Asia-Pacific countries develop Education for All strategy plan to reach the unreached by 2015

National EFA coordinators and gender focal points from ministries of education, Regional Thematic Working Group (TWG) on EFA members, INGO partners, civil society organizations, UNESCO and UNICEF regional and country education officer and other EFA partners met in Bangkok from 4-7 May 2009 for the 10th Regional Meeting of National EFA Coordinators and Regional Launch of the 2009 Global Monitoring Report.

Centred on the theme of "Strategic Planning towards Reaching the Unreached in Education and Meeting the EFA Goals by 2015", the meeting focused on strategic planning of the next steps for countries and the region as a whole, to ensure that the EFA goals are met by 2015.

The meeting was organized by the UIS-AIMS Unit, the UIS Regional Office, on behalf of the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education in close collaboration with the Regional TWG on EFA, UNICEF EAPRO and UNICEF Country Offices.

Nicholas Burnett, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO gave the opening and keynote speech. He touched upon UNESCO's role as the lead coordinating agency for EFA, the impact of the global financial crisis in meeting the EFA goals and the contribution of education to social cohesion and economic recovery.

The Director of UNESCO Bangkok, Gwang-Jo Kim, gave a presentation on the key highlights and remaining challenges, as presented in the 2009 EFA Global Monitoring Report.

Towards the end of the meeting, participants drafted and presented regional and sub-regional strategies towards reaching the unreached in education. These strategies were supported by policy recommendations from South-East Asia, South Asia and Central Asia sub-regions, findings from national and sub-regional EFA MDA national reports, and sub-regional EFA Mid-Term Policy Review Conferences.

Countries were encouraged to improve their EFA monitoring and evaluation systems. Emphasis was given to collecting data on unreached and disadvantaged groups and using this information for evidence-based planning.

This meeting is part of UNESCO Bangkok's continued support to counties in teh Asia-Pacific region, through the conducting of National EFA Coordinators meetings, under the auspices of the Thematic Working Group on EFA. Since 2000, UNESCO Bangkok has organized nine EFA Coordinators' Meetings initially covering East and South-East Asia and later expanding to cover South Asia, the Pacific and to some extent, Central Asia.  

To download meeting documents, visit:10th Regional Meeting of National EFA Coordinators webpage