You are here

News

Transforming education in Latin America and the Caribbean: countries in the region will review their policies and cooperation mechanisms at a ministerial meeting in Cochabamba

-The II Regional Meeting of Ministers of Education of Latin America and the Caribbean “Transforming education: a joint response from Latin America and the Caribbean to achieve SDG4-E2030” — organized by the Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago) and the Ministry of Education of the Plurinational State of Bolivia — will follow up on the commitments made in the Buenos Aires Declaration (2017), in the framework of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (quality education) and the Education 2030 Agenda.

 

-The city of Cochabamba will receive expert and official delegations from the ministries of education who will also participate in other regional meetings taking place from July 23 to 26, 2018.

 

Ministers of education, senior officials and experts from Latin America and the Caribbean will meet in Bolivia to discuss and validate a regional Roadmap for implementing Sustainable Development Goal 4 (quality education, SDG4-E2030*).

 

The objective of this meeting, organized by UNESCO and the Ministry of Education of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is to follow-up on the commitments made in the Buenos Aires Declaration, which came out of the I Regional Meeting of Ministers of Education of Latin America and the Caribbean (Argentina, 2017). The declaration confirms that the priority topics for the region are lifelong learning, quality education, equity and inclusion, and teachers.

 

In Cochabamba, the region’s ministers will formulate recommendations for educational policies and actions with an innovative and cross-sector perspective for each of the priority topics. They will also build consensus regarding the regional cooperation mechanisms needed to finance and monitor educational programs that meet the SDG4 goals. The meeting will be an opportunity to exchange ideas, review experiences, challenges and lessons learned in order to rethink education and define innovative approaches.

 

The results of the discussions will be compiled into the Latin America and Caribbean Roadmap for the Implementation of SDG4-E2030, the proposal for which was prepared in 2017 and 2018 by the region’s Ministries of Education representatives, United Nations agencies, regional and international multilateral institutions and civil society organizations.

 

The Roadmap will provide a shared strategic vision for advancing the Education 2030 Agenda across the region through the formulation of policy recommendations that can be implemented at national and regional levels.

 

Background to the II Regional Meeting of Ministers

 

In January 2017, the Ministers of Education of Latin America and the Caribbean, the region’s education community and other allies met in Buenos Aires to establish a shared vision on education priorities. “The authorities who were present agreed on the strategic guidelines and made decisions regarding the regional cooperation mechanisms that would be needed to achieve the education 2030 goals. The commitments made by the Member States are expressed in the  Buenos Aires Declaration”, explains Claudia Uribe, director of the Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago).

 

Uribe adds that in the ministerial meeting it was also acknowledged that in order to implement the SDG4‐ Education 2030 in the region “concerted efforts by all countries is needed. With this mandate, the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean has organized regional meetings and forums prior to the II Regional Meeting of Ministers to combine these perspectives and generate concerted actions.”

 

The II Regional Meeting of Ministers of Education of Latin America and the Caribbean will be hosted by the Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. Bolivia’s Education Minister, Roberto Aguilar, said that the institutions and citizens of Bolivia, and in particular of Cochabamba, are delighted to be receiving the participating delegations, especially the ministers of Education of Latin America and the Caribbean, at the regional meetings that will take place in his country at the end of July.

 

More information:

 

 

In 2015 the UN adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an opportunity for countries and their societies to embark on a new path to improve the lives for all and not leave anyone behind.

 

When the new agenda was approved in September 2015, the international community recognized that education was essential for the success of the 17 goals.

 

The ambitions for the field of education are reflected in an essential way in the Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

 

Through the Incheon Declaration adopted at the World Education Forum in May 2015, UNESCO, as the United Nations’ specialized agency for education, was entrusted to lead and coordinate the Education 2030 agenda with its partners.

 

The roadmap to achieve the ten targets of the education goal is the Education 2030 Framework for Action, adopted in November 2015, which provides guidance to governments and partners on how to turn commitments into action.

 

*****

 

Media contact:

 

Carolina Jerez Henríquez

Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago)

c.jerez@unesco.org

www.unesco.org/santiago

 

During the meeting in Cochabamba (July 25-26, 2018)

WhatsApp (+569) 92890175

 

Website of the II Regional Meeting of Ministers of Education of Latin America and the Caribbean

 

URL:

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/santiago/education-2030/cochabamba-meeting-2018/press/press-release-1/