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| Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn addresses the fifth meeting of the High-Level Group on Education for All (EFA) |
30-11-2005 11:00 am The fifth meeting of the High-Level Group on Education for All (EFA), convened by the Director-General, Koichiro Matsuura, and organized by UNESCO in cooperation with the Government of the People's Republic of China, has been held in Beijing on 28-30 November 2005. The special theme of the meeting was literacy, with a particular focus on education for rural people. UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand delivered an inauguration speech. In a major address at the inaugural ceremony, held in the Great Hall of the People, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao reaffirmed the strength of China's commitment to pursue the full EFA agenda and announced a number of measures that will increase China's assistance to other developing countries in the field of education. In addition to speeches by the Director-General and the Chinese Minister of Education, Mr Zhou Ji, the inaugural ceremony also was addressed by the President of Mongolia, Mr Nambaryn Enkhbaya; UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand; and the Vice-President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr Arthur Zahidi N'Goma.
In his remarks, Mr Matsuura described 2005 as "a watershed year" for EFA in terms of improved prospects for higher levels of international development assistance, especially arising from the G8 meeting in Gleneagles in July. He also noted that, five years after Dakar, there are some encouraging signs of EFA progress, as revealed by the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2006, but huge challenges remain and there are only ten years left. He pointed to the relative neglect of some of the EFA goals, particularly literacy, and the missing of the gender parity target in primary and secondary schooling.
The High-Level Group considered the preparation of a Joint Action Plan that would clarify roles and responsibilities in EFA and encouraged UNESCO to continue its efforts in this regard. Resource mobilization questions were also examined, including the potential of new and innovative mechanisms such as the International Finance Facility, airline solidarity tax and debt swaps. The role of the EFA-Fast Track Initiative (FTI) was also discussed; the annual FTI partnership meeting began immediately after the close of the High-Level Group.
Among the main recommendations agreed in the communiqué emerging from the High-Level Group were the need to address the continuing finance gap, the importance of giving higher priority to literacy, and the progressive removal both formal and informal school fee barriers. Looking ahead to global progress review scheduled for 2008, it was recommended that particular attention be paid to countries not on track to achieve the Dakar goals by 2015. The invitation of the Government of Egypt to host the next meeting of the High-Level Group in November 2006 was welcomed by all participants.
Homepage of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand
Read more about the Education for All High-Level Group and the Education for All initiative
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