UNESCO Invites Ministers to Round Table on Education and Economic Development

© UNESCO/
A. Wheeler

Building upon two preceding discussion groups from 2003 and 2005, a ministerial round table on education and economic development was held at UNESCO headquarters during a two-day meeting at the 34th Session of the General Conference. Along with key issues at the interface between education and economic development, the round table focussed specifically on the equity and ethical dimension of economic growth.

In an effort to address the shift towards globalisation in economic development and evaluate the vital role of education in this progression, UNESCO initiated a ministerial round table, inviting education decision-makers from 14 member states.

As one of the key meetings of the 34th session of the UNESCO General Conference in Paris, France, the two-day meeting (October 19 - 20) brought together national officials, representatives from United Nations agencies and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for a discourse on public policies for achieving pro-poor growth in relation to the UN Millennium Development Goals.

The main aim was to create a forum for UNESCO member states to identify new ideas, evaluate existing practices and generate recommendations for future action in policy-making processes. Four plenary sessions tackled issues such as the right to education and the right to development, the contributions of education to economic growth, education and sustainable development, and partnerships for education and economic development.

UNESCO Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, chaired the meeting and gave one of the keynote speeches at the opening session together with the OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría.

October 22, 2007

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