About thirty parliamentarians from Cameroon, Cape Verde, Kenya, Morocco, Mauritius, Namibia, Senegal and Sudan met from the 21st to the 23rd of January 2002 in Dakar to establish a basis for the African Parliamentary Forum For Education (AFPED).

The principal mission was to facilitate a framework for exchange between parliamentarians, with the aim of bringing in pertinent contributions to the efforts employed by the international community in its wish to achieve the objectives of education for all (EPT).

The nine countries represented in the Dakar meeting, were made up of a contact group whose responsibility was to examine the modalities for the setting up of the Forum scheduled for December 2002 at Port Louis (Mauritius), for the general assembly, which will charged with the definition of the orientation of the Forum and its programme of action.

Within three days, African parliamentarians, development partners and specialists in education will focus on the efficient contribution of parliamentarians to the development of African systems.

FAPED can count on the full cooperation of UNESCO, its Dakar office (BREDA), in particular, whose responsibility in education is expected in all the regions of the Sub-Saharan
Africa.

• advocate in favour of the increase in budgetary resources allotted to education,

• exercise more effective control on the education policies of the government,

• defend the education needs of the local communities,

• ensure a good follow-up of the recommendations having links with education, resulting from international conferences,

• promote African interparliamentary cooperation in the area of education.

The Forum is an initiative of the National Assembly of Senegal and that of Mauritius Island, encouraged and supported by UNESCO, an organisation that considers parliamentarians as "privileged partners who are influential actors on the choice of policies and budgets.

Opinion leaders and spokespersons for the population, they are better placed to identify the problems and the needs in the area of the education of the population in the light of contributing to the search for effective and long lasting solutions.

The forum which will be put in place will also permit the exercise of more effective control of the education policies of the governments, to defend the education needs of the local communities, and assure a good follow up to recommendations linked to education.

The opening ceremony took place on Monday, January 21st at 9 am at the semicircular auditorium of the National Assembly, Place Soweto.

The closing ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday January 23rd at 4 pm.