Editorial by UNESCO's new Assistant Director-General for Education Peter Smith
	"I will develop a leadership framework and programme management model, which will emphasize decentralization and results through collaboration and teamwork," Mr Smith says.

EDITO - Many people have asked me why, after founding two colleges and serving Vermont as a State Senator, Lieutenant Governor, and United States Congressman, I give up a comfortable job to face the risks and challenges confronting UNESCO and the world. It’s simple. I wanted to join the global crusade for human opportunity through quality education and move it forward towards success. The path to world peace is paved with education for all. Why? Because success in education is directly related to increased individual opportunity, economic strength, and societal stability. And the journey towards a peaceful world begins by educating the hundreds of millions of people who need literacy, job skills, and further learning. Education has the power to transform people and countries alike, because it is the wellspring of equality, ability, social opportunity, economic stability and national progress. I have spent my career developing quality education programmes for the underserved. At UNESCO, I can join the global effort to build programmes at the country level, enhancing human resources and sustainable development. UNESCO’s Education Sector will become more effective by collaborating with others and focusing on results at the local level. I look forward to working with National Commissions, Permanent Delegations, UN and other global agencies, and NGOs, to implement Education for All, the United Nations Literacy Decade and the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development as our defining commitments. We will craft appropriate and effective policies, and quality programmes that respond to national needs. We will innovate to solve the problems facing us. Let effectiveness and quality, not tradition, be the standard we use. As directed by UNESCO’s Executive Board and Director-General, I will develop a leadership framework and programme management model, which will emphasize decentralization and results through collaboration and teamwork. And working together, we will pave the path to a peaceful world with education for all. I look forward to this work. Peter Smith Assistant Director-General for Education