Photo Contest 2008 for Promoting Gender Equality in Education UNESCO Bangkok is pleased to announce a photo contest again this year on the theme of, "Promoting Gender Equality in Education." This contest is an effort for demonstrating "gender equality in action" through the means of photos for contributing to better understanding of what gender equality to education, in education and through education may mean to all of Judging of photos will take place in November 2008 at UNESCO Bangkok. All entries must be received at UNESCO Bangkok by 31 October 2008.The 12 winning photos will be featured in UNESCO Bangkok's 2009 Gender in Education Calendar and will also be posted on UNESCO Bangkok's website. For more information about the contest please write to us at gender(at)unescobkk.org or click here.
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CONFINTEA VI Preparatory Conference for Asia and the Pacific, Seoul , the Republic of Korea, 6-8 October, 2008 The Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI) will be hosted by Brazil in Belém from 19 to 22 May 2009. The previous five CONFINTEA conferences took place in Elsinore, Denmark in 1949, Montreal, Canada in 1960, Tokyo, Japan in 1972, Paris, France in 1985 and in Hamburg, Germany in 1997. The CONFINTEA VI Preparatory Conference in Asia and the Pacific, with the theme "Building Equitable and Sustainable Societies in Asia and the Pacific: the Challenge to Adult Learning", will focus on current trends in adult education and learning that feed into a new vision for a holistic, diversified and integrated education system for lifelong learning. During the Preparatory Conference in Seoul, Korea, the draft regional synthesis covering the Asian and Pacific countries will be presented, discussed and validated in the Regional Conference and will subsequently, together with the regional strategies and recommendations, constitute the Asian and Pacific standpoint in preparation of CONFINTEA VI.
Information note for participants Regional Workshop on Mother Tongue-Based Literacy Programmes: Developing Transition Plans from Learning in the Mother Tongue to Learning in the National Language (15-19 September 2008, Kathmandu and Lumbini, Nepal) The Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL) UNESCO Bangkok has been supporting twelve countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam) to implement pilot projects in using mother tongue/bilingual literacy programmes to improve the quality of education and increase opportunities for learners in ethnic and linguistic minority groups to access basic education. Read more
Countries meet to develop gender equality measurement indicators  From 9 to 11 September 2008, delegations from Cambodia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam, as well as participants from Nepal, acting as resource persons, will meet in Bangkok to review the needs assessment of their respective countries, discuss possible generic indicators for measuring gender equality in education and develop a national follow-up action plan.
Jointly organised by the Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL), Education Policy and Reform (EPR) and the Regional Office of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics -Assessment, Information Systems, Monitoring and Statistics (UIS-AIMS) Units of UNESCO Bangkok with funding support from the Japanese Funds-in-Trust for UNESCO, the Regional Technical Workshop on Developing Gender Equality Measurement Indicators aims to develop clear indicators on gender equality in education.
Read more Stakeholders Workshop for Lessons Learned Programme for a Human Rights-Based Approach to Development (8-9th September,2008, Bangkok,Thailand) In 2003, the UN Common Understanding of Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) to Development Co-operation was established. The Common Understanding required that programming undertaken by UN agencies be compliant with human rights principles and have direct linkages to the various international human rights instruments. The UN Inter-Agency Asia-Pacific Lessons Learned Project (LLP) on the Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) to Development was undertaken to explore, analyze, strengthen and support Human Rights-Based Approach to Development Co-operation in the Asia Pacific region. The project has been a joint initiative of four UN and two bilateral agencies. The current advisory board includes resident experts on Human Rights and Human Rights-Based Approaches. These include experts from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), UNESCO, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency) and New Zealand Aid. In the fourth phase of the project six pilot projects were selected to document the impacts and challenges of utilizing a HRBA from the outset of a programme. Read more 2nd International Conference on Language Development, Language Revitalization and Multilingual Education in Ethnolinguistic Communities, 1-3 July 2008, Bangkok Thailand Over the past decade efforts towards the formation and implementation of mother tongue-based multilingual educational programs, have occurred thanks to governmental and NGO support in several countries of Asia and the Pacific. Ethnolinguistic communities have begun to be revitalized through the preservation and maintenance of their heritage languages, yet root concepts of “multilingual education” and “language revitalization” continue to be misinterpreted and unaccepted. The process of comprehending these vital concepts of education is still in need of dialogue as complexities and challenges of multilingual education continue to surface. At the 2nd International Conference on Language Development, Language Revitalization and Multilingual Education in Ethnolinguistic Communities, those involved in mother-tongue-based multilingual education (MT-based MLE) and other language-based development programs will come together to submit abstracts for presentations in parallel sessions. Discussion will be guided through provoking tracks ranging from ‘Language development and language revitalization of non-dominant languages’ to ‘Community-centered efforts to preserve intangible cultural heritage,’ to ‘Information and communication technology that supports language development…’ International Seminar on Community Learning Centres (CLCs),Bandung, Indonesia, 23-27 June 2008 Building on rich experiences of community-based education programmes in the Asia-Pacific region, UNESCO launched the Community Learning Centres (CLC) project in 1998 within its framework of Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL) and with the financial assistance of Japan and Norway.
Within the scope of EFA strategies and actions of many countries in the region, CLCs have functioned as effective delivery mechanisms of literacy, continuing education, primary and secondary equivalency parogrammes and various activities for quality of life improvement and poverty alleviation through community-based and holistic approaches. United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD), launched in 2003, strongly encourages the establishment of community-based mechanisms such as CLCs to increase community participation and for the local community to take on the ownership of literacy programmes. Read more
Regional forum makes the case for early childhood education in South Asia , 28-29 April 2008, Bangkok,Thailand "Expanding and improving early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged" is the first of the six goals of the Dakar Framework for Action on Education for All (EFA). The goal refers to the period of a child's life from conception to early primary school years (age six to eight) and constitutes multiple dimensions of development of the child, such as health, nutrition and psycho-social stimulation.
Read more International Literacy Day - 8 September 2007 In today’s world, some 774 million adults lack minimum literacy skills; one in five adults is still not literate and two-thirds of them are women; 72.1 million children are out of school and many more attend irregularly or drop out; and literate environments with access to reading material and suitable publications are lacking, with the result that neo-literates cannot sustain their skills.
International Literacy Day (8 September) is a reminder to the world about the importance of literacy for individuals, families, communities and whole societies. This year’s theme is “Literacy, key to good health and well-being.” This is also the thematic emphasis of the 2007-2008 biennium of the United Nations Literacy Decade. The 2007 event will look at literacy and its links with general health care, nutrition, family and reproductive health and health-related community development. Events are organized worldwide to raise public awareness and support for literacy.
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Countries of East Asia, South-East Asia and the Pacific pledge support for Literacy at Beijing conference UNESCO organized a sub-regional conference "Addressing Literacy Challenges in East Asia, South-East Asia and the Pacific: Building Partnerships and Promoting Innovative Approaches" in Beijing (China) on 31 July to 1 August. The Beijing conference is the second in a series of regional conferences organized by UNESCO to promote global literacy. The first took place in Doha (Qatar), in March 2007. Four other conferences on the subject are scheduled by the end of 2008, in Mali, in India, Costa Rica and Azerbaijan.
Read more Improving Quality of Literacy Programmes in a Multilingual Context In order to share country experiences of implementation of mother tongue literacy projects including the capacity building of the participants, a training workshop on Improving Quality of Mother Tongue/bilingual Literacy Programmes was organized from 18 -22 June 2007 in Dhaka, Bangladesh in cooperation with UNESCO, Dhaka and UIL (UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning).
Special emphasis was placed on capacity building in the designing of effective mother tongue/bilingual literacy programmes and transition plans from mother tongue to national language. Read more...
APPEAL Bulletin - June 2007 The APPEAL Bulletin is published periodically and consists of updates of the projects and activities undertaken by the Unit over the previous few months. Download the bulletin |
