The Director-General congratulated the Ambassador for the work undertaken by the Open Working Group under the Ambassador’s co-leadership. She underscored that the proposed sustainable development goals and targets marked a true milestone towards the elaboration of a universal, people-centered and integrated post-2015 development agenda.

With respect to education, Irina Bokova expressed satisfaction that the OWG’s proposal contained a strong and comprehensive goal dedicated to ensuring inclusive and equitable lifelong learning opportunities for all.

She noted also her determination to ensure recognition of the important role of culture as a driver for sustainable development in the Declaration and the agreed goals and targets, building on the elements already integrated in the current proposal.

Irina Bokova added that there was still a need to bring out more distinctly the critical contribution of science and the science-policy interface to sustainable development, as advanced by the UN Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The role of ICTs deserved also more attention.

The Director-General and the Ambassador continued the discussion underlining the crucial role of quality data to track future progress and inform decision-making. UNESCO’s global monitoring function, supported through its Institute for Statistics, was key in this regard.