UNSIA Newsletter Issue 1, December 1997
Basic Education for all African Children
The objective of the Special Initiative on Africa in the education sector is to ensure access to basic education for all African children within the next ten years (1997-2006). Under the joint leadership of the World Bank and UNESCO, the SIA has demonstrated substantial progress in this sector.
African Ministers of Education, acting within the Association for Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), have endorsed the Initiative’s focus on primary education and sector-wide reforms.
Following a series of consultations between the two lead agencies, the sector investment programme (SIP) has been agreed upon as the preferred operational modality under the Initiative. The magnitude and nature of assistance will depend on the readiness of the country to implement sector-wide reform and investment. Countries where sector investment programmes are underway or in preparation include Guinea, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, and Senegal.
Various approaches have successfully been used for government/donor consultation on the country sector investment programmes. We highlight below the approaches taken in Ethiopia and Mozambique for possible replications in other countries.
In Ethiopia, the government prepared education sector programme was presented and discussed at the December 1996 Ethiopia Consultative Group (CG) Meeting. The Ethiopia team at the CG was headed by H.E. Ato Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister. The CG meeting was followed by a World Bank led SIP appraisal mission (February 1997) in which several UN agencies participated, and by a Government-led donor pledging workshop (March 1997) where donors pledged financial support to explicit components of the SIP.
The Mozambique Education Sector Strategy was discussed at a High-Level Meeting convened by UNESCO (July 1997, Paris). Donors commended the Government’s commitment to make accelerated progress toward universal primary education within the coming ten years.