Areas of Action
Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) is one of the priority groups for the entire UNESCO Programme. UNESCO in the Pacific contributes to the construction of peace, human development and intercultural dialogue for a sustainable Pacific through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information in the Pacific region within the framework of several global and regional strategy and action plans, including the Mauritius Strategy for SIDS.
"Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): Our Pacific Heritage" is the flagship programme of the UNESCO Office for the Pacific States. The Pacific Ministers of Education adopted the Pacific Framework for ESD in 2006 with the following goal:
To empower Pacific people through all forms of locally relevant and culturally appropriate education and learning to make decisions and take actions to meet current and future social, cultural, environmental and economic needs and aspirations.
UNESCO's focus for ESD in the Pacific is to provide support to countries to adapt and implement ESD at the country level. There are four key components to the support in UNESCO's programme:
- Understanding the national education systems, philosophies and ESD practices (ESP Mapping),
- Identifying opportunities to introduce the ESD approach into the national school curricula (Curriculum analysis),
- Developing flexible learning materials with local content that exemplify the ESD approach to learning (Our Pacific Heritage Kit),
- Monitoring and evaluation of ESD's impact on the quality of learning in the Pacific (M & E).