UNITED NATIONS GIRLS EDUCATION INITIATIVE

February 2007 - Nordic donors are meeting with national delegations and UNESCO to review education initiatives in 11 countries in support of Education for All (EFA), and to discuss future collaboration.

The five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) donate an average of US$5 million annually to UNESCO teacher-training and literacy projects, under the pioneering Capacity-building for EFA programme.

The 11 country initiatives were selected for funding through a bidding process. Among 23 proposals submitted, the eleven best were chosen, in Angola, Bangladesh, Egypt, Guinea, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Vietnam.

Beneficiaries are closely involved in decision-making as 98 per cent of the Programme funds are decentralized.

Almost all of the participating countries are involved in key UNESCO programmes: the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) or the Teacher Training initiative in sub-Saharan Africa (TTISSA). The same countries have been chosen to pilot the UNESCO National Education Support Strategies (UNESS).

A pioneering, demand-driven “UNESCO family approach” is another innovation of the Programme, which was launched in 2003. This approach involves close collaboration between UNESCO headquarters, regional bureaux and Institutes to provide more targeted services to countries. The Nordic donors and UNESCO will also draw up a new co-operation agreement during the meeting.

Contact: s.osttveit@unesco.org