incheon framework for action - --- - الصفحة ٥ - INTRODUCTION

Education ٢٠٣٠ Framework for Action

INTRODUCTION

١. The world has made some remarkable progress in education since ٢٠٠٠, when the six Education for All (EFA) goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were established. Those goals were not, however, reached by the ٢٠١٥ deadline and continued action is needed to complete the unfinished agenda. With Goal ٤ of Transforming our world: the ٢٠٣٠ Agenda for Sustainable Development [[i]] – ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’ (hereafter referred to as Education ٢٠٣٠) – and its associated targets, the world has set a more ambitious universal education agenda for the period from ٢٠١٥ to ٢٠٣٠. Every effort must be made to guarantee that this time the goal and targets are achieved.

٢. Education ٢٠٣٠ was developed through a broad consultative process driven and owned by Member States, and facilitated by UNESCO as well as other partners and guided by the EFA Steering Committee.[١] Education ٢٠٣٠ draws on the thematic consultations on education post-٢٠١٥ of ٢٠١٢ and ٢٠١٣ led by UNESCO and UNICEF, the Global Education for All Meeting held in Muscat, Oman, in May ٢٠١٤, non-government organization (NGO) consultations, the five regional ministerial conferences organized by UNESCO in ٢٠١٤ and ٢٠١٥, and the E-٩ meeting held in Islamabad in ٢٠١٤.[٢] A key mile stone in its development is the Muscat Agreement [[ii]], which was adopted at the Global EFA Meeting in May ٢٠١٤ and which informed the global education goal and its associated targets and means of implementation as proposed by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly’s Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG).

This process culminated in the Incheon Declaration, which was adopted on ٢١ May ٢٠١٥ at the World Education Forum (WEF ٢٠١٥) held in Incheon, Republic of Korea. The Incheon Declaration constitutes the commitment of the education community to Education ٢٠٣٠ and the ٢٠٣٠ Agenda for Sustainable Development, recognizing the important role of education as a main driver of development. The Education ٢٠٣٠ Framework for Action, which provides guidance for implementing Education ٢٠٣٠, was discussed at WEF ٢٠١٥, and its essential elements were agreed upon in the Incheon Declaration. It was finalized by the Drafting Group for the Education ٢٠٣٠ Framework for Action and adopted by ١٨٤ Member States and the education community during a high-level meeting at UNESCO, Paris on ٤ November ٢٠١٥. The Framework for Action outlines how to translate into practice, at country/national,[٣] regional and global level, the commitment made in Incheon. It aims at mobilizing all countries and partners around the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on education and its targets, and proposes ways of implementing, coordinating, financing and monitoring Education ٢٠٣٠ to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all. It also proposes indicative strategies which countries may wish to draw upon in developing contextualized plans and strategies, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities.

[١] The EFA Steering Committee, convened by UNESCO, is composed of Member States representing all six regional groups of UNESCO, the E-٩ initiative^ and the host country of the World Education Forum ٢٠١٥; the five EFA convening agencies (UNESCO, UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Bank); the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); the Global Partnership for Education (GPE); civil society; the teaching profession; and the private sector.

^ The E-٩ Initiative is a forum established in ١٩٩٣ to accelerate progress towards the achievement of EFA. It comprises the nine most highly populated countries of the South (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan).

[٢] The outcomes of regional ministerial conferences on education post-٢٠١٥ and the E-٩ meeting are the Bangkok Statement (٢٠١٤), the Lima Statement (٢٠١٤), the Islamabad Statement (٢٠١٤), the Kigali Statement (٢٠١٥), the Sharm El Sheikh Statement (٢٠١٥) and the Paris Statement (٢٠١٥) and can be found here.

[٣] It is acknowledged that in federal systems, government responsibilities often lie at sub-national levels. Moreover, decentralized responsibility for education governance and provision is common practice in many countries which do not have a federal system. Where possible, appropriate terms are used to reflect this, but in some cases ‘national’ is used to refer to countries with either centralized or decentralized governance systems.