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UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) is hosting a week-long event on the occasion of the concluding meeting of phase 2 of the UNESCO-China Funds-in-Trust (CFIT) Project, co-organized with the UNESCO Headquarters Teacher Development Section and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 (Teacher Task Force).

At the opening ceremonies on Monday, 18 March 2019, all speakers expressed their gratitude to the Government of China for its financial and technical contribution for the initiation and implementation of the project and its impact in the ten beneficiary countries.

Ms. GUO Wei, from China National Commission for UNESCO, conveyed the appreciation from the Government of China of the results achieved, and their commitment to continue supporting quality education in Africa under Education 2030. Dr. Yumiko Yokozeki, Director of IICBA, welcomed all delegates and recalled that IICBA is coordinating the Teacher Development Cluster of the African Union Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 2016-2025) which has benefited tremendously from the realization of CFIT project. Ms. Ann Theresa Ndong Jatta, Director of UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa, emphasized the needs to align all interventions with the ongoing reforms in the United Nations, the countries and the continent, which requires better communication and visibility. Dr. Edem Adubra, Chief of Section of UNESCO Headquarters Teacher Development Section and the Teacher Task Force, who moderated the session, situated the series of meetings around the CFIT project within the framework of Delivering Teacher Development Programmes in Africa as ONE under the umbrella of CESA 2016-2025.

Mr. LIU Xiangdong, Counsellor, Political Section and Mr. ZHANG Chaoyu, Second Secretory, Cultural Section of the Embassy of People's Republic of China in Ethiopia, and Dr. DU Yue, Director of International Cooperation and Partnership for Africa Division, UNESCO also attended the event.

UNESCO-CFIT project on "Enhancing Teacher Education for Bridging the Education Quality Gap in Africa" was launched in 2012, with a total support of 12 million USD, and implemented in 10 African countries:  Côte d’Ivoire, Congo Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Liberia, Namibia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Togo and Zambia. The UNESCO-CFIT project is one of the initiatives of UNESCO to accelerate progress towards the attainment of Education for All (EFA) goals and since 2015, the Education 2030 Agenda. The aim of this project was to enhance the capacity of lead teacher education institutions in the targeted countries to provide quality teacher education and training, with particular focus on the Integration with ICT and improving networks of teacher education institutions to promote knowledge-sharing on successful and effective strategies and practices.

This week-long meeting aims to review the implementation and achievements of the CFIT Phase II project in the 10 beneficiary countries, to discuss other ongoing teacher-related initiatives in Africa, and to reinforce coordination and synergy for greater impact of various projects under CESA 2016-2025 framework. In addition, three other consultation meetings are also happening this week: Consultation Workshop and Expert Group Meeting on Developing an International Guidance Framework for Professional Teaching Standards, Meeting of the African Regional Focal Points of the International Teacher Taskforce on Teachers for Education 2030, and MasterCard Meeting on Secondary Education in Africa: Preparing Youth for the Future of Work.

Participants include UNESCO-CFIT country representatives, Teacher Task Force sub-regional focal points, experts on teaching standards, UNESCO Regional Directors and programme specialists, secondary school teachers and CESA Teacher Cluster Members.

Click here for Presentations of the Workshop