Bali Youth Multistakeholder Meeting: 25th March 2013

Putting Youth at the Heart of Development

More than half of the population today is under 25 years old. The successes or failures of the post-2015 framework will be driven by young people and it is today’s young people who will bear most responsibility for the post-2015 agenda. This communiqué presents the outcomes of the BaliYouth Multi-stakeholder Meeting of 25th March 2013, which brings together nearly 100 young people working in civil society organisations from 26  countries around the world.

Young people have recently been recognised as key stakeholders in global conversations on post-2015, but more work is required to ensure that we are consistently given the space to meaningfully contribute to the decision-making process. Given that the goals targeted for 2015 are not likely to be fully achieved, it becomes even more imperative to engage young people from diverse groups. Why? Because we bring fresh and  innovative perspectives, we engage in different ways in the process, we are best positioned to identify youth priorities and because we make up the largest proportion of the world´s population today. Young people can carry forward the banner of the new development agenda with unique insights.

We have been involved in the process from the very beginning: through the thematic consultations, national dialogues, campaigns and also through participating in High Level Panel (HLP) meetings. In London, we said that poverty cannot be eradicated without the meaningful involvement of young people. In Liberia we urged panel members to put youth at the centre of economic transformation and social equity. Now, here in Bali we are calling on all stakeholders to ensure that partnerships with young people are at the heart of the whole post- 2015 process, which must include the active engagement of young people on planning, implementation and monitoring.

Youth perspectives on global partnerships 

We believe that strong global partnerships are crucial for the future of international development. Furthermore, young people can play a key role in facilitating coordination within and between states,and non-state actors such as the UN, Civil Society Organisations, the private sector, academia and the media. Fundamental principles of strong global partnerships must include:

• Clearly defined roles and responsibilities, including a policy, structure and plan for ongoing and future meaningful youth engagement at all levels of global partnerships.

• Youth empowerment for active and meaningful engagement with all relevant partners

• Commitment to transparency, sustainability, inclusiveness and redistributive justice.

• A clear mechanism for sharing best practice and ensuring ongoing multisectoral dialogue.

• Cross-cutting commitment to human rights and equality, with full recognition of diversity in identity, needs and wants.

Based on our experience, we believe that a multi-stakeholder approach to global partnerships will strengthen the post-2015 international development framework. We advocate for youth constituents to be integrated as a  key stakeholder group.

Means of implementation: What does this mean? 

The post-2015 development agenda must be implemented in a transparent, accountable and participatory way.  This will only succeed if young people, including those of us from the global south and the most marginalised groups of young people, can play an active role in the design, planning, implementation and monitoring & evaluation of the new framework. Young people’s ability to participate relies on access to information, resources and technical skills. Therefore capacity-building and reciprocal transfer of knowledge are both vital in creating an enabling environment for meaningful youth participation. Nations and stakeholders must make a specific commitment to provide sufficient, innovative and sustainable funding for youth-led and youth-serving programmes and organisations to ensure success in all post-2015 development priorities.

Young people as monitors for development and accountability 

We believe that youth participation must be a guiding principle in developing indicators and monitoring
programmes for accountability. Young people are effective monitors in development, playing an important role in designing tools for data collection and analysis. Technological advancements since the design of the MDGs provide great potential for improving and increasing the channels through which monitoring data can be gathered and shared. Access to information and the ability to connect and mobilise effectively is one of the strongest characteristics of youth. Not only do we believe that this should be a priority for the post-2015 agenda, but, we are also confident that it will be one of the strongest enablers for development and transparency. In a strong monitoring framework, development priorities will drive the design of clear, measureable and realistic indicators, and each thematic goal will have youth-specific indicators.Quantitative data should be disaggregated and analysed by sex and ageto reflect the reality for all vulnerable groups, and should be supported by  qualitative data where needed.

7 themes for post-2015

Young people want to see universal access to quality, relevant education that extends beyond primary schooling,and which integrates life skills, vocational training, and values informal education methods. We are also keen to contribute to the design and delivery of curricula and ask for more of a focus on comprehensive sexuality education, and education for sustainable development.There is a clear call for universal access to affordable, quality healthcare and youth-friendly services that are accessible and particularly sensitive to young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, especially those living with HIV. Young people want to be supported to make informed and consenting decisions about their health and their bodies. We’d like to reaffirm MDG 5b to further include young women and girls who face unique barriers to information and services due to harmful gender norms and patriarchy. On governance, young people are calling for firm commitments to justice, transparency, integrity and inclusive representation. Young people demand employment and access to economic opportunities that encompass fair wages, possibilities for funding and mentorship, equal opportunities, job and social security that offer chances for career development and training. Young people want to see an explicit commitment to gender equality and equity, and for sexual and reproductive health rightsto be mainstreamed throughout all priority areas. Respect for young people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities is crucial. We also want to see the elimination of sexual and gender-based violence, especially for young women, girls and sexual minorities. Inequality and discrimination must be eliminated through a human rights based to approach to development.

Young people believe that environmental sustainability must be linked to social, economic and political agendas. Within this, we want to beengaged in efforts to mitigate climate change, environmental degradation and scarcity of resources and we want to see a larger focus on the creation of green jobs. We demand that governments demonstrate the political will to establish a strong framework to tackle environmental challenges.

After Bali

The HLP outreach process should continue toincorporate the voices of youth by including issues they haveraised during nationalconsultations and at other fora. Finally, young people should be involved in writing the HLP’s recommendations to the UN General Assembly. Young people in all our diversity must occupy a meaningful space in our new development agenda. We refuse to be an afterthought.It is only with our voice and involvement that the post-2015 agenda will be a success.

Vox Pop: What are the three most important skills a child should learn?

http://www.unescobkk.org/news/article/vox-pop-what-are-the-three-most-important-skills-a-child-should-learn/

UNESCO Bangkok Director, Gwang-Jo Kim, said in his recent interview: “One of the greatest challenges for education systems today is keeping pace with a changing world of work and equipping youth with the skills they will need in an increasingly knowledge-based economy.
“[This] calls for creative and inventive thinking, entrepreneurial spirit, the ability to generate new ideas, adapt to new realities and maintain a sense of curiosity throughout learning,” he said.

UNESCO commissioned 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, which focuses specifically on the issue, noting that the challenge of ensuring all young people have the opportunity to acquire the skills they need has sharpened acutely since the year 2000.

But what skills are the most important? What skills should we all be learning today?

Participants at a recent Asia-Pacific Regional Thematic Consultation on Education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda shared their views on what are the three most important skills young people should learn.

Urvashi Sahni, Study Hall Education Foundation, India

“Children should be thinking critically about who they are and how they relate to their world around them, in a social and political perspective with a focus on peace, equity and sustainable development. They must be learning how to be literate and numerate, be problem solvers and be resilient.”

Sikander Sabeer, National Youth Movement for UN Post-2015 Development, Sri Lanka

“Firstly, they need to learn about culture – culture is a kind of glue, it keeps us together. It’s like tea with sugar – it creates flavour and the colour we need. Secondly, values and respect. Do we respect our parents and elders enough? Are the gaps here increasing? We need to keep in mind that education comes from home – our families are the first “teachers” in our lives. They are crucial to us so respect and values are important. Thirdly, history – we should know our past so we can improve our future.”

Vutha Lay, NGO Education Partnership, Cambodia

“They need soft skills to be good citizens, vocational skills for employment and basic education to equip them with knowledge.”

Govind Singh, Council of Pacific Education, Fiji

“For a child to work across a huge spectrum of life, they will need life skills, core values and the opportunity to unlock the treasure within.”

Sri Lanka Youth Promotes MY WORD 2015

By Jayathma Wickramanayake 

The United Nations Millennium Campaign, along with many partners within the United Nations, member states as well as Civil Society Stakeholders are now looking at prospects for the Post-2015 agenda. As we look towards the year 2015, we will make a final push to achieve the MDGs, seriously review the experience had with development goals since 2000 and strive to help create a more inclusive and holistic set of goals post-2015. Together we can create the momentum to achieve the MDGs and create renewed energy for the future needs of people and planet. UNMC is helping to lead on a platform that allows citizens to contribute their voice to a new development agenda.


One such initiative is MY World, a global survey for citizens led by the United Nations and partners. It aims to capture people's voices, priorities and views, so that global leaders can be informed as they begin the process of defining the new development agenda for the world. Through creative online and offline methods, MY World asks individuals which six of sixteen possible issues they think would make the most difference to their lives. The sixteen issues have been built up from the priorities expressed by poor people in existing research and polling exercises and they cover the existing Millennium Development Goals, plus issues of sustainability, security, governance and transparency. From now until 2015, they want as many people in as many countries as possible to be involved with MY World: citizens of all ages, genders and backgrounds, and particularly the world’s poor and marginalized communities.


Results will firstly be submitted to the Secretary General´s High Level Panel for Post-2015 before their meetings in Monrovia, Bali and New York and will feed into their final report and recommendations for a new development framework in May 2013. After which, MY World will continue gathering people´s voices up to 2015 and results will be shared with the Secretary General and global leaders as they prepare the next development agenda in the run up to 2015.


The MY World global survey was front and centre of Sri Lanka Youth, National Youth Services Council’s promotional activities on the International Women’s Day. This event was organized by the Mothers and Daughters Organization of Sri Lanka in collaboration with the UNFPA Gender Forum and Foundation for Innovative Social Development. With almost 500 attendees, this year’s IWD proved a perfect opportunity to promote the MY World global survey as a path to stress for Women’s issues such as Better Healthcare, Protection against crime and violence, Political Freedom, Equality between Men and Women and etc.


To help gather support for the MY World global survey, a team of youth volunteers with offline survey papers together with a large colourful banner, factsheets, stickers and even posters who proved very popular among the crowds were present at the International Women’s Day celebrations. The group of volunteers were also on hand to encourage people to vote and have their voice heard.


IWD provided a great opportunity for the My world team of the National Youth Services Council to interact with the community and raise awareness about the My world 2015 campaign and United Nations Global Development Agenda. Below are some the photographs of the event.

Youth Envoy Calls for Including Youth in Post-2015 Agenda

The UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi, has declared that youth input and participation are critical in defining the post-2015 agenda. He elaborated that the post-2015 agenda offers an opportunity “where young people can participate in setting the agenda, and then own this agenda by being equal partners in its implementation and evaluation,” and advocated for a youth-friendly development agenda.

Alhendawi underscored the need for policymakers to address education and unemployment. He said approximately 425 million jobs will need to be created over the next 15 years to meet the needs of youth around the world.

Alhendawi said he intended to act as a messenger between youth and the UN during his mandate while working with UN agencies to enhance their programs on youth. He also said he hoped to create mechanisms to facilitate youth participation at national, regional and international levels and to promote the inclusion of women and girls in the development process. This statement was Alhendawi’s first since assuming his post.

OUTCOMES AND RECOMMENDATIONS - Education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda Regional Thematic Consultation

Education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda

Regional Thematic Consultation in the Asia-Pacific

28 February and 1 March 2013, Bangkok, Thailand

OUTCOMES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

BACKGROUND

This regional thematic consultation on education in the post-2015 development agenda (referred to as “the Consultation” thereafter), held on 28th February – 1st March 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand, was co-organized by UNESCO Bangkok (Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education), the UNICEF Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific (EAPRO), and the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) in partnership with civil society organizations. It brought together over 120 stakeholders from the Asia-Pacific region, including representatives from governments, non-governmental organizations (international, regional, national and local), universities and academia, teachers’ unions, disabled peoples’ organizations, and youth organizations.

This Consultation was convened to develop a collective voice from the region regarding education priorities for a post-2015 development agenda and, as an immediate result, to contribute to the debate of the global thematic consultation on education taking place in Dakar, Senegal in March 2013. The outcomes and recommendations of the Consultation will also feed into further discussions within the UN towards developing the possible contours of the post-2015 development agenda.

CONTEXT

The importance of the regional inputs from the Asia-Pacific region is to be seen against the backdrop of its great diversity and the large size of its population. These two aspects alone illustrate the development challenges and opportunities this region represents.

The Asia-Pacific is also characterized by rapid and dynamic economic growth, a growing number of middle income countries, innovation and technological advances. However, these overall economic trends belie vast disparities between and within countries and economic growth has not necessarily resulted in equivalent increases in living standards in all countries. Trends show that these gaps are widening, rather than narrowing, and are compounded by a diversity of challenges such as demographic change with huge youth bulges in some contexts and a rapidly aging population in others, increased labour mobility and migration, environmental degradation and natural disasters and continuing presence of conflicts in parts of the region.
As concerns education, remarkable progress has been made in improving access across all levels of education. However, there are persistent disparities among and within countries including access to schooling, equity and quality of education and levels of learning achievement. In particular, considerable progress has been made to improve youth and adult literacy, but is still inadequate to meet needs in Asia-Pacific countries. Indeed, the Asia-Pacific contains the largest number of illiterate adults of any region in the world. Concomitantly, most countries have now also become increasingly concerned with improving the quality of education, increasing access to post-basic education and to skills development.

VISION AND PRINCIPLES

The Consultation reaffirmed that education is a basic human right for every person, a public good for all societies, an essential condition for human fulfilment, sustainable development, peace and democracy, and an important vehicle for global citizenship.

The Consultation recognized that the Education for All (EFA) goals and the education-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are yet to be achieved in many countries. At the same time, the depth and scope of how education is linked to a post-2015 development agenda need to go beyond current goals. In this view, the emphasis of education policy and reform needs to go beyond the provision of academic knowledge and skills often confined to economic growth, to promote education’s central role in forging more just, peaceful, democratic, tolerant, resilient, transformative and inclusive societies and in providing people with the understanding, competencies and values they need to resolve many challenges that our societies and economies are facing.

The Consultation acknowledged the outcomes of the two Asia-Pacific regional high-level expert meetings on the future of education and learning in May and November 2012 respectively which recommended a new, fresh and comprehensive look at education, with learning restored as the core concern in all aspects of education. It also acknowledged the outcomes of the “13th Regional Meeting of National EFA Coordinators: The Big Push” held on 26-27 February 2013 and other research findings which testify to the need to rethink and reorient education towards a stronger emphasis on quality learning for all.
The Consultation acknowledged that many changes have occurred in the “state of the world” since the advent of both the EFA goals and the MDGs – each with a clear impact for education. In the Asia-Pacific region, the main considerations are its rapid socio-economic development, widening disparities, demographic changes and environmental challenges as detailed above. These changes require that sustainable development, broadly defined to cover social, economic, environmental, and cultural issues, should be upheld more than ever as a key principle in promoting inclusive and equitable societies in the future.
The Consultation highlighted that the root causes of disparities, not only in terms of access to quality education but also of learning outcomes, should be seriously addressed and need to feature prominently across all education-related goals, targets and indicators in the future development agenda. The eventual aim is to eradicate all forms of exclusion, marginalization and discrimination in education, based on differences in age, gender, wealth, ethnicity, caste, nationality, religion, language, displacement, geographical location, disability, culture, citizenship status, socio-economic background and health conditions. In this view, it was recommended that disparity reduction targets should be included in any post-2015 development agenda.
The Consultation asserted the obligation of governments to ensure equitable learning opportunities for all, at least at the basic education level, and underlined the importance of genuine partnerships - between government and various stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, parents, school administrators, teachers, children, young people, organizations representing marginalized groups including disabled people and the wider community - around national education policies and priorities, with a clear definition and understanding of respective roles and responsibilities.

The Consultation underscored the need for clear, concise and measurable targets to ensure and monitor the achievement of equitable access to education, the quality of learning, values underlying global citizenship, skills needed for life and work, as well as progress in governance, financing and partnerships.
The Consultation emphasized that quality learning for all should be the unifying umbrella theme for national education policy reforms and the future global development agenda. Learning is a continuous process throughout all levels of education, from early childhood care and education to higher education to vocational training, and is acquired through various delivery modes, from a lifelong and “life-wide” learning perspective. In this view, lifelong learning should be considered a key, guiding principle in education.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In view of the above, the Consultation made the following recommendations:

A. Equitable and Inclusive Access to and Participation in Learning

1. Equitable and inclusive access to quality learning should be ensured for all (children, youth and adults), at all levels of education according to country contexts and priorities. It is the obligation of governments to provide at least free and compulsory basic education for all. Attention should be paid to reaching gender equality in education and to mainstream children with special needs. Policies guaranteeing educational provision need to begin with early childhood care and education and go beyond primary schooling. Early childhood care and education plays a crucial role in building strong foundations for learning. Primary education provides the foundational skills for further learning such as literacy and numeracy. Post-primary education, at the crossroads of learning and life, is increasingly a minimum requirement for people’s empowerment for a decent life and work. Higher education is crucial not only for the formation of specialised skills and capacities required for knowledge economies, research and innovation, but also for the development of the communities in which they serve.

2. Those who missed formal schooling and lack foundational skills such as basic literacy and numeracy should be given special attention in the post-2015 development agenda. While there should be a strong effort to bring these groups back to school, alternative pathways to quality learning should be supported and recognized. Multiple learning pathways and multiple entry points and re-entry points at all ages and at all educational levels should be provided.

3. Building learning cities and communities is a dream within reach. Education reforms should aim to transform schools into learning hubs. This requires the education sector to engage and work with other sectors.

4. Education systems should reflect and welcome the diversity of the social fabric and aim to achieve social cohesion by doing so. Therefore, education systems should be able to cater to multiple needs and circumstances by promoting flexibility and respect for diversity so as to achieve minimum, essential core standards of quality and achievement and a maximum level of inclusiveness.

B. Quality of Learning

1. Key factors of quality learning are effectiveness and relevance, and quality learning must be an area of key emphasis in education beyond 2015.

2. Quality teachers are central to quality learning, right from the early childhood stage and onwards. Quality learning requires a professional, committed teaching force which is able to respond to diverse learning needs and is supported by effective and safe learning environments and competent school leadership and is underpinned by pioneering findings of scientific research on learning. Safe and inclusive learning environments are of particular importance for girls and marginalized groups, including the disabled. Appropriate systems and policies are needed concerning teacher pre- and in-service training, recruitment, certification, deployment, professional development, career advancement, accountability, remuneration, as well as their working environment and conditions of service.

3. Attention should also be paid to appropriate curricula and teaching/learning processes which enable the achievement of meaningful and relevant learning outcomes including ‘non-cognitive’1 skills and competencies.

4. The potential and innovative use of new technologies by teachers and students to support lifelong and “life-wide” learning should also be fully tapped, including improving learning of low performers.

5. The future education agenda should encourage a systems approach to quality learning, which involves reasoned consideration of all building blocks, not merely selected ones, and of learning in education policy reforms. The principle question in this endeavour is: “What do students deserve as a learning experience and what subjects should be taught to develop all-round personalities?” Improved learning requires a more holistic attention to sustainable development, cultural diversity, human rights education, gender equality, peace education, the use of the mother tongue in education, the learning of other languages including sign language, international languages, and traditional knowledge.

6. It also requires a proper participatory monitoring and assessment system that evaluates learning processes and outcomes. This includes current formative and summative forms of learning assessment. Ways to measure not only academic performance but also other outcomes such as critical thinking, innovation, flexibility cooperation, need to be developed. Increasingly, assessment should be for learning, not just of learning.

C. Global Citizenship, Skills and Competencies for Life and Work

1. Responsible and global citizenship should become an important theme for education in the post-2015 development agenda. Education systems should enable all children, young people and adults to participate actively and responsibly in their communities and in the increasingly interconnected and globalizing world. Values and attitudes such as embracing diversity, non-discrimination, empathy, communication, conflict resolution, and environmental awareness are vital aspects of responsible and global citizenship.

2. The future increasingly requires that people acquire those skills and competencies required to be more creative and innovative, able to adapt to and assimilate change and able to continue learning. Those ‘non-cognitive’ skills are rarely measured by current assessments and examinations. Broader life skills should also be promoted, which in general include psycho-social skills, income-generation skills, entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods, and healthy behaviours and skills to prevent unwanted pregnancies and HIV. There is also an increasing need for traditional knowledge and skills.

3. The need for people (youth, adults, and especially women and persons with disabilities) to acquire relevant technical and vocational skills combined with necessary ‘non-cognitive’ skills for a decent life and work in a rapidly changing world should be fully reflected in the post-2015 development agenda.

1 There is an ongoing debate around the term ‘non-cognitive skills’. Alternative terms have been suggested, including ‘21st century skills’, ‘non-academic skills’, ‘higher-order skills’, ‘transversal skills’ and ‘transferable skills’. In the absence of an agreement on a different term, ‘non-cognitive skills’ will be used in this document to refer to skills that are non-academic and include communication skills, inter-personal skills, creative thinking, entrepreneurship and global/responsible citizenship skills.

4. Education systems should be revisited and reoriented to facilitate pathways between different education streams and the transition from school to work, and even from work to school, while allowing for the acquisition of an appropriate mix of generic and vocational skills.

D. Governance, Financing and Partnership/Cooperation

1. Governance is a cross-cutting theme for education and development beyond 2015. Responsible and participatory governance is required to strengthen transparent and accountable education systems; to reduce and eventually eliminate corruption, malpractice, and inequalities in access to quality learning; and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of policy implementation.

2. Accountability frameworks need to be put in place at all levels, from school to the national level. Structured spaces for citizen participation, including that of youth, need to be created for planning, and monitoring in the education system as means for enhanced systemic transparency and accountability. Mechanisms for independent verification of government data and grievance redress mechanisms are critical.

3. The primary obligation to deliver education by governments is non-negotiable. However, partnerships with all stakeholders, including private foundations and communities are critical, and they will be most effective if their missions and work priorities are aligned with and contribute to government priorities.

4. Legal arrangements and ethical standards should be established to strengthen the commitments of governments and their implementation should be actualized in terms of allocating appropriate budget for education. To this end, the post-2015 development agenda should indicate a fixed percentage of fiscal revenue as a benchmark for governments to achieve. Clear and progressive targets for domestic investment in education, including early childhood care and education programmes, technical vocational education and training (TVET) and non-formal education, to meet the international benchmarks of 6 per cent of GNP should be set and its full utilisation ensured, while the development partners will endeavour to respect their previous commitment to deliver on the promise of 0.7 per cent of the GNP for official development aid (ODA). Innovative sources of financing which support the government provision of education should be sought. In addition, appropriate systemic reforms to ensure financial transparency and earmarked allocations for marginalized communities should be promoted.

5. Education reform and strategies in each country should be reflective of national and local contexts, aiming to reach out to all people, especially the disadvantaged. In this light, a sustained equitable share of the education budget should be allocated to the alternative education pathways catering to them. Any alternative provision of education should not compromise the quality of learning.

6. Partnerships should include all stakeholders who can contribute to the common goal of education for all. While partnerships for education are important, it is the primary obligation of governments to provide education as a basic right. Stronger regulatory frameworks for the private sector need to be put in place where private players are currently significant providers.

7. Meaningful participation of learners, communities, and civil society in education governance should go beyond intermittent consultation, and should be institutionalised in formal mechanisms from the national level down to the school level.

E. Possible scenarios and options on how to best articulate and position education in a post-2015 development agenda

1. Education should feature prominently in the post-2015 development agenda given its direct relevance to the achievement of all the other development goals.

2. There should be an education-specific agenda which should be in convergence with all education goals in the post-2015 development agenda.

3. The post-2015 development agenda on education should be guided by an overall vision and underlying principles of equity, human rights and importantly sustainable development. Quality learning for all should be an overarching, universally relevant goal, with possibility of flexible adaptation in terms of target setting at national and local levels. In order to ensure that education goals contribute to narrowing disparities within a country, it is crucial to set targets for – and systematically monitor - disparity reduction.

4. A sector-wide and holistic approach should be taken to develop education in the post-2015 education framework.

5. Education should be linked to all other development challenges, such as education and governance, education and economic/industrial development, education and innovation, and education and culture.

6. Country situations will change and evolve, and the post-2015 development framework needs to be flexible enough to adapt to the changes, including the possible advent of conflict or natural disaster.

7. The goal for education in the post-2015 development agenda could embrace the key aspects encapsulated in the discussions of the Consultation and stated as follows: ‘To guarantee equitable opportunities for all to participate in transformative quality learning at all levels aiming to provide the knowledge, skills, competencies and values vital to achieve inclusive and sustainable development’.

Day- 02 Education Post-2015: Asia-Pacific Unites

On the second day of the UNICEF/UNESCO consultations, participants intensely worked on the draft position paper for the global thematic consultations on Educations, due to take place in Senegal.   In the morning hours participants presented the outcome document of group work on below four themes,

Theme 1: Equitable Access to and Participation in Education
Theme 2: Quality of Learning and Learning Outcomes
Theme 3: Global Citizenship, Skills and Competencies for Life and Work
Theme 4: Governance, Financing and Partnership/Cooperation

Participants emphasized on below questions for each topic followed by an open forum.

What are the main obstacles?, What are the building blocks and strengths?, What specific actions should be taken?, What specific measure should be taken?,  Drawing on the above, what are the priority areas in above specific themes which should be included in a post-2015 development agenda?

After the lunch break participants worked on the final draft of the outcome document and adopted by 120 stakeholders from the Asia-Pacific region, including representatives from governments, non-governmental organizations (international, regional, national and local), universities and academia, teachers’ unions, disabled peoples’ organizations, and youth organizations on March 1, 2013 at the Bangkok City.

Presentation Slides of Sri Lankan Youth Representatives for UNICEF/UNESCO Consultations

It was a great pleasure to be a Youth Speaker for the UNICEF/UNESCO Asia Pacific thematic consultations on Education for Post 2015 development agenda. Mohamed Husni and I were able to present the outcome of the mini consultation took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka (as a power Point presentation for 5-7 minutes) to UN delegates and participants from Asia & Pacific region on the first day of the Regional Thematic consultation held in Bangkok.

As a Youth Speaker at the Asia Pacific Thematic Consultations on Education

It was a great pleasure to be a Youth Speaker for the UNICEF/UNESCO Asia Pacific thematic consultations on Education for Post 2015 development agenda. Mohamed Husni and I were able to present the outcome of the mini consultation took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka (as a power Point presentation for 5-7 minutes) to UN delegates and participants from Asia & Pacific region on the first day of the Regional Thematic consultation held in Bangkok. We also used the outcome of this mini consultation to contribute during the breakout sessions of the regional consultation. UNESCO Bangkok staff is really happy about the outcome of our mini consultation and how we conducted it and in general, participants found it very useful and interesting, to be honest, we got many positive feedback from almost all the participants presented at the consultation for our presentation which we did on the very first day- which is something we never expected - all credit goes to each & every participant of our mini consultation, rapporteurs and most importantly two great facilitators who did an amazing job by facilitating this consultation.

UNESCO has uploaded the power point presentation in their official website for Asia & Pacific Region (www.unescobkk.org). The outcome document of the Colombo mini consultation will be uploaded here: http://www.unescobkk.org/education/educationbeyond2015/regional-consultation-feb-2013/preparatory-consultations

World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) Celebrations 2013"

Day- 01 Education Post-2015: Asia-Pacific Unites

Youth, government representatives and civil society organizations from across the Asia-Pacific today debate the future of education in the post-2015 development era. It was a great pleasure to represent the Youth from the Asia Pacific region at the productive and important post MDG consultations.

The two-day regional thematic consultation (28 Feb-1 Mar 2013) hosted by UNESCO Bangkok, UNICEF Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific (EAPRO), and UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) is part of an international movement to review the Millennium Development Goals and strengthen global commitment toward human development and poverty reduction. The United Nations has helped to launch this international movement to foster broad-based, open and inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders to define the post-2015 development agenda. This involves global thematic consultations around 11 themes, one of which is education. 

This thematic consultation on education is co-led by UNESCO and UNICEF, which have set up a regional Task Team to help ensure that voices from the Asia-Pacific region are included in global discussions. For UNESCO Bangkok Director, Mr Gwang-Jo Kim, the meeting is of great importance.

“As 2015 nears, discussions on the post-2015 development agenda are intensifying across the globe. These discussions will lead us to a common vision for ‘The World We Want beyond 2015.’ In this context, our aim for the next two days is to develop recommendations for the future of education, particularly from an Asia-Pacific perspective,” Mr Kim said.

“Recommendations we together produce will feed directly into the Global Thematic Consultation on Education, scheduled for March 2013 in Dakar, Senegal. This makes the next two days extremely important,” he said. 

UNICEF ROSA Regional Education Advisor, Lieke Van De Wiel, also acknowledged the spirit in which the consultations took place and thanked participants for their active engagement.

“This consultation is a most important opportunity to present a regional perspective on the future of education, one which may carry forward into global level discussions on a global development agenda beyond 2015,” Ms Van De Wiel said.

Participants at the consultation are tasked with concrete objectives over the two days of discussions:

• Take stock of and exchange information on regional and national processes of consultation and dialogue on education in the post-2015 agenda;

• Identify areas of key importance for education and learning for the future for the region;

• Discuss how to best articulate and position education as a critical part of the post-2015 development agenda;

• Formulate recommendations on the way forward.

The outcomes and recommendations from this Asia-Pacific consultation will feed into the Global Thematic Consultation on Education, planned for March 2013 in Dakar, Senegal. They will also be reflected in the ESCAP Regional Post-2015 Report. Ultimately, it will feed into the global UN report on the post-2015 agenda.

Ahmad Alhendawi, newly appointed UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, on his new role

© UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) shakes the hand of the newly-appointed Envoy on Youth Ahmad Alhendawi at United Nations headquarters in New York.

NEW YORK, 22 February 2013 – On 15 February 2013, the newly appointed Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi, was sworn in at United Nations (UN) headquarters. A native of Jordan, the 29-year-old Alehndawi comes to this position with extensive experience working on youth issues at the local, regional and international level. On his second day in this new position, Mr. Alehndawi spoke with UNICEF’s podcast moderator Femi Oke about his role and the post-2015 development agenda.

AUDIO: Listen now

Youth to fully participate in formulating the post 2015 development agenda

The Secretary-General has identified “working with and for women and young people” as a major focus in his five-year action agenda. In this context and as the Envoy on Youth, Mr. Alhendawi will work to address the needs of young people all over the world. Mr. Alhendawi is very excited at the opportunity of working with young people in this capacity, making sure that they understand the UN, how to participate and influence its programs and vice versa. “I will be acting as a bridge for young people to have their voice heard at the UN system…this is a golden moment for development in general and for young people to influence the new development framework, ” he said.

Mr. Alhendawi explained that part of his work is to ensure that efficient and effective mechanisms are put in place to encourage youth participation in implementing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Mr. Alhendawi emphasised the importance of youth being full partners in implementing the MDGs and not just beneficiaries.

© UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) swears in the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth Ahmad Alhendawi at United Nations headquarters in New York.

He believes that having young people as true partners in designing UN programs at the country level will not only lead to better programs but will also put young people at the heart of the development agenda. “This is very important and this is very concrete, “ said Mr. Alhendawi adding that he will work to promote similar structures such as the inter-agency network on youth development where focal points from all the different agencies work together on youth issues. “I am looking with a great hope to partner with youth organizations and to have their voices here,” said Mr. Alhendawi.

Over the last few years, the world’s 1.2 billion adolescents have played a crucial role as agents of change, but the question remains on how well decision makers are listening to the voices of these youth.

For Mr. Alhendawi the success of any sound policy depends on its ability to include all segments of the population in its formulation and implementation. “We can’t ask people to own something if they are not part of developing it,” said Mr. Alhendawi. He added that in his new role, he will work to ensure that young people are fully participating in formulating the post 2015 development agenda. “If they are partners in setting the agenda then they would own it, [and] become more active in implementing this agenda.”

Mr. Alhendawi noted that very soon he will be able to share his plans in his new mandate as the Envoy on Youth with everyone.

Final Consultation meeting of the Post-2015 Thematic Consultation on Governance

The final meeting of the Post-2015 Thematic Consultation on Governance took place from 28 February to 1 March 2013 in Midrand, South Africa. The consultation, which was co-led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), aimed to build consensus and recommend how to integrate global, regional, national and sub-national governance and accountability with the intergovernmental process on the UN’s post-2015 development agenda.

During the meeting, participants discussed a variety of issues relating to governance and accountability, emphasizing, among other things, the need to: address the challenges of poverty and inequality; empower indigenous peoples; improve the accountability of UN agencies; empower women; promote democratic governance; improve citizens’ awareness of their right to hold their leaders accountable; increase public participation and involvement; and combat corruption. The outcomes of the meeting will feed into an overall report, which will be used to engage with the HLP, the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other key processes in preparation for the General Assembly’s Special Event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in September 2013 and beyond.

This report summarizes the plenary and panel discussions, and some of the roundtable sessions held during the final meeting.

The Summary of this meeting is now available

in PDF format at http://www.iisd.ca/download/pdf/sd/crsvol208num3e.pdf

and in HTML format at http://www.iisd.ca/post2015/governance/html/crsvol208num3e.html

The President of the Pan-African Parliament, Bethel Amadi, Nigeria, welcomed participants to the final meeting of the post-2015 Global Thematic Consultations on Governance.

Olav Kjørven, Assistant Secretary General, UN Development Programme; Graça Machel, the Secretary-General's High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda; and Zanele Mbeki, former First Lady, South Africa.

Participants raised issues concerning accountability and transparency.

How are you commemorating this important day?

Friday, 8 March 2013

How are you commemorating this important day?

International Women’s Day (IWD) offers an opportunity for those of us who are involved in abortion service delivery and advocacy to share our unique perspective on women’s need for—and right to—safe abortion care and how this contributes to women’s overall health and well-being. Young women account for almost half of all estimated unsafe abortion-related deaths. We encourage you to include girls and young women in your IWD events.

Thank you all for your dedication and commitment to improving women’s health and lives everywhere. Let’s make every day International Women’s Day!

International Women’s Day has been observed since the early 1900s, a time of great expansion, population growth, new ideologies and women’s activism. It is now celebrated annually on March 8, with thousands of global activities—ranging from political rallies and business conferences to theatrical performances, women’s craft markets and more. These events celebrate and inspire women and our achievements.

Some International Women’s Day links and highlights:

Ipas Central America Director Marta Maria Blandón describes her wish for women and girls in Central America. Watch the video. “Women do not deserve to be forced into motherhood by an act of violence.”

The United Nations will celebrate IWD with an event at UN headquarters in New York calling for an end to violence against women and girls. The event will be live webcast, starting at 10 a.m. EST.

For more information, to share your IWD news and events and to see what is being planned in countries around the world, visit the International Women’s Day website.

Please be sure to send your IWD event information and photographs to us at servicedeliverymatters@ipas.org, and we will share highlights with the list.

PREPARATORY CONSULTATION on "Education in the Post 2015 Development Agenda" Colombo, Sri Lanka

Overview of the Program

The preparatory mini consultation on "Education in the Post 2015 Development Agenda" was held on 20th of February 2013 at the United Nations Conference Room, UN Compound in Colombo, Sri Lanka as a project of "National youth movement for UN post 2015 development agenda"

There were participants from various backgrounds representing different Youth Organizations, Academia, Volunteers and Individuals within the education system. The consultation was organized by Mr. Mohamed Husni, Mr. Sikander Sabeer, and Mr. Sahan Hottatuwa. During the duration of the consultation, the participants discussed and debated various topics under the theme “Education in the Post 2015 development Agenda”. The participants were divided in to 2 main groups (Group A and Group B) and they discussed below topics.

I. General (Group A and Group B)

Key issues and challenges in education in your context

II. Priority areas for education

Group A

· Equitable Access to and Participation in Education

· Governance, Financing and Partnership/Cooperation

Group B

· Quality of Learning and Learning Outcomes

· Skills and Competencies for Life and Work

III. Recommendations for education in the post 2015 development agenda (Group A and Group B) 

The Introduction was conducted by Mr. Sikander Sabeer, where he explained the Post 2015 Development Agenda. Later this was followed by an introduction of the Preparatory Mini-Consultation and a clarification of the structure of the program conducted by Mr. Mohamed Husni. A special presentation on present Education System in Sri Lanka was highlighted by Mr. Sahan Hottatuwa.

The Sub-groups were facilitated by Mr. Natal Donnaloia, Programme Officer, United Nations Volunteers Sri Lanka and Mr. Mohamed Shibly, Education Specialist, UNICEF Sri Lanka.
After the group discussions, representatives from each group presented a summary of their discussions including key recommendations for Post 2015 Development Agenda. After which Mr. Mohamed Husni conducted a Q&A session followed by a vote of thanks.

Section 1 - General

Key Issues and challenges in education

In 1938 Sri Lankan Education Minister late Hon Dr. C W. W. Kanangara made Education in Sri Lanka Free, this became one of the most decisive decisions made in the History of the Country as it paved way for the social development of the country. Education in the country was accessible to all, regardless whether they were poor or rich, gender, religion, or race. Education is free till the tertiary level. Today the country boasts a Literacy rate of 91.2% which is high compared to the region.

But today’s education system has depreciated in its value due to much inefficiency caused by many stakeholders in the sector. The below are some of the key issues the current Education system is facing –

· Education as a percentage of the GDP has being decreasing over the past few years (Appendix 1)

· It is the same as with the Expenditure on Education as a part Government Expenditure. (Appendix 2)

· An alarming static is the opportunity for students to enter into State Universities, only 15% of Eligible candidates enroll into the state universities. (Appendix 3)

· As a result many students look for other opportunities, such as seeking higher education in foreign countries, where around USD 400 million is paid annually to foreign universities.

· 16.5% of government Schools has a student population less than 50, which faces the risk of closure. Most of these schools cater to the people in the rural areas(Appendix 4)

· Of the whole government Teacher population, only 38.5% are graduate teachers (Appendix 5)

· The Education system a lacks good governance structure and improper assessment policy. Often the system is bureaucratic and politicized, which further deteriorates the quality of the system.

· Inefficiency in Student assessment processes such exam paper marking in GCE A Level. The process takes time to release results, and there are inaccuracies in the results. Both of which frustrates students and parents.

· Lack of IT infrastructure









Key Areas of Emphasis for education in the future in light of past trends in you context
During the discussions, it was seen that different areas and aspects of the Education System needs to be addressed if the country wants to benefit from it.

Thus the participants proposed that the following needs to be addressed –

· Changes in the Secondary Education and Tertiary Education Sector, especially the content of the syllabi.

· Improving the efficiency of Exam Assessments process

· Changes in the Tertiary Education Sector including administrative changes.

· Promoting and improving Informal Education Sector

· Improving the Standard and Quality of Education

Section 2 - Priority areas for education

Topic: Equitable Access to and Participation in Education

This Topic discusses equitable access to participation in primary, secondary and tertiary education regardless of race, religion, color, languages, background and class. The education system in the country should revolve on the principles establish by Hon. Late Dr. C W W Kanangara. Today the Student Enrollment into the primary level of education stands at 91 %

Although the enrollment level at the primary is high, its drops at the secondary level and there’s a drastic drop at the tertiary level of Education. The quality of education is not consistent throughout the country. Some children may get the opportunity to study at a school with more resources, while many go to a school with fewer resources. Majority of the government Schools do not have a science stream at the GCE A/L class.

Thus the question arises whether there is equality in the Education System.

Thus the group recommends the following

· An Effective regulatory mechanism to hear out and address shortcomings and irregularities in accessibility to Education.

· It is not the total Government responsibility to ensure quality and efficiency of education in School, rather some of the responsibilities should be bared by all stakeholders such the alumni, parents, teachers, and so on. There should be Partial Government Involvement to ensure credibility and authority.

· The Government should look to create more opportunities in the tertiary sector for students to pursue their higher studies.

· The Government Should look into enriching the Education systems where more financial input in

Ø Infrastructure development to increase Student Capacity in universities

Ø Teacher training programs to increase the number of the graduate teachers in the Education Sector

Ø Schemes to help and establish small schools to cater students in the rural areas. These could be primary schools which has classes from Grade 01 – 05

Ø To empower more schools to have different streams, to create more opportunities for the students

Topic: Governance, Financing and Partnership/Cooperation

Adequate finances for Education sector as being a heated debate over the past year, many pressure groups in the country urge that the government should allocate more funds from the budget to finance the education sector. They state that Education should be 6% of the GDP. Currently Education is at 2% of the GDP while higher education is less than 0.5% of the GDP (Appex 1)

The question of the establishment of Private Education providers for the tertiary sector has being debated for more than a decade. Students who have no hope of entering into state sector universities look to be enrolled into already established local private universities or look into be enrolled into foreign universities, thus around 12,000 Sri Lankan students leave the country annually paying around USD 400 million a year to foreign universities. Sometime this is more than what the Government allocates from its annual budget for the Higher Education Sector.

But the above option is only available to the minority who has the financial capability, thus leaving a huge proportion of students with no hope of pursuing their higher education.

Thus with this in mind the group recommends the following –

§ Reducing extreme state government governance and extreme private governance.

§ Introducing competition among the private and public sector. Incentivize the schools and colleges in a practical and feasible manner based on performance, employment performance and quality of services provided and the manner it is implement so that they would self-upgrade themselves

§ Government should be encouraged to invest more on education, especially on secondary and tertiary sector of education so that their quality could be improved.

§ English and Information Technology education should be promoted quite extensively since its play a key role in the process of international education and professionalism

§ The tuition industry in Sri Lanka should be regulated and legalized. The tuition sector hinders the progress of education in the country. It affects all the stakeholders from teachers to the students.

§ The government should look to establish private-public sector relationships as both provide the country with benefits. This would help the public sector to standardize according to international standards which would enrich the outdated state universities.

§ The process of handling finances should be decentralized and the responsibility of it should be given to the provincial councils as they are more localized and know the issues the schools are facing in that region

§ A solution to the debate whether there should foreign private university establishments would be that; to provide an option (i.e. providing a voucher) for the students who has excelled at the exam assessments (G C E A Level) to enter into foreign private universities establishment with full/partial scholarships or get enrolled into the normal state sector universities.

Topic: Quality of Learning and Learning Outcome

The group defines key aspects of learning as-

· Gaining Knowledge

· Learning Skills

· Attitude

This is a continuous progression from childhood, by learning from experiences which can be Physical, Mental, Social, and Emotional which would satisfy the needs and wants through a process of active participation and apply them in life effectively and efficiently.

These are the key factors of good quality education; all three should work concurrently to ensure that the learning provided is efficient and effective. By doing a basic assessment of the current Education System, the group was able identify that Knowledge is provided adequately, but when it comes teaching different skills and attitudes the standards are pretty much low.

The group sees that quality of learning lays on the following traits –

· The students should be able apply what they learned practically. Application of knowledge is a very important skill.

· An Atmosphere of Sharing should be created in schools where students are able to share knowledge, experience and other things, a two way communication method where students can learn from each other.

· The Students should be able to understand what they are though in school. They should know what, and why they learn

· Students should be Empowered and thought to be independent. A culture of self-guided education should be initiated from where knowledge is not spoon fed.

· Education should foster Critical Thinking, a skill that presents day students lack.

· There should be proper guidance and support provided for students to help them to choose a career path.

· Career Building Programs should be in place in the secondary sector of education.

· Teachers should have easy access to soft and hard resources to help them to teach effectively and efficiently.

· Teachers should be good role models for Students.

· Education should a participatory process and students should learn to interact with other students from different cultures, backgrounds, religions and so on

The group further stress that the Education System in the country should resemble the UNESCO pillars of Education -

§ Learning to Know

§ Learning to do

§ Learning to live to together

§ Learning to be

Topic: Skills and competencies for life and work

Skills and competencies are necessary for any individual as they are useful in their day to day life. Thus developing these skills and competencies amongst students should be imbedded within the Education System. It is a constant process which should start from the Primary Level of Educatio
Some of the important skills and competencies are briefed below -

§ Critical Thinking and the ability to analyze are essential to improve a person’s ability to make good decisions.

§ The ability to identify and prioritize issues at any given time

§ Communication skills are vital, such as expressing ideas, bringing up arguments, and presenting solutions

§ Being Creative and innovative

§ Technological Skills are vital, as today people interact allot with technology to help them to do their daily work.

§ Computer Literacy is one of most important skill that everyone today should possess /

§ Entrepreneurship skills

§ Time Management skills emphasized with regards to balancing work and life

§ Leadership skills

§ Team spirit, team working should be developed, respecting other ethnicities, religions and cultures.

In Conclusion, the above skills and competencies have been summarized and given recommendations towards developing these through quality education.

Section 03: Recommendation for education in the post 2015 development agenda

The Sri Lankan government targets to achieve USD 4000 GDP per capita in the year 2016 and hopes the economy to grow at a steady pace. Education will be one of the major factors which would fuel economic growth, thus the government needs to focus and take attention in improving the education system in the country and that its sticks to core values in which it was established

The Key recommendations from the consultations are –

Recommendation 01

An Effective regulatory mechanism to address the various shortcomings and irregularities in accessibility to Education

The Government should not be the sole stakeholder in the issues and the wider community, particularly the alumni, teachers and parents should be involved in this process. A special task force/regulatory body has to established in every education sector composed of all the relevant stakeholders who are authorized to address the shortcomings in an effective way. However, partial Government Involvement is necessary to ensure credibility and authority. There should be a transparent systematic process for student intake of primary, secondary and tertiary education sectors

Recommendation 02

Increase the quality and the standards of existing state sector universities.

Allowing the current state universities to raise funds for themselves would enable them to invest in projects which would enrich the universities. The Government should focus on raising the standard of university education, as state sector universities provide a large portion of the labor force for the country. The government should look raise the standards of tertiary education by benchmarking with international standards, meanwhile government should invest a major proposition of the budgetary expenses for higher education, which will lead to greater intake of new students.

Recommendation 03

Decentralizing the institutions on administration and autotomizing the decision making process of relevant institutions.

Currently the Administration is bureaucratic, mismanaging, inefficient indecision making and so on. The Government should look to decentralize administration and empower the provincial/district council to make decisions and allocating finances. This is because provincial/district councils have local knowledge, closer to the regional issues thus making it sensible that the authority should be passed to them. However The Ministry of Education should have the ultimate authority and the ministry should a play a supportive role.

Recommendation 04

Measures should be taken to halt the Right Of education being violated by discouraging the closure of small schools (mostly in rural regions with less than 50 students) in those respective localities as they would lose their opportunities

The Government should emphasize the Right of Education and should look to discourage activities that hinder this. The government should look to empower small schools and encourage their continuation.

Recommendation 05

Allowing private universities to function & maintained by recognizing them through the proper authorities. New private universities should be established through joint ventures between the state sector and the private sector.

Establishing private universities and semi government universities will create more doors to continue quality tertiary education and provide a firsthand experience to explore the knowledge world. The private universities (mostly affiliated to foreign universities) should contextualize the syllabi and content as to be relevant in an international and national / native background foundation.

Recommendation 06

Improving the quality of learning provided

The main way of delivering education in school is through teachers, thus standards of teachers need to be increased. The government should look to increase the number of graduate teachers in schools. Programs like teaching new skills, soft skills, and various ways of teaching should be implemented to empower teachers. Teachers assessment programs should be unbiased and a transparent process, and teachers should be rewarded with promotion/higher pay according to the results of the assessment. There should be dialogue between the teachers and the Ministry where the teachers gets the opportunity to present their ideas, bring up arguments and providing useful feedback.

Recommendation 07

Changing the way students learn, and introducing a practical approach of learning “learning for life”

As emphasized above, the methodology of learning should change. Teaching soft skills and competencies should be imbedded and taught from the primary level. Students should not be fed with Knowledge and should be not depending on teachers, rather students should be taught to be independent and a culture of self-guided education should be fostered. The whole process of education should be participatory, where an atmosphere for exchange of knowledge is created.

Participants

Ms. Manoja De Silva, Rotaract Club

Ms. Jayani de Silva, University of Colombo, Faculty of Law

Mr. Tisura Gamage, University of Moratuwa, Faculty of Engineering

Mr. Daniel Alphonsos

Mr. M Intigab, Earth Lanka

Mr. V Thusandra, UNFPA

Mr. Suchith Abeywickrema, Sarvodaya and also worked closely with the Ministry of Education

Mr. Nandun Dissanayake, BCIS

Mr. Shevandra Wijemanne, Open University of Sri Lanka

Mr. Darshtha Gamage

Mr. Chathuranga Eleperuma, V Force, Sri Lanka



Facilitators

Mr. Natal, Country Head of United Nations Volunteer Program

Mr. H R M Shilby, UNESCO


Organizers

Mr. Sikander Sabeer,

Mr. Mohamed Husni

Mr. Sahan Hattotuwa