By Wendi Cui, on 24 May 2016

Ms. Sissel Idland, Education Counsellor of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Ethiopia, visited UNESCO IICBA on 24 May. A meeting was held between the counsellor and the IICBA team to promote mutual understanding between the two parties. Ms. Idland explained Norway’s education support for the African region, and highlighted the country’s emphasis in education. Dr. Yumiko Yokozeki, Director of IICBA, spoke highly of the Norwegian government’s contribution towards international educational support, and expressed her wish to produce further dialogue between the embassy and IICBA.

Norway has remained an active partner of UNESCO in the education sector and top performer in ODA in general. It is the largest provider of funding to the Capacity Development for Education for All (CapEFA) programme, and has been actively involved in the International Teacher Taskforce. Ethiopia is a focus and pilot country of Norway’s support in education in Africa with specific focus on supporting schools in catastrophes, providing trainings for refugees, and promoting continuous education opportunities for out-of-school girls. IICBA would like to cooperate with the Norwegian Embassy on teacher training and development, probably through the partnership with the African Union International Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Education in Africa (AU/CIEFFA) to provide quality and relevant post-primary education for rural girls in the region.

Further reading:

CapEFA annual progress report 2015: http://www.iicba.unesco.org/node/177

African Union International Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Education in Africa (AU/CIEFFA): http://au.int/en/content/african-union-international-centre-girls%E2%80%99-and-women%E2%80%99s-education-africa-aucieffa-coordinator