CENTRALITY OF EDUCATION IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS UNIVERSALLY UNDERSTOOD, UNESCO DIRECTOR-GENERAL TELLS SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION

Press Release
SOC/4483

CENTRALITY OF EDUCATION IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS UNIVERSALLY UNDERSTOOD, UNESCO DIRECTOR-GENERAL TELLS SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION

While not all the targets set for achieving education for all in the last decade had been met, what had been ensured was that the centrality of education in sustainable development was today universally understood, Federico Mayor, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), told the Commission for Social Development as it met this morning to begin its thirty-seventh session.

As the Commission held a special presentation on basic education for all, he said that advances in basic education since 1990 had been real, citing positive increases in Bangladesh, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and Egypt. He stressed that education was a fundamental human right that must be paid for through national budgets. It was a mistake to invest in that right through the vicious circle of loans. Education was also about improving people's living conditions by providing the skills needed, he added.

Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said the investment priorities of many governments focused on higher education, when they should be aimed at the area that would reap the biggest development paybacks -- programmes for children up to the age of eight. One of the significant lessons of the last decade had been that the quality of care for young children was not only fundamental to their future educational achievement, but lay at the very heart of human development.

The priority themes of the Commission's session focus on a review of efforts to reach the goal of access by all to basic social services and a review of progress made in the implementation of the outcome of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development.

In an opening statement, Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said that there was a temptation to look at social services from the point of view of provision. He hoped that other dimensions relating to the quality and universality of services and the role of State and non-State sectors in provision would be looked at. It was

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important to address the way in which services were delivered. There were many schools that had no blackboards or teachers. The Commission had to address that issue as a policy, which involved targets, as well as the dimension of how those who needed the services were being reached.

John Langmore, Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said the need for active and effective social policies was more widely recognized now than it had been for decades. Every major international conference was discussing social policy. While the continuing needs were enormous, added to them were the emergency needs caused by the financial crisis and the traumas of transition.

The newly elected Chairman, Aurelio Fernandez (Spain), said there was a need to acquire significant consensus on social indicators that would become instruments to find solutions to problems. There was also a need to gain overt consensus on positive measures and new initiatives that would enhance and speed up processes. Moreover, it was necessary to focus on a number of new initiatives that would be strategic and all encompassing.

The Commission also elected Faith Innerarity (Jamaica), Maria Lourdes Ramiro-Lopez (Philippines), Joanna Wronecka (Poland) and Mathe Diseko (South Africa) as Vice-Chairmen. The Commission also adopted its provisional agenda and the organization of work for the session.

At the outset of the meeting, Commission members extended condolences to the people of Jordan and the family of the late King Hussein. It paid tribute by observing a minute of silence.

The Commission will meet again at 3 p.m. today to hold an expert panel discussion on the priority theme social services for all.

Commission Work Programme

The Commission for Social Development met this morning to begin its thirty-seventh session. It was scheduled to elect officers and to hold a special presentation on matters related to follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development. (For background information on the session, see Press Release SOC/4482 of 8 February.)

Opening Statements

AURELIO FERNANDEZ (Spain), the newly elected Chairman, said that he anticipated a very heavy workload for the current session of the Commission and hoped that, at the end, efforts would have proved to be fruitful. In the first week, the Commission would address matters relating to organization, provision and funding of social services, as well as extending those services to those who had difficulty accessing them. He hoped that the Commission would adopt a document of agreed conclusions. The dialogue this morning would be of a particular interest as efforts in the area of providing education for all would be analysed in relation to the Copenhagen Programme of Action.

He said that during the week opportunities would be provided to exchange experiences on various projects and activities. In the second week, the Commission would discuss special projects of the Preparatory Committee for the Special Session of the General Assembly on the Implementation of the Outcome of the World Summit for Social Development and Further Initiatives, to be held in 2000. The important process of intergovernmental review was also taking place when concerns about human development and poverty eradication had become prominent on all worldwide agendas. In addition, no one could deny that the process of reviewing the Copenhagen commitments would have to address the social dimensions of globalization.

He said there was a need to acquire significant consensus on the social indicators that would become the instruments that would find solutions to problems detected. There was also a need to gain overt consensus on positive measures and new initiatives that would enhance and speed up processes. Moreover, it was necessary to focus on a number of new initiatives that would be strategic and all encompassing. The Commission, as it had traditionally, would continue to recognize the participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in its work, he stressed.

NITIN DESAI, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said that there were three broad clusters of issues that the Commission had to deal with during the current session. First, was the thematic review of basic social services for all. Secondly, the Commission needed to address issues that had been on the agenda year after year, related to ageing, youth and disability. Thirdly, and most important, was the consideration of what was to be expected during the five-year review scheduled for next year.

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Concerning the first issue, there was a temptation to look at social services solely from the point of view of provision, he said. However, it was hoped that the Commission would look at other dimensions of the issue that went beyond access, and related to the quality and universality of the services provided, as well as the role of State and non-State sectors in provision. It was important to look beyond targets and into the actual manner in which the services were delivered. There were many schools, particularly in developing countries, that had no blackboards and no teachers. The Commission had to address the issue as a policy one, which not only involved targets, but also the dimension of how the people who needed the services were being reached.

Turning to ageing, he reminded the Commission that 1999 was the International Year of Older Persons. One could not pick up a newspaper nowadays, which in some way did not deal with the issue of ageing. That a large part of the population was over the age of 65 held enormous consequences for economy and society as a whole. Many of the issues to be dealt with were related to social security and health. The focus of the Commission had been on the problems and needs of the aged, and society's obligations in that regard. The focus had been on the concerns of the aged, rather than on the consequences of ageing for the rest of society. Wanting to live longer had been a mission of human beings for a long time, and if today a majority of them were living longer, it was not a problem but rather an achievement. The real challenge was to discover the potential in that achievement. That was why the theme of the Year, "A society for all ages", was so important.

The third area was the review of the outcome of the Copenhagen Summit, he continued. While past reviews had focused on the review of implementation, it had been decided that next year's five-year review would look for further initiatives to improve implementation of those commitments. It was important to address, in addition to what had been already done, what the concrete proposals to strengthen the outcome of the Summit were. The past year and a half had been a period of economic crisis, and the social consequences of that were well known. If one looked at some countries which experienced crisis today, it could be seen that the macroeconomic indicators were moving in the right direction. Ten or 15 years ago, in the same situation, policy-makers would have said that the crisis was over. However, today no one was saying that, for as long as high unemployment and poverty persisted, no policy-maker was ready to say that the crisis was over.

He added that the social dimension had to be treated as a central part of policy-making. While that need had been recognized, the method for it was uncertain. Poverty was an area in which the Copenhagen Summit had had a profound impact, and that was explicit in the work of institutions such as the World Bank. There was also a need to concretize that commitment, rather than just talking of targets. One of the major problems in the implementation of the Copenhagen commitments was the pressure on public resources, despite attempts to protect social sector resources. One of the areas that the "plus

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five review" had to address was how to make public funds available for public purposes.

JOHN LANGMORE, Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said that the Commission had before it two extraordinarily important subjects for discussion. They were social services for all, and the first round of discussion on the evaluation of follow- up to the Social Summit and of further initiatives that would strengthen implementation of the Summit Declaration. Those subjects were central to the global political economy agenda, since few people would disagree with the priority of ensuring the availability of education for all in encouraging development and in reducing poverty. Also, the centrality of ensuring the availability of health services for all as a fundamental contributor to the process of development could not be disputed.

The second week of the Commission offered the first full opportunity for discussion of the issues that could be on the agenda of the special session of the General Assembly in June 2000, he continued. That meeting would be a vital opportunity to move the process of implementation substantially forward, and the Commission's current session could strongly influence the tone and degree of success of that meeting. To assist with those two important tasks, 10 reports by the Secretary-General had been prepared and circulated. The first group of reports were a summary of issues related to social services, which could be discussed during the first week. The second group, for the second week, suggested issues that could be considered in discussion of further initiatives at the special session.

He added that the third group were reports on continuing programmes on cooperatives; the International Year of Older Persons; implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons; implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond; and transmission of the report of the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth.

The need for active and effective social policies was more widely recognized now than it had been for decades, he said. Every major international conference from the United Nations to Davos, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the regional groups, from the Group of Eight major industrialized countries to the "Group of 77" developing countries, was discussing social policy. That was because the need for effective social policies was clearer to more people. The continuing needs were enormous, and to them the emergency needs caused by the financial crisis and the traumas of transition had been added.

Special Presentation on Basic Education for All

FEDERICO MAYOR, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said that since 1990 not all the

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targets set in efforts towards education for all had been met. However, what had been ensured was that the centrality of education in sustainable development was today universally understood. That held one of the most promising hopes for the new century. Basic education was now a priority area in many of the programmes of UNESCO's partners.

When linking education and development, the mistake of compartmentalizing and fragmenting education must not be made, he said. The most important aspect of education was much harder to measure. It was the unique process in each individual that integrated knowledge and skills learned with the attitudes and personality of the person. Young people needed to develop their capacity for dialogue -- the ability to express themselves and listen to others. Education provided first and foremost mastery of "ourselves and our lives". Basic education was not just about the three "Rs" (reading, writing and arithmetic) -- it was about giving children and young people a sense of themselves in their community. That was the very basis of active citizenship.

The goal of UNESCO was to build peace through education for all, he went on to say. The advances in basic education since 1990 had been real. There were positive increases in countries like Bangladesh, India, Brazil and Mexico. Indonesia had reached a considerable number of targets, and Egypt was reaching its goal of devoting a considerable portion of gross domestic product (GDP) towards education. Education was a fundamental human right that must be paid for through national budgets. It was, therefore, a mistake to invest in that right through the vicious circle of loans.

Education was about improving people's living conditions by providing the skills needed, said the Director-General. Multilingualism was another important issue since it addressed the mother tongue and subsequently the safeguarding of cultural diversity. Official development assistance (ODA) had declined in the 1990s and was usually accompanied by military research and development. That was an error since the real enemy was internal. Since 1990 too many promises had not been honoured and too many commitment had not been met. The implementation of education for all required national resolve and political will at the highest level.

CAROL BELLAMY, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said that the theme of social services for all was a goal that UNESCO and UNICEF both agreed was inextricably linked to a universal commitment to basic education for all, as well as to the parallel need to prepare children for education through early attention to their care and development. In Copenhagen, 186 nations turned a crucial conceptual corner in post-cold-war thinking, in proclaiming, clearly and emphatically, that the most urgent issues of our time involved not the security of States, but the security of people. The Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action emphasized the need of focusing national efforts and policies on meeting the basic needs of all, and on the need to give special priority to the rights of children and women, who bore the greatest

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burden of poverty and conflict. However, four years had hardly been enough time to expect dramatic changes for the better.

The World Conference on Education for All, held in Thailand in 1990, placed the concept of universal basic education securely on the international agenda. It affirmed that education was not only a fundamental human right, but that it was also the soundest investment in a peaceful and prosperous future that could be made for the world's children, especially girls. Education was not simply a matter of bringing children and teachers together; the quality of that education was crucial. It was up to governments to show real leadership and political will, and produce the financial resources necessary to launch effective educational programmes. The UNICEF was delighted to sign a memorandum of understanding with UNESCO that would deepen their collaboration by pursuing a variety of joint activities aimed at expanding educational opportunities for girls and women; by promoting education in situations of emergency and reconstruction; by supporting the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa; and by working to ensure the provision of early childhood care and development.

She said that the investment priorities of many governments were focused on higher education, when they should be aimed at the area that would reap the biggest development paybacks -- programmes for children up to the age of eight, especially those that concentrate on the period from birth to age six. One of the more significant lessons of the last decade had been that the quality of care for the young child was not only fundamental to his or her future educational achievement, but lay at the very heart of human development. When talking about the relationship between basic quality education and early childhood care for survival, growth and development, what was being discussed was the process of pulling all of that together.

The task of integrating health, nutrition and education programmes for children across sectors was a formidable challenge at any time, she said. It was especially daunting now, when so many past advances were being undermined by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and by the armed conflicts raging across so much of the world. That was why UNICEF, UNESCO, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank and other partners remained steadfast in their support of the 20/20 initiative. That called on governments in developing countries to devote 20 per cent of their national budgets to basic social services, including programmes on early childhood care. It also called on industrialized countries to devote 20 per cent of their ODA to those same social programmes. Early attention to the well-being of the world's children, especially in their earliest years, was the most direct route to assuring their future, and of all the generations of children to come.

Dialogue on Education for All

Responding to a question regarding learning throughout one's life, Mr. MAYOR said that the problem that had been realized in that context was

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exclusion. If a person did not have the possibility of acquiring formal education, then that person felt excluded from the mainstream of society for the rest of his or her life. There were various geographical, economic, political, gender and religious reasons for that exclusion. The most important reason had been the inflexible system of education that existed in the past. However, in the present situation, if a person was unable to catch the train the first time, he or she had more opportunities to catch the train again. That was important, not only for basic and primary education, but more importantly for tertiary education. Now there was a permanent space of higher learning open to people. They did not have to feel excluded or frustrated if they missed the opportunity for education once, since that opportunity was available to them throughout their lives.

The importance of the central role of teachers had to be recognized, as well as that of the example of the home, he continued. The only pedagogy that existed was the pedagogy of the home. Concerning violence in the media and on the Internet, while UNESCO felt that freedom of expression had to be without obstacles, it felt that warnings were necessary in some situations.

Turning to the financing of education, he said that in many political systems education was decentralized, and it was not only the federal government which contributed to its financing. There were various ways of providing for education from the national and State levels. The appeal for the 20/20 initiative had been made because contributions were needed for capacity-building in different countries. He had wanted to see an increase in ODA, as well as more investment in education at all levels.

With regard to the use of education for the promotion of peace, tolerance and human rights, he said that UNESCO had made use of the texts of other countries and published a compendium of best practices from around the world. It had also prepared handbooks for teachers and students on education for democracy, human rights and peace. He agreed with the need to diversify education, especially after the primary stage. Also, regarding education for the work of illiterates, he cited an example from Haiti. In that country, UNESCO had been working in the local language and using audio-visual aides, so that a given level of literacy was not needed to do a certain job.

Responding to questions raised on the participation of civil society, Ms. BELLAMY said that it was important that civil society be involved in the process of education -- parents, teacher, NGOs, media and the private sector. Educated people meant an educated work force, and there was, therefore, a stake in it for the private sector to ensure good quality education. Secondly, the issue was not just access to education, but also the quality of education. That was what made the participation of all those civil society actors important. Education was, therefore, not just the prerogative of governments, but the responsibility of all.

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Addressing a question on education for girls and boys, she said the Convention on the Rights of the Child included all children. There were, however, different challenges for different countries. One sixth of all humanity would enter the next millennium illiterate. However, two thirds of that figure would be girls and women. The challenge of even getting the young child into the educational setting was, therefore, key. The issue of quality of education was not only a matter of access, but of children staying in school, since the drop-out rate all over the world was increasing.

Turning to a question raised on the difference between education and the right to education, she said it was simply being able to recognize that the right to education was the right of all children. There had to be special emphasis placed on those who were the most difficult to reach such as the poorest. That was the real challenge. It was not enough being satisfied that the initial approach was made to most children -- all children must be included, she emphasized.

With regard to the issue of drop-outs, Ms. Bellamy said that it was not enough to focus on that area, but rather what was needed was the acknowledgement in the first place of the challenge of children beginning school. There were many reasons which contributed to that challenge, including traditional practices and culture. The challenges became more interesting when dealing with adolescents, who did not find themselves on the political agenda, in the way that young children did. Also, the issue was not boys versus girls, but rather education for all children. In different countries, the use of distance education, community centres and NGOs had been useful in addressing the high drop-out rate of boys. Also, in a number of places, male teachers and male role models were important for keeping boys in school. She added that, in the area of non-formal education, vocational education had to be related to what employment might actually exist.

Why children were being prevented from attending school and the underlying reasons for the lack of enrolment were issues UNESCO was trying to address, Mr. MAYOR said. That they were needed at home and the miserable social conditions in which they lived were among the reasons found. Various programmes, such as personal tutorials, had been able to substantively reduce the number of children not going to school. Poverty reduction was crucial in that regard since it was one of the reasons for the lack of education. There was also a vicious cycle between lack of education and poverty.

He said that ODA had been a way to promote sustainable development, and its level had been declining over the years instead of increasing. Also, in the context of education, it was important to respect diversity while, at the same time, uniting around certain universal values. Lastly, he said that the partnership for all the various efforts was much wider than that of UNICEF and UNESCO, and included many partners outside the United Nations system. Also, everything that was being said could only take place within a democracy.

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