilitation of Primary Education and Elimination of
Illiteracy" supported by the French Co-operation.
Contact
Benoît Sossou
DFU/BREDA Unit
b.sossou@unesco.org
**********
CAPE VERDE
**********
Agreement Protocol between Education Partners and the Government
An
Agreement Protocol was signed on 20th July 2001 between, on the
one hand, Education for All Partners in Cape Verde - UNESCO, UNDP,
UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Bank, WHO, FAO - and the Government on
the other.
This
Agreement reflects the commitment of the Education for All partners
to assist and co-operate, under the aegis of the Ministry of Education,
Culture and Sport, in the drafting and validation of the National
EFA Plan
as well as in creating awareness among the stakeholders and in the
sharing
of information.
The
National EFA Action Plan should ensure that access to a good standard
of education is provided to all and that this is achieved and sustained
in
Cape Verde by 2015.
Contact
A. Parsuramen
Director BREDA
a.parsumanen@unesco.org
*********
CAMEROON
*********
Elaboration of the National EFA Action Plan in Cameroon
The
process of drawing up the EFA Plan is advancing rapidly. In fact,
a lot
of headway was made during the three meetings held by the Drafting
Committee in May, June and August 2001.
In
an attempt to "cameroonise" the Action Plan and in view
of the issues
specific to the context in Cameroon, a new version was submitted
to the
members of the Drafting Committee for amendment and adoption. Detailed
comments helped the drafting committee to understand the importance
of
including the three following components in the EFA Plan for Cameroon:
1.
The "formal" component should focus on the first four
goals of the Dakar
Framework for Action. Tackling each goal requires a four-step scientific
approach where the following questions have to be addressed:
- What
challenges will we face in striving to reach each goal?
- What
obstacles prevent us from achieving the goal in question?
- What
activities need be carried out to overcome these obstacles in order
to meet the challenges?
- What
tangible results can be expected?
2.
The "non-formal" component concerns goals 5 and 6 of the
Dakar Framework for Action.
3.
The "informal" component gave rise to much discussion.
In the light of
the armed conflicts and political wars ravaging the Central African
region,
the participants wanted "education for citizenship" to
be included as a
goal to be reached in the EFA Plan for Cameroon.
In
this way, the EFA Plan for Cameroon will contain seven goals.
These
discussions paved the way for examining the documentation phase
and allowed for the start of the drafting per se of the PLAN between
22nd and 26th October 2001. The first draft of the seven thematic
studies clearly demonstrates the determination of Cameroon to complete
the elaboration of its Plan by January 2002.
Contact
: Paul MPAYI MANA,
Education Expert,
UNESCO Yaoundé
p.mpayimana@unesco.org
**********
MOZAMBIQUE
**********
During the EFA National Coordinators Meeting in Paris, September
17-19,
2001, Mozambique presented a report on the elaboration of its EFA
Plan
founded on : National Policy of Education; Education Sector Strategic
Plan
(ESSP); Institutional Framework for partnerships; and, Action Plan
for the
reduction of absolute poverty.
National
Policy aims at providing larger access to education by an
increased number of learners as well as improving the quality and
types of
education at all levels.
The
ESSP is the result of an extensive and continuing process of
consultation involving different sectors, donors, funding agencies
and has
three main objectives : more facilities in terms of access to education
at
all levels; quality education; and, institutional capacity building.
A specific
plan for adult literacy and non-formal education has been
formulated and endorsed by a national forum. The ESSP will include
all EFA
activities and poverty reduction strategies in an effort to encourage
efficiency and eliminate duplication as well as the misuse of scarce
ressources.
Furthermore,
the Institutional Framework for partnership consists of
organisational mechanisms and structures mentionned as follows :
Annual
Review Meeting; Steering Committee; Technical Council; and, Action
Plan for reduction of poverty.
Although
the ESSP has the same objectives as the Dakar EFA Forum, it will
need to be more comprehensive to include such topics as childhood
education.
The
Ministry of Education has established a multi-sectoral group for
the
elaboration of the EFA Plan of Action to be concluded by the end
of
February 2002, composed of members of the Ministry itself, UN agencies
(UNESCO, UNICEF), NGOs, civil society, etc.
Latest
EFA news in Mozambique : Organisation of a regional meeting of
Africa Network for EFA (ANCEFA), where Mozambican counterparts have
played a leading role.
Contact
: M.M. Munis
National Commission
UNESCO Maputo
cnunesco@zebra.uem.mz
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SENEGAL
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SENEGAL'S EXPERIENCE IN PREPARING ITS NATIONAL EFA ACTION PLAN
The
Government of Senegal embarked on the process of preparing its National
EFA Action Plan following the World EFA Forum (April 2000). As the
planning process for the "Decennial Plan for Education and
Training" (PDEF) had already been completed by then, some of
the goals of the Dakar Forum were found to be inadequately reflected.
Reviewing the Plan was all the more justified as the new government
that came to power in the beginning of the year had expressed its
desire to strengthen policies in favour of early childhood and underprivileged
young people.
Given
the existence of the "Decennial Programme", it was decided
that it
would be best to improve on the PDEF. The idea is to take a fresh
look at
the Programme so as to provide for the attainment of the six goals
enshrined in the Dakar Framework for Action while respecting the
commitments of the country at the same time. On this basis, the
EFA/NAP is to be seen as an instrument for PDEF planning. It will
be similar in form
to the PDEF and will be in tune with the general thrust and areas
already
identified.
The
process of NAP drafting was based on a participatory approach. The
effective participation of the various segments of society, State
bodies
and development partners was one of the basic principles used in
the
elaboration of the NAP. This was achieved through:
* the
involvement of technicians from the Ministries in charge of the
Economy, Finance and Education. Hence, the document submitted for
consultation to the unions and management and to development partners
was seen as a proposal enjoying widespread government support.
* consultations
with civil society and development partners through a
system of representation of the government's main partners at national
level.
The
Drafting Process
There
were five stages in this process: (i) the carrying out of thematic
studies (ii) the drawing up of the first version of the plan, (iii)
validation by internal services and production of the second version,
(iv)
institutional validation and production of the third version and
(v)
exchanges at regional level and production of the final version.
The
co-ordination of the work was entrusted to a team of five officials
belonging to the Directorate of Planning and Reform of Education
under the
Education Ministry that was earlier responsible for the co-ordination
of
the PDEF and had experience in EFA issues. The team was also in
charge of
finalising the NAP draft and making preparations for the national
workshop.
The
validation of the National EFA Action Plan
* The
technical validation involved all the national Directorates and
Heads
of Service of the Ministerial Departments in charge of Education
and the
civil servants of the Economics and Finance Ministry who met for
a two day
seminar.
* Social
validation
Apart
from the technicians of the education, economics and finance sector,
the representatives of bilateral and multilateral co-operation,
local
authorities and civil society (teacher's unions and associations,
GONGAD
and other NGOs) also participated.
CONCLUSION
The
whole exercise of EFA/NAP planning in Senegal was not particularly
easy. It was necessary to take into account the context and the
existing
programmes and to find links to ensure it dovetailed with education
policies and especially with the PDEF. Also, the strategies for
the
participation of the different stakeholders were not totally effective
though there was overall satisfaction.
Contact
Benoît Sossou
DFU/BREDA Unit
b.sossou@unesco.org
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CO-ORDINATION ACTIVITIES
************************
Regional Protocol Agreement between Education for All partners in
the
sub-Saharan Africa sub-region
On
16th August 2001, a Regional Protocol Agreement between Education
for All partners in the sub-Saharan Africa sub-region - UNESCO,
UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Bank and UNDP was signed in Dakar by Mrs.
Rima Y. Salah, UNICEF's Regional Director for West Africa and Central
Africa, based in Abidjan, and Mrs. Fama Hane Ba, Director of UNFPA's
Africa Division, based in New York, and Mr. A. Parsuramen, Director
of UNESCO's Regional Office for Education in Africa (BREDA), based
in Dakar.
The
Agreement Protocol which is an important step forward within the
United Nations system in inter-agency co-operation in the field
of Education for All in Africa, is also to be submitted for acceptance
and signature to UNICEF's Regional Directorate for East Africa and
Southern Africa in Nairobi, to the World Bank's Human Development
sector, Africa Region, in Washington and to UNDP's Africa Division
in New York.
The
Regional Protocol Agreement is a reflection of the commitment of
the
Education for All partners in sub-Saharan Africa to support and
co-operate
with the Member States of the sub-region in the drawing up and validation
of their respective National EFA Action Plans.
Contact
: A Parsuramen
Director BREDA,
UNESCO Dakar
a.parsuramen@unesco.org
***************************************************
Meeting in Paris of the Directors of UNESCO's off-field offices
(18-20
June 2001)
****************************************************
Representatives
of 49 UNESCO off-field offices met in Paris from 18th to
20th June to share ideas and experiences on the post-Dakar follow-up.
The
purpose of the meeting was to clarify the overall vision and the
Education
for All strategies. Mr. John Daniel, UNESCO's new Sub-Director General
for
Education, opened the meeting by underlining his vision of the
Organisation's work in this area. He also referred to EFA as being
a matter
that concerned everyone.
In
order to be equipped to support countries in the preparation of
national
EFA action plans, a regional action plan for Africa is currently
being
developed with the help of several national EFA co-ordinators, NGOs
and
Education Ministers. A host of agreements have been signed between
the
various partners of the United Nations and the countries of sub-Saharan
Africa.
In
this context, the Regional Office for Education in Africa (BREDA)
has
set up a regional network of specialists and experts to assist each
country
in drawing up its action plan. An internet site, a newsletter for
Africa
and an EFA information kit have been launched by the Office.
During
the meeting, Mr. Armoogum Parsuramen, Director of UNESCO's Office
in Dakar, highlighted all the problems the Office was facing, such
as:
shortage of staff and financial resources, and inadequate means
of
communication.
As
in the case of the sub-Saharan Africa region, UNESCO is preparing
a
regional project on education in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The ARABEFA, a regional EFA mechanism for the ARAB region, was created
to foster national action. UNESCO has also lent its support to the
EFA process in Asia. Lastly, sub-regional forums are to be set up
in Europe.
There
was an exchange of information during the meeting and a detailed
account was given of what is happening in the world, especially
at regional
and sub-regional levels.
The
following areas of intervention were particularly emphasised:
technical capacity-building, awareness-raising, policies based on
facts
(statistics) and co-ordination among the partners.
In
his statement at the end of the meeting, Mr. J. Daniel reassured
the
off-field offices of the support of the head office in obtaining
the means
needed for the EFA follow-up activities at national and regional
levels.
Lastly, he termed UNESCO's role in the EFA movement as being that
of a
catalyst rather than of a co-ordinator.
Contact:
Benoît Sossou
DFU/BREDA Unit
b.sossou@unesco.org
***********************************************
Meeting of National EFA Co-ordinators for Sub-Saharan Africa
UNESCO-Head Office, 17-19 September 2001
***********************************************
In
response to one of the requirements of the Dakar Framework for Action,
the Regional Office for Education in Africa (BREDA), the body in
charge of
"ensuring co-ordination and maintaining synergy between EFA
partners",
organised a meeting of the National EFA Co-ordinators of the 46
countries
of sub-Saharan Africa at UNESCO's head office in Paris from 17th
to 19th
September 2001.
The
aims of the meeting were to assess the progress made by the Member
States in the drawing up of the National EFA Plans, to make suggestions
for
a regional action plan and for an EFA follow-up mechanism as well
as to
strengthen partnerships.
42
National EFA Co-ordinators participated in the meeting along with
representatives of the United Nations system (UNFPA, UNICEF,etc.),
bilateral and multilateral agencies, NGOs and civil society.
During
the proceedings, each co-ordinator took stock of the progress made
in the preparation of his country's EFA plan. The following information
emerged: 36 countries already had a national education and training
plan,
11 will complete their EFA action plan in the course of 2001, 17
will
achieve the same in the first half of 2002 and 13 others in the
second half
of that year; 1 country had completed and validated its EFA plan.
After
analysing the situation, it appeared that the main difficulties
encountered by the countries were as follows: institutional constraints,
shortage of human resources and technical capacities, restricted
financial
resources and weak support from outside partners.
To
conclude, the outcome of EFA will largely depend on:
- The
role played by the countries which have to shoulder the main
responsibility. National leadership is crucial as "the heart
of EFA
activity lies at country level";
- The efforts to co-ordinate the actions of the various partners
and the
demonstration of true solidarity between the different stakeholders;
- The international community's commitment to support national efforts.
This should result in partnership all through the EFA process.
Contact:
Benoît Sossou
DFU/BREDA Unit
b.sossou@unesco.org
________________________________________________
* For
further information on this Bulletin, please consult
site.breda@unesco.org
* To
read the Bulletin online and for previous issues, kindly visit
http://www.dakar.unesco.org/efa/bulletin_en.shtml
___________________________________________________
Contact : s.sossou@unesco.org
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