The consultation is taking place in Dakar, Senegal from 23-25 November 2015. It is bringing together some 150 representatives from education ministries from the 26 countries in the region, as well as civil society and UN partners. 

Mobilization of all the actors for common objectives

Ndong-Jatta underlined that governments have the primary responsibility to respect the right to education and to ensure the effective management and financing of fair and efficient education to meet other Sustainable Development Goals.

“I also make an appeal to universities, development partners, learners, civil society and families, in short the entire educational community to achieve education by 2030,” the UNESCO Director added.

UNICEF also highlighted that the new Education agenda requires efforts and accountability of all stakeholders, as well as a coordinated action at local, regional and international levels.

“The Education 2030 Agenda should not be seen as a parallel process, but as a reaffirmation of the technical and financial support of all stakeholders in the preparation and implementation of holistic and innovative national sectoral policies, which take into account all learning opportunities while paying special attention to school,” said Nicolas Reuge on behalf of UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

Identification of new national priorities

The Education 2030 agenda was also greeted by CONFEMEN and the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Senegal.

"This consultation is a big opportunity to deepen the reflection on the realistic and practicable character of the various targets and the indicators proposed to measure next progress in the implementation of educational policies on the national and international levels, " said Jacques Boureima Ki, Secretary General of CONFEMEN, the Conference of Ministers of Education of French-speaking countries.

Mary Teuw Niane, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Senegal, who chaired the opening session, commended UNESCO and partners on the consultation. He informed of Senegal’s various initiatives to accelerate education and hence the knowledge economy which is now ours. 

“The quality of human resources is the true wealth of a country. It’s therefore important to promote inclusive and equitable quality education and learning throughout life for all," the Minister said. 

The 3-day consultation is expected to result in a common understanding of the new Education 2030 agenda and start the discussion to identify national priorities. It is also expected to propose a new regional mechanism of coordination.