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FORTY-SIXTH SESSION OF THE
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION

"Education for all for learning to live together":
contents and learning strategies - problems and solutions

             Geneva, 5-8 September 2001             
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Background information

General introduction
Institutional framework
Context

Institutional framework

  1. At its 160th session (October 2000), the Executive Board of UNESCO proposed that the Organization’s activities should fall under the general theme of "contributing to peace and human development in the era of the globalization of education, science, culture and communication".

  2. The proposals by the Director-General, Mr K. Matsuura, concerning the medium-term strategy for 2002-2007 and the draft programme and budget for 2002-2003 correspond to his wish to focus on those areas where UNESCO can make a difference: access to basic education for all; protecting public service education; fighting against the standardization and impoverishment of educational contents; improving knowledge-sharing; helping bridge the digital divide; protecting and promoting cultural diversity in the face of globalization.

  3. The Education for All Movement received a new impetus following the Jomtien Conference in 1990. A policy dialogue took place between various partners going beyond educational authorities, in order to face the face the challenge of tackling "fundamental learning needs". The conceptual achievements of Jomtien were further developed by the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, chaired by Jacques Delors, which expressed the needs as four key concepts: "Learning to know, learning to do, learning to be and learning to live together".(1)

  4. Ten years after Jomtien, and five years after the report of the Delors Commission, the world situation on Education for All, as established by the Forum on Education for All (Dakar, Senegal, 26-28 April 2000), shows that there has been significant progress in many countries in access. However, the quality of learning and the acquisition of values and skills fall far short of the aspirations and needs of individuals and societies. Thus, we must intensify exchanges and dialogue on matters concerning the quality of education and particularly aspects which may contribute to finding better solutions for "learning to live together" in its broadest sense.

  5. While pursuing its work undertaken in the context of major conferences and congresses (Adult education, 1997; Higher education, 1998; Technical and vocational education, 1999), UNESCO will grant priority in the field of education during 2002–2003 to basic education for all. The Dakar Forum has recently approved a Framework for Action that represents the commitment of the partners for education for all. Beyond recalling the national responsibility, the need for regional co-operation and new opportunities for financing, three fundamental characteristics of the Framework are: the recognition of education as a human right; reinforcing the call for the struggle against social exclusion via education; and the call to “improve all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence”.(2)
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Last update : 27-10-2005

1.   See: ‘Preliminary proposals by the Director-General concerning the Draft Medium-Term Strategy for 2002–2007 (31 C/4) and the draft programme and budget for 2002–2003 (31 C/5).’ Executive Board, 160th session, October 2000, document 160 EX/5.
2.    See: The Dakar Framework for Action. Adopted by the World Education Forum, Dakar, Senegal, 26–28 April 2000, p. 8, para. 7(vi).