Transcript EFA Global Monitoring Report 2002 Education for All: Is the World on Track?

EFA Global
Monitoring Report 2002
Education for All:
Is the World on Track?
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Developing the
Global Monitoring Report
Partnerships for Progress
Presentation by Christopher Colclough
EFA Working Group
Paris, 23 July 2003
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The goal-setting exercise
 Current consensus around a set of international
goals and targets – the MDGs – aimed at poverty
reduction through human development. Two MDGs
relate to education. These goals command a high
international profile
 The Dakar goals encompass a broader set of targets
(ECCE, life skills, quality and literacy) tightly entwined
with the MDGs relating to education
 Monitoring, advocacy and communication play vital
roles in raising education’s profile on the political
agenda. Education competes with other MDGs for
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donor funding
Historical flashback
 A brief historical survey suggests that many goals set
over past 40 years have been achieved by a considerable
number of developing countries and by the target date
or soon after (decolonisation, smallpox eradication in
1977, considerable advances in child immunization)
 An even larger number of countries have accelerated
action in the area concerned and often prepared
national plans of action for implementing the goals,
helping to raise international awareness
 Some goals failed or almost totally failed, such as
halving illiteracy by 2000
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Influencing priorities
 Goals offer international platform for
coordinating global action and generating strong
national movements. Evidence that international
targets provide frame for countries to set their
own goals
 Evidence of bilateral agencies using MDGs as
yardstick to assess programme effectiveness (cf
DFID)
 NGOs have demonstrated capacity to influence
and support action towards implementing global
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goals
Capturing the whole picture
 MDGs mostly outcome indicators. MDG
framework should be interpreted as added
opportunity for EFA agenda: contribution of
basic education to sustainable livelihoods,
reduction of child mortality, improvement in
maternal health, fight against HIV/AIDS and
sustainable environment.
…/…
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Capturing the whole picture (2)
 Solely measuring quantitative aspects of
progress does not do justice to EFA agenda,
importance of qualitative aspects of
education
 Early childhood care and education, life
skills and educational quality require further
research to measure progress
 Research ongoing on measuring “literacies”
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Assesssing progress,
communicating messages
 How goals are explained and publicly promoted by the
UN, media and civil society can have impact on
governments and donor community
 Monitoring should draw attention to different degrees
and dimensions of achievement, pointing to partial
success and partial failure
 Monitor countries on track or accelerating progress,
draw regional comparisons and pay particular attention
to progress in countries starting from low levels of
achievement, despite poor showing in rankings
(…/…)
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Assessing progress,
communicating messages (2)
 Monitor agency and donor performance and provide
more analysis of why countries are succeeding or
failing
 Account for unforeseeable domestic and external
changes that can affect progress toward goal.
Danger of backlash in donor countries
 Need to look at assessments in relation to each of the
six goals to avoid superficial conclusions
 Importance of drawing attention to good practice
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Singularity of Monitoring Report

The Monitoring Report is based on broad research
exercise drawing upon expertise in a number of fields
and from different regions (80 papers commissioned for
forthcoming edition)
 Report aims to foster sense of international accountability
towards commitments made in Dakar and thereafter
 In Year One, the Report has become a major authoritative
international source on progress made towards EFA.
Holds potential to foster well-informed policy dialogue
through highlighting effective reforms, strategies and
programmes
(…/…)
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Singularity of Monitoring Report
 Report’s independence vital to its credibility
 At the same time, Report proudly anchored
within an international system – teams work
closely with UNESCO Institutes, networks
within UN and academic community.
 Advised by Editorial Board chaired by
Professor Anil Bordia (India) meets yearly
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Communication Strategy highlights
Reminder of principles guiding our communication
strategy:

Speak to different regions by presenting the Report through
global and local perspectives

Speak to different audiences by reaching government, donor
and civil society circles

Extend Report’s lifespan through constructive participation
in EFA-related events

Make Report’s promotion a joint endeavour by tapping
expertise and networks of the education community at large
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Lessons from 2002 Report
 Over 130 articles in major media outlets following
press launch in London in November organised by
UNESCO’s Bureau of Public Information
 English print-run of 10,000; French 7,000. Widely
disseminated to education ministries, university
libraries, UN specialized institutions and bilateral
agencies.

Data base being significantly built up since January,
with input from partners (CCNGO, IIEP)
…/…
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Lessons from 2002 Report (2)
 Summary report available in six UN languages
for promotion and use in variety of contexts
 Supporting translation into local languages
(Hindi, Urdu, Nepali and Vietnamese underway)
 Website recently put on line at
www. unesco.org/education/efa_report
Possibility to download report in PDF or word
format, charts in Excel
…/…
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Lessons from 2002 Report (3)

Over past year, team members have participated in education
related seminars and conferences (WEF, World Social Forum,
International Education Society Conference, IWGE).

Report has served as reference at EFA Ministerial Conferences
in South and Central Asia as well as Minedaf

Fruitful contact with members of Forum of African
Parliamentarians for Education

A number of partners around the table have facilitated
distribution, agreeing to share lists of network members and
citing Report on their website (GCE’s Global Action Week used
as occasion to widely disseminate summary reports)
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Expanding our reach

BPI foresees press launches in four ‘media hubs’ (London,
Paris, Washington and Sao Paulo) ahead of launch in
New Delhi prior to High Level Group meeting

Alongside, we are seeking to enhance Report’s visibility at
national and regional levels, stressing importance of
presentations to share findings and promote debate.
Ideally, such presentations should involve different
constituencies (cf April 30, Paris).

Tentative plans for presentation in SADCC region in early
2004 through Forum of African Parliamentarians
for Education
(…/…)
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Expanding our reach (2)

Tap potential of both UNESCO and UN System. Launches
through a UN or other multilateral mechanism: i.e. in Asia,
Education Working Group (Cambodia); Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (regional launch)
suggested by our Bangkok office

Attach importance to identifying UN partners in other
regions, particularly in Africa and Latin America

Currently strengthening relationship with field offices. A
user-friendly power point presentation sent to all UNESCO
field office directors

Materials available this year from mid-October. Effort to
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prepare regional fact sheets
Future Reports
 Subsequent reports will focus on quality of
education (2005) and literacy (2006), in light of
the UN Literacy Decade
 Tracking of national policies and shifts in practice
by leading development agencies will remain
central features of Report
 Adopt a more global approach to the EFA agenda
starts in this year’s Report
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Complementary international
accountability mechanisms
Importance of coordinating with other
reporting mechanisms
 UNESCO Director General’s EFA High-Level Group
established after Dakar conceived as mechanism to
leverage political commitment and mobilize resources
 Millennium Development Project is analysing
strategies for achieving the MDGs. Includes a task
force on education and gender
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Complementary international
accountability mechanisms (2)
 The Global Governance Initiative, launched by the
World Economic Forum in 2002, aims to draw up
an annual scorecard of progress towards MDGs
emphasizing efforts by governments, bilaterals,
private sector and civil society
 The Global Campaign for Education, a worldwide
alliance of NGOs and trade unions, conducts
extensive lobbying in favour of free, quality
education for all
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Conclusions
 Dakar goals are a shared agenda. Monitoring Report
relies strongly on respective strengths of its partners
to share findings
 In long run, Report will be judged on influence that
it has had and use to which it is put
 Invite thought and propositions on improving
knowledge of Report in different constituencies
and identifying mechanisms for organizing
national/regional presentations
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