Final Report of the Consultative Meeting for Secretaries General of National Commissions for UNESCO of the UNESCO Nairobi Office Cluster Countries

Abstract

1.1 Introduction This is a report of the proceedings of the consultative meeting of Secretaries General of National Commissions for UNESCO of Nairobi Office Cluster Member States and Programme Officers from UNESCO Office Nairobi held in Kampala from 25th - 28th June 2007. The report has four major sections namely; opening remarks and introduction; presentations by Secretaries - General and by Nairobi Office Sector Programme Specialists; a way forward; and closing remarks. The last part of the report contains the appendices of presentations, list of participants, programmes and evaluation. 1.2 Justification National Commissions for UNESCO are the entry points as well as the pinnacle of UNESCO's presence and visibility in Member States. In this respect, UNESCO strives to ensure that National Commissions are strengthened and empowered to perform their functions effectively. The Executive Board of UNESCO has over the years deliberated on this matter and, in 2001 and 2004 advised the Director General to write to Ministers responsible for UNESCO affairs in Member States underscoring the importance of National Commissions and the need to support them. In pursuit of their national mandates and mission of UNESCO, National Commissions are expected to cooperate. However, there has a forum at which National Commissions formally discuss their cooperation. The Secretaries General of Burundi, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Rwanda and Uganda (Nairobi Cluster) therefore, thought it prudent for them to meet and discuss common priorities and develop common strategies programming in the region. They also wanted to develop synergies among themselves in carrying out common programmes in the Cluster and in their specific countries. The Secretaries General proposed to have regular consultative meetings. These consultative as well as planning meetings are meant to assist Member States in the Cluster to deepen collaboration and a common understanding of UNESCO programmes. The call for the meeting was sounded several times and echoed again at the Africa consultative meeting of the Director General on C/4 and C/5 documents in Luanda, Angola in May 2006. The proposal to have a meeting was accepted by the Director, UNESCO Nairobi Regional Office and, culminated into this first meeting held in Kampala. This first meeting was organised and hosted by Uganda National Commission for UNESCO in consultation and collaboration with the UNESCO Nairobi Office.