Message of the Director

Weekly Newsletter UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa Issue 26-15 to 19 May 2017 View this email in your browser Message of the Director I traveled to Paris, France to attend the Education Leadership Team Meeting and IIEP Strategic Debate. This meeting was an important opportunity to look at sustainable models for the organization in managing our activities in Member States, but also assuring UNESCO s presence in the field. It is important to put the accent on full government ownership and to build the capacity of Member States to manage such activities. I am pleased with the outcome of the Conference on "Youth, Peacebuilding and Regional Solidarity: Lessons from Africa", that took place in Banjul, Gambia from 9 to 10 May 2017. The conference provided a platform to reflect on the opportunities and challenges of youth development on the continent and finding common ground on how to collectively address such challenges. The UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa also cooperated with IIEP Pole de Dakar on a regional workshop about the Management of teacher deployment in the basic education sector in Nairobi, Kenya from 17 to 19 May 2017. The issue of teacher deployment is fundamental to the success of the international 1

community s commitments to education. The recent Education 2030 framework for action refers explicitly to this issue by committing to substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries. In Rwanda, we continued our engagement in ICT as an agent for transformation. Within the framework of the Information for All Programme, priority themes have been identified as key in contributing to the ICT for Education Master Plan, namely information literacy and information accessibility. In the context of accessibility promotion, the Digital Talent Policy is now also clearly mainstreaming the needs of people living with disabilities. Furthermore, based on the UNESCO Knowledge Societies Policy Handbook a localized training manual on the subject has been tested among educators and civil servants and a national roadmap for the contextualization and use of the UNESCO knowledge society template has been drafted for Rwanda. During this week, the regional office is also participating in a UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) workshop on Impact of Adult Learning and Education on Health and Well-being in Hamburg, Germany. The Chinese-Fundsin-Trust Project, boosting ICT in teacher training in Africa is also commencing its second phase in Uganda. A validation meeting will be held on 25 May 2017 in Kampala Uganda to agree on the workplan and ensure full engagement of partners and teacher training institutions. Finally, three of our colleagues from the Regional Office were trained on social media network training offered by UNON Human Resources in Nairobi, Kenya. This training is important in making better use of social media and making more visible the work that is carried out in the region. I wish you a wonderful week! Ann Therese Ndong Jatta 2

Announcements Call for Application UNESCO International Literacy Prizes Theme of 2017: Literacy in a Digital World Apply before: 31 May 2017 UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize UNESCO Confucius Every year, the UNESCO International Literacy Prizes (ILP) reward excellence and innovation in the field of literacy around the world to promote effective and innovative practices and encourage dynamic literate societies. Click on the image above to access instructions and how to apply, for individuals and organizations UNESCO #LiteracyDay #8September 3

Events of the Week Africa Week, UNESCO Headquarters 22 to 24 May 2017 The theme of the Africa Week 2017 is 'Investing in the youth of Africa'. The event features film screenings, fashion shows by African young designers, exhibitions and round table debates, to showcase Africa through the wealth of its cultural and artistic heritage. It marks the anniversary of the establishment on 25 May 1963 of the Organization of African Unity, which became the African Union in July 2002. For more information on the activities, click here. Dar es Salaam - Tanzania 23 to 24 May 2017 Inception workshop for Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) project with beneficiary District officials Dar es Salaam - Tanzania 23 and 25 May 2017 XPRIZE Project on Social-emotional Assessment workshop 4

Jinja- Uganda 22 to 26 May 2017 Hotel Paradise Teacher Policy for Uganda 2017 UNESCO and the Ministry of Education will be holding a writing workshop for the development of a Costed Plan and Implementation Guidelines for the National Teacher Policy for Uganda 2017 5

Web News of the Week UNESCO Madagascar supports young people in Moramanga with capacity building trainings in aviculture and nursery UNESCO and the Rwanda Education Board organize three-day multi-level stakeholder consultative meetings in Kigali to inform the Rwandan Teacher Development Framework 6

Meetings Education Youth Peace Maker Network, Uganda 2 May 2017 A Youth Peace Maker network for the Acholi Region and a community learning centre was launched in Kiryandongo by the UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation, Mr. Forest Whitaker, in the presence of the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Uganda, Ms. Rosa Malango on 2nd May 2017. This project was implemented through the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative 7

(WPDI), a program that trains young people in conflict resolution, leadership, peace and community building as well as mediation skills to promote inner healing. Donors such as Western Union - that helped in the construction of the youth community centre in Gulu; MTN and Ericsson that provided the 126 laptops and 76 mobile phones to be used by the peace makers were also in attendance. Several senior local government officials were present who called on all the youth peacemakers to be ambassadors on a mission to promote peace in order to transform their communities. Education Project: Better Education for Africa's Rise (BEAR) Project II Uganda, 7 to 14 May 2017 UNESCO in Uganda, received a delegation from UNESCO Headquarters and the Government of Korea on a scoping mission, which was held, from 7 to 14 May for a new project titled, 'Better Education for Africa s Rise' (BEAR) project II (2017 2021) focusing on Promoting and supporting better Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems in Eastern Africa. The scoping mission aimed at identifying project activities based on the existing and emerging skills needs within the identified economic sectors in Uganda. The team was welcomed by the Minister of State for Higher Education in Uganda, Mr. Muyingo J.C. Several meetings were held with government officials and a 8

number of TVET institutions. The new BEAR (II) project will commence this year and is expected to improve the quality, and relevancy of TVET as well as improve the perceptions of young people towards TVET. Culture United Nations Country Team Retreat to Eritrea, Asmara 11 to 12 May 2017 UNESCO participated in the annual UN Country Team (UNCT) Retreat for Eritrea on 11-12 May in Asmara. The retreat provided an opportunity to meet representatives of other UN agencies working in Eritrea and introduce them to the work of UNESCO as well as our potential contributions to the Strategic Partnership Cooperation Framework (SPCF) for Eritrea (2017-2021). UNESCO was the only non-resident UN agency present at the retreat, which was led by Ms. Christine Umutoni, the UN Resident Coordinator (who will be leaving her posting in Eritrea next month to take on a new assignment). 9

Culture Visit to Qohaito Cultural Landscape, archaeological site on Eritrea's World Heritage Tentative List, 9 to 10 May 2017 Prior to the Retreat, on 9-10 May, the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa Culture Programme Specialist Ms. Karalyn Monteil, undertook a site visit to Qohaito Cultural Landscape, which is an archaeological site on Eritrea s World Heritage Tentative List. UNESCO Regional Office for eastern Africa is currently supporting Eritrea with mapping of the site and updating its Management and Conservation Plan, which are needed for the preparation of the World Heritage nomination file. Eritrea has already submitted a World Heritage nomination for Asmara: Africa s Modernist City, which will be evaluated by the World Heritage Committee at its annual meeting in July 2017. 10

Education Consultative meeting on health and well-being through adult education Hamburg, Germany 15 May 2017 UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning (UIL) convened a one day consultative meeting on how to promote health and well-being through adult education. 20 participants were drawn from UNESCO, UIL and WHO. UNESCO in Kenya was represented by Ms. Jane Kamau. Mr. Chris Castle, Chief of the Section on HIV and AIDS, UNESCO Paris also participated and presented the global perspective of UNESCO HIV and Health programmes. During the meeting, two case studies from Kenya and Tanzania were presented. The video on Health Literacy project in Kibera was played in the meeting. At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that there is need to explore more on how to promote health and well-being through adult education. It was also recommended that UIL should also explore opportunities for engaging in the ongoing field initiatives on education and health. 11

Culture Preparations underway for regional meeting on cultural heritage protection in Eastern Africa May 17 2017 On 17 May, UNESCO sent out a questionnaire on the current levels of cultural heritage protection in Eastern Africa to all Secretary-Generals of National Commissions in the region. The results of the survey will be used as a basis for discussion during the Regional workshop and Ministerial Roundtable meeting UNESCO is currently organizing to strengthen synergies for the protection of cultural heritage in Eastern Africa. This regional gathering, which will be held 18-20 July in Port Louis, Mauritius, will provide an opportunity for Ministers responsible for Culture, Secretary-Generals of UNESCO National Commissions and other participants to share experiences, innovative practices and policies for the protection of cultural heritage. It will raise awareness of the key international legal instruments and resources the protection of cultural heritage. Moreover, it will increase capacities and strengthen joint actions for the protection of cultural heritage in the region. Lastly, it will propose a new framework in the form of a Declaration, which will provide a roadmap and priorities for safeguarding cultural heritage in the Eastern Africa region. 12

Education Expanded Regional Technical Coordination meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa 17 to 19 May 2017 UNESCO East and Southern Africa HIV and Health programme in partnership with UNAIDS, UNFPA and UNICEF convened an Expanded Regional Technical Coordination meeting. The 82 participants from government, UN agencies and Civil society were drawn from 21 countries that had affirmed the Eastern and Southern Africa 2013 Ministerial Commitment on Scaling up Comprehensive sexuality education. The purpose of the meeting was to review the progress made in the implementation of the ESA commitment and to explore opportunities to ensure that the targets are met. The countries from UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa that participated include: Kenya, Madagascar, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. 13

Education African workshop for management of teacher deployment - Nairobi 17 to 19 May 2017 The African workshop for management of Teacher deployment in the basic education sector was held in Nairobi from 17 to 19 May 2017. The workshop was organized by UNESCO IIEP Pole de Dakar, and gathered 15 countries together with UNICEF, Global Partnership for Education (GPE), French Development Agency (AFD), African Union Commission and other partners from all over Africa. UNESCO in Nairobi opened the workshop. On behalf of the UNESCO Regional Director for Eastern Africa, Ms. Gry Ulverud emphasized that: Nothing can replace the teacher-pupil relationship for knowledge and competence-building. The teacher is the essential element to achieve the targets of the global education goal. 14

The first part of the event established the general picture of the situation for teacher allocation in Africa. In a second part, the focus was to share information among countries on effective practices to allocate teachers. Finally the workshop shed light on the tools available to help in improving the monitoring of teacher allocation. In the workshop, Mr. Jean-Marc Bernard of GPE explained the GPE's policies for teacher deployments in Africa and its vision. Ms. Beatrice Njenga, Representative of the African Union Commission emphasized the role of teachers for the realization of the African Union's vision of a peaceful Africa through quality education which includes peace education and conflict resolution to prevent violent extremism. The workshop lasted for three days and was an important venue for peer exchange and capacity-building. 15

Education Transform Africa Summit in Kigali Rwanda 10 to 12 May 2017 The Director-General of UNESCO Ms. Irina Bokova, the Director of the Regional Office for Eastern Africa Ms. Ann-Therese Ndong Jatta, and UNESCO in Rwanda, actively participated in the Transform Africa Summit 2017 in Kigali, Rwanda, from 10 to 12 May 2017. Other representatives from UNESCO Headquarters included the Director of the Division for Gender Equality Ms. Gulser Corat, who delivered a key note speech on behalf of the Director General during the Transform Africa Women s Summit, and the Director of Knowledge Societies Mr. Indarjit Banerjee, who spoke in the session on Transforming Government for Successful Smart Cities. In addition, UNESCO in Rwanda prepared an exhibition its contributions to the Transform Africa agenda, particularly on education and ICTs through the implementation of UNESCO- Korean Funds-in-Trust (KFIT) Project ICT transforming education in Africa project. During the Summit, publications of the KFIT Rwanda Project were distributed. 16

Kenya NATCOM for UNESCO conducts assessment on Open Solutions and ICT Innovations in Kenya The Kenya National Commission for UNESCO (KNATCOM) is conducting a study on the utilization of Open Solutions and ICT innovations in Kenya. The study seeks to find out the existing policies guiding the use of Open Solutions and ICT innovation in Kenya. It also seeks to assess the existing Open Solutions and ICT innovations, establish skills gaps on design, use, reuse and sharing of 17

Open Solutions and ICT innovations, establish awareness and utilization levels of Open Solutions and ICT innovations in Kenya and investigate challenges facing utilization of Open Solutions and ICT innovations in Kenya. The assessment team from the KNATCOM has therefore held a meeting on 17th May, with the UNESCO Regional Office CI team to discuss UNESCO s support of Open Solutions and ICT innovations in Kenya, the organization policies that guide UNESCO s support to Open Solutions and ICT Innovations and the specific support UNESCO is providing to Kenya and other countries in the region. The KNATCOM team were happy to know that UNESCO has also developed software tools that are open and free for use by member states. These include the CDS/ISI software for creating, updating and searching textual database, IDAMs which is a powerful tool for scientific, educational and administrative environments, in handling and analysing numerical data and the Greenstone Digital Library system software that helps in building and sharing compatible digital libraries. The CI team also shared with the KNATCOM Assessment team, the UNESCO policy guidelines for development and promotion of access to information and also the various UNESCO tools on open resources that are available online. 18

From the Office Communication and Information Regional Meeting Tuesday, 16 May 2017 The Communication and Information Team of UNESCO Nairobi had its CI meeting on 16 May 2017 with the Skype presence of UNESCO Tanzania and UNESCO South Sudan. It was an opportunity to go over the Communication and Information Programmatic areas, as well as sharing experiences and continue working for strengthening media and community radio networks in the Region, promoting freedom of expression and safety of journalists, ICT in Education and Documentary Heritage. 19

Social Media Training, 17-18 May 2017 Organized by United Nations Information Centre in Nairobi Three colleagues from UNESCO Nairobi participated in the 2 day long Social Media training, organized by the United Nations Information Center in Nairobi. The training gathered Communications Specialists from the United Nations Agencies in Nairobi by teaching and providing them with free online tools to effectively monitor social media engagement of campaigns, write targeted messages and content, structure social media messages, engage and build online and offline partnerships with the different social media audiences and targets. A heads-up to our Social Media efforts to increase the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa visibility, now boosted by our Facebook Page. 20

Public Holidays in Member States Eritrea Independence Day May 24 Madagascar Ascension Day May 25 21

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