SI UN Representative to Geneva reports back from the recent ECOSOC High Level Segment which closed On July 7th.
There are only 4 ½ years to 2015 when the
internationally agreed MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) should be reached.
Because of this, the recent meeting of ECOSOC dealt with
many aspects of education:
– Education and Human Rights
– The Great Green Technological Transformation
– Education for Sustainable Development
The decade 2005 – 2014 has been
designated the UN decade of Education for Sustainable Development. President
Lazarous Kapambwe, President of ECOSOC, said that there are two approaches to reaching
this goal: first, the general approach, beginning in the early grades with a focus
on shaping values to mould good citizens. Second, the specialist approach which pays attention to developing the specific skill-sets needed to guide people in a sustainable direction. Educatio provision should take into account both approaches, and related challenges which prevent women and girls from accessing life long learning opportunities.
During various discussion panels, Ministers and country representatives discussed
their experiences and standpoints which I attempt summarise here:
Clearly the goals have not been reached, partly because of under financing. In
many countries more money is spent on the economy – in the ‘traditional’ sense. The connection between
education and economic growth has not been fully grasped. However, money alone does not achieve good results: it is
mainly teachers and good facilities. Education in Finland was praised, because
teachers have a good reputation, teachers are motivated and also respected by
students. Excellent
teacher training was claimed to
be a main factor. Another very important finding has been that abolishing fees for schools and schoolbooks does improve enrolment rates and
education completion rates. One example of international ‘best practice’ is Indonesia where children from remote areas can stay in boarding school
for free.
Girl’s access to secondary education:
This was an important topic throughout the
conference. In a very good high-level panel (5th July), “Causes
and Impact on Development of Denying Girls Access to Secondary Education” was
discussed.
This was organized by the International Federation of University Women and
International Planned Parenthood Federation.
Without secondary education poverty cannot be fought. If girls go to school for longer, forced early marriages and early pregnancy are often delayed or prevented
altogether. Also
in secondary schools, girls can be informed about pregnancy prevention,
HIV/AIDs prevention and other issues related to sex and relationship
education. Additionally, only with secondary education can girls be prepared
for a “profession”.
The session argued that the private sector must
be more involved in education provision. Teaching curriculums should take into
account the needs of the market in future and the private sector does have a
significant and expanding role to play in education provision. A new consensus is needed. There should be a greater burden sharing between the
developed and the developing countries. The private sector, government and
civil society have to work together.
SI’s Oral Statement:
SI handed in a written
statement which was distributed to all participants. In addition to this, SI
was delighted to be invited to deliver an oral statement which was delivered on
6th July in the general debate. This focussed on:
- The importance of quality and breadth of education
- Safe surroundings of schools
- Gender and culturally sensitive sanitation facilities
- The importance of completing secondary education
In the oral statement
the fruitful cooperation between SI women’s groups in developing countries and
“developed” countries was highlighted. The bottom up approach of SI projects is
SI’s trademark and gives us particular insights which we can share with
governments, civil society partners and international advocacy platforms.
The G20 and the UN
It was complained that the
G20 (group of 20 Ministers of “leading” countries in the world) had been more
dominant in the world than ECOSOC. The G20 is not an UN institution – it mainly
consists of finance ministers. Discussion centred on the crisis of 2008 and how
this has highlighted the structural imbalance in the global economy. There was concern that not enough money is
being spent on education, in comparison to other areas. Overwhelmingly, the
meeting supported the joint working of the G20 and ECOSOC.
The President of the General Assembly of UN , Joseph Deiss, a former
Swiss Minister, invited the NGOs to a
special meeting to discuss further cooperation:
“While strengthening and reforming the current
institutional and intergovernmental framework, it is also important to
strengthen interaction between all stakeholders. States and the private sector,
civil society and regional actors must continuously interact and listen to each
other.”
ECOSOC is clearly the conference
for Ministers of countries. But the President tried to include NGOs more in the debate. It is often the question – is the glass half full or half empty? The MDG goals have not
been reached, but there are many successes! Child mortality has been reduced
by as much as 50 % in many countries. Poverty is still the biggest problem, but the crises of 2008 has put back many good movements
to poverty reduction. There are still 67 millions oven children without schools
but 52 millions more than in the year 2000.
Submitted by Sina Stiffler
SI UN Representative to Geneva
9th July 2011