REGIONAL MEETINGS ON EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ESD) - Dakar, 18 to 22 February 2008 - A brief summary

“Education for Sustainable Development, of course, must be more than just a logo or a slogan. It must be a concrete reality for all of us – individuals, organisations, governments – in all of our daily decisions and actions, so as to promise a sustainable planet and a safer world to our children, our grandchildren and their descendants.” Koichuro Matsuura, Director General of UNESCO

UNESCO BREDA organised a meeting of UNESCO Programme Specialists from the various UNESCO Offices as well as Inter-sectoral/Inter-disciplinary and Inter-agency and important Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Stakeholders to a meeting in Dakar, Senegal from 18-22 February 2008.

Back to back, a second meeting, which basically involves stakeholders was planned to take place with that of UNESCO Education Specialists. The peculiarity of this meeting was such that it gave all parties involved in the implementation of the ESD programme the opportunity to participate in the preparation and adoption of the final key messages, which would serve as a reference both at the sub-regional and national levels. It also enhanced understanding of the programme, facilitate and accelerate its implementation since participants were drawn from all relevant backgrounds in SSA. This approach that was adopted by UNESCO is in conformity with the vision of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD), which states that the programme is inclusive, endogenous, inter-disciplinary, inter-sectoral, holistic and all-embracing, among others.

Objectives of the Meetings

The main objective of the meeting, was for all UNESCO Education Specialists from UNESCO Offices to develop a common understanding of the Decade of Education For Sustainable Development (DESD) and of ESD in Africa, examine and consider the Draft Strategy of Education for Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Participants at the meeting were expected to exchange ideas on the draft document, determine the sub- regional and national priorities, strategies and long-term implementation and exchange modalities. These were then shared during the next meeting – the Inter-sectoral/Inter-disciplinary and Inter-agency on ESD Policy and Programmes, Strategy, Guidelines and Delivery systems for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Participants

For the meeting of UNESCO Education Specialists, participants came from all UNESCO Offices drawn from the four major Regional Economic Communities (RECs), that is, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), East African Community (EAC), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Central African Economic Community (CEAC). On the other hand, the second meeting drew participants from the host country, Senegal. These comprised essentially of stakeholders and partners from both the public and private sectors - mainly Non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

BREDA’s Actions

With regards to ESD and particularly for DESD, BREDA will work in close collaboration with all member states, UN agencies, development partners, NGOs, local communities and Cluster Offices in order to:
• Develop national and sub-regional plans and strategies
• Assist Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and member states in developing clearly identifiable policies, plans and actions
• Develop networking among the cluster offices that have ESD activities in the Regular Program and EXB projects
• Develop indicators and mechanisms for monitoring achievements and evaluate progress in ESD on the African sub-continent
• Share information, carry out research and innovation on ESD
• Build partnerships and maximise existing structures and institutions for ESD
• Provision of training and guidance in key areas of ESD

The Sub-Saharan African ESD Strategy

The DESD in Africa is situated within the NEPAD, the AU 2nd Decade of Education in Africa, the UNLD, EFA and the MDGs. The SSA ESD Strategy was developed through a consultative process and was presented and endorsed by Ministers of Education present in a special meeting of the 2006 Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) Biennial in Libreville, Gabon. As it were, the SSA ESD Strategy targets various stakeholders and adopts the partnership orientation of the International Implementation Scheme of the DESD. It provides guidelines for mainstreaming sustainable development issues into education systems, programmes and activities, and provides a flexible, open and dynamic framework to encourage ownership at national and local levels. The SSA ESD Strategy outlines a series of principles that can be used to guide ESD in SSA. These are:
• Stimulating an endogenous process for a paradigm shift in education
• Taking a holistic approach of education
• Ensuring an inter-disciplinary and integrated approach in education
• Emphasizing participation in and decentralization of educational activities
• Ensuring harmonization and coherence in all educational programmes
• Mainstreaming gender in education
• Highlighting the cross-cutting nature of ICTs for the delivery of educational programmes

The SSA ESD Strategy identifies four priorities for ESD:
• Promoting basic education (which includes formal and non-formal education, and vocational education and training);
• Strengthening institutional and operational capacity for the incorporation of ESD in policies and programmes;
• Adapting teaching syllabi, curricula and tools; and
• Informing and sensitizing the public.

Within these four priorities, the SSA ESD Strategy identifies five strategic objectives namely:
• Strategic Objective 1: To strengthen consistency in and commitment to ESD implementation policy at the regional and national level.
• Strategic Objective 2: To promote the sensitization of the public and strengthen the implementation of the principles of sustainable development at the individual and collective level.
• Strategic Objective 3: To promote an education which draws on African cultures and contributes to their development for sustainable socio-economic development.
• Strategic Objective 4: To improve the quality of education for sustainable development.
• Strategic Objective 5: To consolidate and diversify partnership with a focus on education for sustainable development.

During the meeting, participants looked at linking the 3 UNESCO Initiatives (LIFE, EDUCAIDS and TTISSA) to ESD but also looked at the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) aspects of the DESD, that will go beyond the life of the DESD.

For more information on these meetings or on ESD and DESD, please contact:
Teeluck Bhuwanee (t.bhuwanee@unesco.org) or call on 00 221 33 849 23 47