Innovative Institutional Arrangement : The example of the UNESCO South-South Cooperation Programme/ Fund for Education

1. Innovative Institutional Arrangement:The example of the UNESCO South-South Cooperation Programme/ Fund for Education

2. Background • UNESCO’s innovative institutional arrangement to actively promote education through South-South and North-South-South Cooperation • South-South Cooperation Programme/Fund established in 2007 by UNESCO Executive Board • Result of sustained effort by G77 and China to bring the issue of south-south cooperation to the attention of Member States • Fund fully operational since January 2008 following establishment of governance and coordinating mechanism through a Steering Committee, and nomination of a Chair working closely with the UNESCO Education Sector

3. What is ‘innovative’ about the Fund? • This Fund is unique amongst the various South-South Funds managed by multilateral organisations, in that it is dedicated exclusively to supporting projects in the field of education • Fund established at the initiative of countries of the South – the G77 & China - with funding pooled so far only from developing countries • Projects selected on the basis of regional priorities, through a democratic participatory process, involving G-77 & China Regional Groups and UNESCO’s regional offices • The Fund promotes the Education for All and Millennium Development Goals

4. Pilot Projects currently implemented by the Fund • Adult Literacy and Non-Formal Education (NFE) – Arab States • ICT in Education Teacher Training –Asia-Pacific Region • Mother-tongue based multilingual education - Africa • Promoting disaster preparedness in schools – Latin America & Caribbean

5. Brief presentation of regional pilot projects (1) The Arab States project focuses on Adult literacy and Non-Formal education (NFE) - it has 3 main objectives: • To review current practices; identify gaps; and share existing good practices in the region; • To develop robust systems for monitoring adult literacy and NFE to cater to the information needs of major agents involved in NFE and literacy activities in the Arab region • To strengthen the capacity of literacy and NFE planners and managers in the area of education management information systems (NFE-MIS), monitoring and evaluation

6. Brief presentation of regional pilot projects (2) • The Africa region project on mother-tongue based multilingual education seeks to identify best practices in terms of teaching approaches, including innovative use of teaching and learning materials, that can be replicated/adapted in other countries with similar challenges, to improve learning outcomes • This project responds to an issue of major concern in Africa. In many countries, school children are struggling with a foreign language of instruction, inherited from the colonial period, which is contributing to low levels of achievement, and poor quality of education in general, and more specifically among the most vulnerable groups. • Sharing of best practices is a concrete step in sensitizing policy-makers about ways to overcome current hurdles and improving the situation of languages in education

7. Brief presentation of regional pilot projects (3) • Thetheme of the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Project - Promoting disaster preparedness in schools - is an issue which concerns all parts of the world, especially in the face of climate change and global warming • Through this project, UNESCO regional office for LAC is working with the network of UNESCO Associated Schools, in view of equipping school children with skills and knowledge to enable them to take an active role in community protection and environmental stewardship • Within the project, teaching/learning tools are developed and shared, and best practices made available through an online database

8. Brief presentation of regional pilot projects (4) • The Asia-Pacific project on ICT in Education teacher training builds on the vast experience of the UNESCO Regional Asia-Pacific office in the area of ICT in Education • It seeks to strengthen a network of Teacher Training Institutions in the region by developing their capacities in training teachers to use ICT effectively. • Within the project, an online platform has been established and teacher training materials made available both electronically and on CD-ROMs • Currently the project team is producing an online version of the e-learning materials to facilitate wider access and learning processes

9. Challenges & Way forward • The UNESCO South-South Cooperation Programme/Fund in Education has so far benefited only from support of developing countries • The pilot projects initiated with seed money from developing countries have great potential to be expanded, but they require further funding from new partners, especially partners of the North • There has been some reticence by development partners to contribute to the Fund although the governance mechanism including a Steering Committee are in place and the Fund is fully operational

10. Challenges & Way forward (ctd) • Without due attention paid to areas such as literacy/adult learning, Non-Formal Education, teacher education, which are of vital importance for many E-9 countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Mexico and Nigeria), the EFA and MDG Goals will not be attained in many of these highly populated countries • Maintaining and increasing the level of investment in Education, especially in the countries of the South, is key to economic development and global stability. • Effective and innovative partnerships are the way forward.

11. How to support the Fund To support the Fund, please contact: Focal Point for South-South Cooperation Programme/ Fund for Education UNESCO Education Sector Email: j.conhye-soobrayen@unesco.org 11