World Education Forum 2015

Abstract

This summary report is based on the proceedings of the World Education Forum organized at Incheon, Republic of Korea, from 19 to 22 May 2015. Conveners and participants Convened by UNESCO, jointly with UNICEF, UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA, UNHCR and the World Bank and hosted by the Government of Korea, the World Education Forum (WEF) 2015 brought together some 1,600 participants including 120 Ministers of Education from 160 countries, UN agencies, international donor agencies, and Non-Governmental Organizations (see List of participants in Appendix 1). Format The forum was a unique and historic opportunity to debate, share experiences, as well as showcase new ideas and innovative strategies on a range of themes and issues. This was done through a combination of four plenary sessions, six thematic debates, twenty parallel group sessions and some eighteen lunchtime side events (see Programme in Appendix 2). Opening session The World Education Forum was opened by a series of prestigious speakers including Ms Park Geun-hye, President of the Republic of Korea, Mr Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank, Mr Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, HH Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, UNESCO Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education, and Mr Kailash Satyarthi, Laureate of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. 2015 NGO Forum The Forum itself was preceded by the 2015 NGO Forum (18-19 May 2015) which provided space for NGOs to meet among themselves and to agree on a collective civil society vision for education post-2015 as well as to reflect on strategies for civil society engagement in the processes needed to finalize and implement the post-2015 education agenda1. Participants at the NGO Forum included 238 accredited representatives of 149 national, regional and international non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations from all regions of the world, most of whom are members of UNESCO’s Collective Consultation of NGOs on EFA (CCNGO/EFA), as well as 45 observers. Special efforts were made to ensure representation of youth perspectives from across the spectrum of the Education for All (EFA) agenda. Organization of the report The first section of this report briefly sets the stage for the Forum at which the international education community adopted the Incheon Declaration ‘Education 2030: Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all’. The following section provides an overview of some of the educational trends that constitute the backdrop to the WEF 2015 deliberations and the shaping of Education 2030. The third section provides a summary of thematic issues and recommendations arising from the multiple debates and discussions at the Forum. The last section outlines some of the main challenges relative to the implementation of the new ambitious universal education agenda for 2030. Highlights from the various debates, sessions and side events are included in boxes to further illustrate the analysis presented in the report.