INCEHON, Republic of Korea, May, 2015 – The Arab Campaign for Education for all-ACEA, the Arab Network for Civic Education, and Education Coalition in the Arab World participated in the World Education Forum 2015 (WEF 2015) that is conducted in education INCEHON, Republic of Korea on May 2015, and will discuss the global agenda for the next 15 years. The conference will set out a global roadmap for Education until 2030.
The Declaration on Education 2030 to be agreed at the Forum will mobilize all countries and partners to implement the new agenda, and propose ways for its coordination, financing and monitoring – globally, regionally and nationally – to ensure equal educational opportunities for all.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened the event. “Education secures human rights, including health and employment,” he told the 1500 participants. “And education is also essential to fighting security threats, including the rise of violent extremism.”
The Forum brings together more than 130 government ministers, along with high-level government officials, Nobel Prize Laureates, heads of international and non-governmental organizations, academics, representatives of the private sector, researchers and other key stakeholders.
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, and President of the Republic of Korea, Park Geun-hye, also spoke at the opening of WEF 2015, which UNESCO is leading in collaboration with UNDP, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UN Women and the World Bank Group.
“We know the power of education to eradicate poverty, transform lives and make breakthroughs on all the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Ms Bokova in her opening address. “We have the collective duty to empower every child and youth with the right foundations – knowledge, values and skills – to shape the future as responsible global citizens, building on the successes of the past 15 years. And we must commit to giving adults the opportunity to keep learning throughout life to adapt to rapid change and foster social inclusion. This is not only a human right but an imperative for security, inclusive development and peace.”
2015 marks the deadline for achieving the six Education For All (EFA) goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) established in 2000. The Forum will take stock of progress made over the past 15 years, consider remaining and new challenges, and prepare a road map for addressing them within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be adopted by the United Nations in September.
Collective efforts over the past 15 years resulted in unprecedented progress in education. According to UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics, there were 76 million fewer out-of-school children and adolescents in 2012 than in 2000. During the same period, around 67 million more children received pre-primary education and approximately 50 million more enrolled in primary school.
However, the EFA agenda remains unfinished business. This year’s EFA Global Monitoring Report (GMR) shows that there are still some 57 million primary age children and 63 million adolescents out of school and about 781 million illiterate adults globally. The GMR also estimates that it will cost an additional $22 billion each year to ensure universal pre-primary, primary and lower secondary education by 2030