Message of the Director

Dear Colleagues and Partners,

Last week we had a successful Pan African High Level Conference on Education, where Ministers of

Education of Africa, along with UN agencies, representatives and experts of Education from African

countries and NGOs shared their expertise and lessons learned about the implementation of SDG4.

Ministers also shared best practices from their national education plans and strategies, and strategized on

the continued implementation of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2016-2025.

Fruitful and interesting parallel sessions on digital technologies as vectors for quality education, the status

of teachers in Africa with a view to identify best practices for replication and up-scaling, learning

assessment and the importance of data through regional knowledge-sharing and capacity building

networks took place. Moreover, the essential role of teachers and professional standards were highlighted,

as well as the role ofpedagogical use of ICTs in facilitating learners to reach learning targets and

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Photo: from left to right: Director of UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa, Ann Therese Ndong-

Jatta, Assistant Director General of UNESCO Africa Department, Edouard Firmin Matoko, Deputy

Director General of UNESCO, Mr. Getachew Engida, and Minister of Education of Kenya, Amina

Mohammed.

outcomes.

It is important to remember that 21st century African Economies will be impacted by technology,

innovation and greening of the global economy, as well as the rapid growth of the youth population.

Young people should be skilled to work in digital technologies across the continent and have access to

career guidance about the demands of the labor market. Parallel sessions also covered sessions

on technical, entrepreneurial training and youth employmentto ensure more productivity, stronger

economies and economic growth across the continent. Finally, the conference explored sustainable

Innovative financing mechanisms for effective partnerships, coordination at national, regional and

continental levels. Ways of ensuring a more equitable reallocation of resources, aimed at inclusive and

equitable quality education for all were discussed.

During the Interministerial meeting on 27 April 2018, Ministries of Education and the African

Union endorsed the Nairobi Declaration and Call for Action on Education. Morocco also presented its

candidature to host PACE2020, the second edition of the Pan African High Level conference on Education

in order to ensure continued sharing of experiences, lessons learned, success stories on progress to SDG4

and CESA16-25.

PACE was also a good example of UNESCO’s coordination among UNESCO Headquarters Education

Sector, the 5 regional offices in Africa and the Arab States and UNESCO Institutes. I would like to thank

all the colleagues for their efforts and hard work that cumulated in the Nairobi Declaration and Call for

Action on Education.

UNESCO also participated in the same week in the Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa retreat

that was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 24 to 27 April 2018. UNESCO contributed to the review of the

existing program and cluster systems and stands ready to participate in the implementation of identified

priorities, in line with Agenda 2063.

Finally, I would also like to wish you a prosperous World Press Freedom Day on 3 May 2018. This year

we will celebrate the day with the theme ‘Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and The Rule of

Law’. The day will also be globally celebrated in Ghana, during which the UNESCO-Guillermo Cano

World Press Freedom Prize will be awarded.

I wish you a successful week

Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta

Announcement

Participate in the UNESCO Juventus Photo contest!Football holds enormous power and potential to bring people of different cultures and countries together. Activate the power of sports and share a message of peace and tolerance through stories of football! Send a photo that showcases football's potential to promote inclusion, overcome stereotypes and overturn discrimination in all its forms. Deadline: 6 May 2018How to participate #unescojuventus #What Colour #MoreThanFootball

News of the week

NEW! Nairobi Declaration and Call for Action on Education endorsed by Ministers of Education in Africa, during the Pan African High Level Conference on Education, PACE2018, 25-27 April 2018, in English and in French

Research professors from higher education institutions in Madagascar are working on Open Educational Resources (OER), in EN & FR

Training to incorporate disaster and risk reduction into educational plans and strategies in Madagascar, in EN & FR

The popularization of the Malagasy Engineering Guide - Harmonization of Training and Certification on track, in EN & FR

Missions

Lamin Abdul RahmanSearch for a Region-Wide Security Arrangement in the Horn of Africa ConferenceDjibouti28 to 29 April 2018

Jaco Du ToitWorld Press Freedom Day celebrations in Tanzania Dar es Salaam/Dodoma & follow-up to CFIT 30 April to 6 May 2018

Karalyn MonteilFirst national workshop on community based inventories of intangible cultural heritage,Juba, South Sudan2 to 4 May 2018

Upcoming events International Jazz Day in Eastern Africa (30 April)Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles Somalia and Tanzania

World Press Freedom Day celebrations (3 May)Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan

Transform Africa SummitKigali, Rwanda9 to 10 May 2018

ICT Infrastructure Sustainable Management TrainingKampala, Uganda10 to 11 May 2018

BirthdaysLouise-Agnes Mackongo9 May

Alice Ochanda10 May

Press Clip Pan African High Level Conference on Education Voice of America (Africa News Tonight, 16 minutes Interview with Sajitha Bashir, Education Manager- World Bank Africa

Heads evaluate Africa progress in education, The Star

African Education ministers root for mother-tongue as Nairobi meets ends, The Star

Education ministers root for life-long learning, Business Today

Pan-African on Education kicks off in Nairobi, Daily Nation

CS Amina Mohammed officially opens 3-day education conference, Daily Nation

Pan African meeting resolves to boost teacher training, motivation, Press Reader

It is time to act now on Africa's education, Uhuru tells Ministers, The Standard Digital

Education policy makers gather in Nairobi for continental conference, Capital FM Kenya

African youth push for education budget boost, Citizen Digital

CS Amina eyes Nairobi Declaration in forthcoming continental education conference, Best Free News

Over 30 million primary school age children in Africa are out of school, Kass FM

UN Urges African Countries To Promote Gender Parity In Education, Urdu Point

Pan African Conference on Education opens Wednesday in Nairobi, Kenya KBC

African Education ministers root for life-long learning to achieve transformation agenda, Xinhua net

Kenyan leader pledges support for Africa's education sector transformation, Xinhua net

African Education ministers root for life-long learning to achieve transformation agenda, Agencia Angola Press

African experts urge harnessing of digital technologies to boost literacy, Coastweek.com

Publications & Videos

Policy Paper:Achieving gender equality in education: don’t forget the boys

Flickr Album: Pan African High Level conference on Education

UNESCO Institute for Statistics Blog: The View from Madagascar: Data to Build Evidence-Based Policy

VIDEO: The ten targets of the Sustainable Development Goal 4…with Elyx! ENGLISH

VIDEO: Youth Conference on Pan African Education #PACE2018

VIDEO: Herbie Hancock welcomes you to International Jazz Day 2018

Tweet of the Week on @UNESCOEast: Happening NOW!

President @ UKenyattavisits # PACE2018 Conference on the future

of # Education in # Nairobi, meeting Director

of@ UnescoEast @ ndongjatta , @ UNESCO Deputy Director General @ GEngida56 &

Assistant Director General # AfricaDepartment @ eddymatoko , Historic Moment! # SDG4