15th Thematic Working Group on EFA Meeting
9 March 2005
United Nations Conference Centre
Meeting Room H
09:00 – 12:00
Meeting Minutes
Click here for list of participants and photos
1. Opening / Adoption of agenda / Introductions
Sheldon Shaeffer opened the meeting with a welcome to all. Participants introduced themselves and their organizations. Sheldon introduced the agenda and called for comments and amendments. He noted the various documents handed out to participants prior to the start of the meeting, including a power point presentation and notes by Derek Elias on the implementation of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) in the Asia-Pacific Region. The global launch of DESD was held on 1 March in New York. A regional launch will be held in Japan on 28 June coinciding with a global symposium on ESD.
2. Updates on UNGEI (Chiharu Kondo, UNICEF)
Chiharu Kondo reported about the recent Regional UNGEI Meeting held last 25 January at UNESCAP (minutes of the UNGEI meeting). She talked about major findings of the Regional UNGEI Questionnaire. The Regional UNGEI group agreed to formulate different activities based on the results of the findings from the questionnaire, such as disseminating examples of good practices from the region. On-going UNGEI activities include GENIA-related projects in Mongolia, Cambodia, Laos, Viet Nam and Thailand. Chiharu also reported about the Gender Scoreboard project of UNESCO and that UNICEF now has $2.6 million in thematic funds for Girls Education available for countries in the region. Several activities and projects are also lined-up for 2005, including the Gender Achievements and Prospects (GAP) Report, Country Mapping exercises, and joint country support in Viet Nam and Cambodia. The group is planning another meeting this month (March) to continue the momentum.
Sheldon asked whether the available thematic funds can be directly given to the countries. Chiharu said yes that the majority of these funds were being channeled directly to countries, but there are some funds in EAPRO for UNGEI activities as well. Sheldon also noted that the Gender Scoreboard was modeled after a similar project in Africa. Ko-Chih Tung said the scoreboard is used especially in discussions about policies and its impact but it is based on available data so it tends to focus on standard indicators like net enrolment rate.
3. Report on Education for Rural People or ERP (Malcolm Hazelman, FAO)
Malcolm Hazelman gave an update on ERP noting that an important aim of ERP was towards getting governments to put special focus and attention on including ERP in their national education plans for EFA, and on improved coordination and sharing best practices. ERP now has internationally almost 200 partners. The partnerships are a useful avenue for advocacy, information sharing and addressing the needs of rural people through collaborative projects and activities. A number of projects/activities have been implemented since 2003 most significant being two regional meetings held in 2003 and 2004 that brought together representatives of Ministries of Agriculture and of Education in Asia to share and to identify needs and strategies for addressing these (ERP power point presentation). In 2005 there is a possibility of working again on similar projects such as higher education and their role in the education of rural people for which a regional meeting is tentatively scheduled for Nov/Dev in China; and an ICT for sustainable development meeting in Bangkok in December At the global level, FAO and its partners have been approached to contribute towards a high level meeting in China in relation to EFA, adding that the organization hopes to address the request.
Sheldon said the high level EFA meeting is mandated by the Dakar Framework and the meeting also includes participants from the private sector. This year’s meeting is scheduled for the last week of November in China and will focus on literacy. UNESCO Paris is organizing the meeting but he was not sure what UNESCO Bangkok’s involvement will be.
Aiko Aikiyama requested that FAO ensure inclusion and attention to the plight of disabled children in various ERP activities and projects at the local level. She also offered to disseminate information in the region and noted that some focal points might be interested to participate in ERP activities.
4. Update on United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD) – (Kiichi Oyasu, APPEAL)
As a background, Kiichi Oyasu said UNLD was launched in February 2003. He said they are now working on a promotion video about UNLD that will be sent to all agencies and countries. UNESCO, as the coordinator of the UNLD is now also initiating a new project called LIFE or Literacy Initiative for the Excluded (Literacy initiatives presentation in pdf). The new initiative targets 33 countries, where illiteracy rates are more than 50% or illiterate populations are larger than 10 million. Of the 33 countries, nine are in the Asia and the Pacific region. LIFE will be implemented for a period of 10 years, with 2005 as the preparatory phase, 2006-2015 the implementation phase with a mid-term review in 2010. Once the initiative is formally launched, invitations will be sent to the 33 chosen countries. Under LIFE, countries should have ownership and UNESCO will support the implementation.
Sheldon said LIFE is one of the three initiatives that UNESCO has decided to focus on in the next biennium, the first two being HIV/AIDS and teacher training in Africa. He noted that adult literacy has long been neglected and statistics show that the numbers have not changed over the years. In relation to LIFE, UNESCO is also looking at mother tongue education with both fitting into the 2006 Global Monitoring Report (GMR), which will focus on literacy. Kiichi added that UNESCO may be a financially poor agency but it has a lot of expertise to offer related to literacy.
5. Rights of persons with disabilities (Aiko Akiyama, ESID/UNESCAP)
Aiko Akiyama first summarized the minutes from the last meeting of the Task Force on Education for All Children and Youth with Disabilities, held 1 December 2004 under the 9th Session of the Thematic Working Group on Disability-related Concerns (TWG-DC). She noted that AIMS is doing a study on disabled children. She also mentioned that the main coordination role for the Flagship Working Group in the Asian and Pacific Region is a major issue. At the moment, there is no single organization that can take up the main coordinator's role: UNESCO can not be in the position of main coordinator and UNESCAP can provide only secretariat and logistical support .This issue will be further discussed in the coming session of the TWGDC on July 7-8.
Aiko briefed about scheduled meetings/workshops related to disabilities in 2005 (UNESCAP workshops calendar). One of the activities pertaining to the theme of education for all is a joint workshop organized by UNESCAP and UK-based international NGO, Leonard Cheshire International (LCI). One of the thematic focus of the meeting is education. Thus, she encouraged members’ participation in the meeting and submission of the abstract for the paper presentation.
Aiko also summarized the ongoing process towards the international convention on disability. She said while there were differing views about and debates on inclusive education, international community reaffirmed that every disabled person had a right to education regardless of his/her kind and degree of disability.
Ko-Chih Tung also gave a short update on the case studies related to disabilities that AIMS is working on. The unit is working on coming up with a Manual on Guidelines For Action to Include Children with Disabilities in Schools Systems and the EFA Monitoring Process. Case studies have been conducted in Thailand, Cambodia and Brunei and on-going in Samoa. A writer’s workshop is scheduled to he held in May to bring together the results of the case studies and formulate a manual of good practices guidelines. UNESCO Bangkok will also be hosting an international committee on human functioning this month. The committee is working on a framework for classifying disabilities and how to apply them to children and the youth.
Anne Holopainen said ILO also has a project in Cambodia that facilitates mainly informal vocational training and assistances. With a new funding source, ILO expands the activities to focus delivering services to women and parents of disabled children to facilitate the schooling of disabled children by assisting their parents to acquire skills to provide income for the family. Thereby, ILO aims to strengthen the linkage with the Inclusive Education project coordinated by the Disability Action Council and implemented by local NGOs or provincial offices in nine provinces. In this regard, she would be interested to tie-up or get involved with UNESCO and its inclusive education projects in Cambodia and asked who the contact person was.
Sheldon said UNESCO has an active office in Cambodia and that the agency has done workshops and research activities there on this issue. The contact person in UNESCO Bangkok is Olof Sandkull. As for the question on coordination, Sheldon said Olof will be here for a few more months only and he is not sure if he will be replaced immediately since it’s a Swedish placement. But he stressed that for him, this kind of a regional version of the task force is an important one and that it should be kept going.
6. Organization presentation: International Movement ATD Fourth World
Marie-Claire Droz gave a presentation about ATD Fourth World and its activities in the region (www.atd-fourthworld.org). ATD, founded in 1957 in Paris, has been closely participating in EFA-related activities. Opening libraries were among the organization’s first activities. ATD teams have street libraries in poor parts of selected Asian cities, including Manila and Bangkok for the last 20 years. ATD reaches out to the underprivileged and excluded children and the street library is a good way to open the world to children through books, arts and crafts. Marie Claire read out a letter from an ATD Volunteer in the Philippines who talked about one student who wants to go to college but could not because her family cannot afford it. The letter sender lamented that “education is a right, never a privilege” but it is not so in the Philippines. Marie-Clarie also said that although she likes to attend meetings like the TWG meeting she can’t help but think whether programmes of various agencies reaches the families she knows in Manila, Bangkok, Laos and Cambodia. She pointed out that if we want the poor to benefit from the program it should start with them. ATD believes on getting the marginalized sector involved, noting that agencies/NGOs also have a lot to learn from people in the slums and that all ATD’s activities is focused on knowledge sharing and not educating. Marie-Claire said she was ready to have a dialogue about her presentation.
Coffee break
After the coffee break, Sheldon opened the floor to a dialogue as proposed by Marie-Claire. Malcolm noted that Marie-Claire’s presentation covered not only the enormity of the problem but also the challenges. He said FAO has projects focused on rural people in the non-formal education context but admitted that there are weaknesses in what they do since their partners are governments with the technical partners coming from Ministries of Education. Benny Benoza of Seameo also noted that work being done by international organizations through governments deal with units at higher level mainly because of the multiplier effect – since they work with individuals who are in the position to influence change - but such organizations must not loose sight of the beneficiaries. Sheldon expressed concern that a lot of these children might not even be in the statistics making them invisible. He hopes that the UN would instead publish non-enrolment rates, illiteracy rates and the like to make these groups more visible. UNESCO is working on getting ministries to focus on these children who are excluded and why they are not in school. Hoa Phuong Tran said Plan Asia through its projects have established that “absolutely” poor children are in the urban areas rather than in rural areas and these children are subjected to more social injustice. Relying on government agencies may take a lot of time to reach them. So the answer to Marie-Claire’s question is not either or, but both.
Sheldon added that what was meant to happen in the Dakar process was to get everyone involved but noted that this hasn’t happened in some countries. Marie-Claire also noted that it is now at the end of the decade (2006) to eradicate poverty but there has not been much success in stamping out poverty. She added that she is happy that TWG members are supportive of ATD’s cause.
7. Discussion on Regional EFA Monitoring Report
Sheldon talked about the GMR executive summary, copies of which were distributed during the meeting. During the GMR launch in November, education statistics comparing each country, including Thailand were also highlighted. The report showed that for the second year, the net enrolment in Thailand has remained at about 85%, making it below Cambodia and equal to Laos. But official statistics from the Thai government place the figure at 95%. The Thai MoE is now conducting a study to find out the reason for the discrepancy. UNESCO has also produced a goal by goal assessment of the Kingdom’s progress in meeting the EFA goals. Another GMR report is coming out his year, with a focus on literacy. Consultations are ongoing and TWG members were asked to give their inputs. Sheldon also asked whether the GMR has been useful to TWG members. Malcolm and Benito both said the GMR was a good report and has shared it with their colleagues.
Sheldon also informed the group about ongoing discussions within UNESCO to come up with a regional report on progress towards the six EFA goals. But he said he would rather have sub-regional reports rather than an Asia and the Pacific report, noting the diversity of the region. (Sheldon’s comments on the proposed regional EFA reports) The GMR can instead be used as a discussion point to show what the implications of the global report are for the region. He said analyzing the GMR would mean taking a panel of experts and stakeholder representatives from the region to look at the 300-page report. There has been no response yet from Paris on this proposal. He asked the TWG members whether they think a sub-regional report like this would be more useful, including for policy makers and planners.
Hoa Phuong Tran agreed that a smaller, concise report would be more practical and useful. Plan Asia is willing to contribute to the production of a sub-regional report. Sheldon added that depending on the budget, UNESCO can get together EFA national coordinators and education practitioners in the sub-regions as a focus group to analyze the report. This will not be very expensive making the project financially viable. Aiko, however, pointed to the need to clearly define the sub-regions, noting that UNESCO may have a different sub-regional grouping than the other agencies. Sheldon said it would be better to use the sub-regions so the groupings would fit that of other agencies. This year the GMR will focus on literacy, early childhood next year, and a mid-term review in 2008.
8. Presentation on Capacity Building for EFA Monitoring and Assessment (Ko-Chih Tung, AIMS, UNESCO Bangkok)
Ko-Chih Tung highlighted the need for countries to develop their capacities in preparation for a mid-decade EFA assessment, a regional mid-decade review in 2006, and a global review in 2007. (Ko-Chih’s capacity building power point presentation) But in Asia there is a lack of national capacity in EFA monitoring and assessment although there have been isolated approaches to building capacities. The region can learn from Africa and even replicate the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) in Asia and the Pacific. Ko-Chih asked if the TWG members see the need to form a similar group to be called the Association for the Development of Education in Asia and the Pacific (ADEAP).
In response to Ko-Chih’s proposal, Sheldon noted that the issue is to have a fair idea of where the region stands by 2007. He said he attended the MDG meeting prior to the TWG meeting and learned that Asia did well in achieving the MDG goals. But it would be difficult to have a similar comprehensive assessment for EFA since there is a smaller pool of interested funders. Still, something has to be done within the next three years to assess progress of meeting the EFA goals.
Malcolm also asked what the reaction of the EFA coordinators was to the proposed ADEAP. His concern is having the same people involved in different groups. But Ko-Chih said the proposal to create the ADEAP is in response to the request of EFA coordinators for a more systematic capacity building programme. Sheldon said another question is whether the region can duplicate Africa. Ko-Chih said proposal to create ADEAP has been circulated with the World Bank and UNICEF and that the original proposal has been scaled down to cover only Southeast Asia as a start, rather than forming a big group.
Announcements, upcoming events, workshops
Sheldon talked about the planned EFA national coordinators meeting in October or November in Bangkok. It will be held before the high level group EFA meeting in late November in China. The 2006 GMR is expected to be released earlier and can be used in discussions during the EFA coordinators meeting.
The TWG will also meet again before summer. Last year there were country level presentations by Cambodia and Viet Nam and Thailand could make a presentation this year but it is difficult to find someone who can speak about the EFA plan in the Kingdom.
Sheldon also said he was happy to see that ILO had a representative in the meeting adding that the UNFPA should also be represented as well as the World Bank. Anne of ILO also took up the issue of the tentative plans of the Senior Specialist on Disability Issues at the ILO to organize an inter-agency meeting on inclusive vocational training. She asked if inclusive vocational training can be discussed in future meetings to which Sheldon said yes, noting that the issue has not always been given much focus.
Sheldon closed the meeting thanking all the participants for attending the meeting.
