US embassy cable - 05PARIS7401

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 007401 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SCUL, UNESCO 
SUBJECT:  USUNESCO:  33RD GENERAL CONFERENCE EDUCATION 
COMMISSION-US ACHIEVES ITS GOALS 
 
 
1. SUMMARY: The work of Commission II (education) during the 
33rd General Conference was the culmination of the US 
Delegation's work since the US reentry into UNESCO in 
October 2003. It produced results by injecting momentum into 
the moribund UN Literacy Decade; by completing - with US 
agreement -- a convention to discourage illegal performance 
enhancers in sports (septel); by launching a totally revised 
Education for Sustainable program and by derailing efforts 
to turn a positive initiative on cross-border higher 
education quality into a normative instrument with 
restrictions on trade in educational services. End Summary 
 
2. This was the firSt General Conference since the U.S. 
returned to UNESCO in 2003, and signs of the U.S. impact on 
the organization are already clear.  Managerial concepts 
that the U.S. has been advocating for the past two years, 
such as accountability, measurable results, fiscal 
responsibility, the need for greater focus on core 
priorities, cross-sector coordination and consolidation of 
key initiatives, have now become a regular part of the 
organization's vocabulary. 
 
3.  This was particularly evident as the Commission dealt 
with numerous draft resolutions (DR) with financial 
implications. Unlike past General Conferences where Member 
States usually accepted any DR regardless of its financial 
implications, this time, with the help of the Director 
General's call for more focus, these initiatives were 
rebuffed. 
 
4.  This is a sign of a culture change at UNESCO in the 
education field. Relentless insistence by the US and other 
like-minded countries on what matters most to transform the 
organization produced a much richer debate in Commission II 
than at the last General Conference and, more importantly, 
more logical and strategic decisions for the education 
program and budget. 
 
Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) Launch 
 
5. During the first week of the General Conference, the 
Director-General - joined by U.S. Education Secretary 
Margaret Spellings and others - launched the Literacy 
Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) and announced the first 10 
pilot countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Haiti, Mali, Morocco, 
Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal and Yemen. This document 
included extensive comments and suggestions provided by 
USDel. 
 
Guidelines for Quality Provision in Cross-Border Higher 
Education 
 
6. The US helped draft the Guidelines for Quality Provision 
in Cross-Border Higher Education that are best practices to 
assist consumers worldwide in choosing educational services 
from foreign providers. USDel worked with like-minded 
countries to block efforts by Brazil, India and others to 
prevent turning this into a normative instrument with 
restrictions on trade in educational services implement more 
stringent guidelines (that would also impede WTO actions in 
this area). Ultimately a better, clearer and non-restrictive 
draft decision was adopted by consensus. 
 
Budget 
 
7.  The US succeeded in getting more of the budget's 
education sector money directed to the three core 
priorities: literacy, teacher training and HIV/AIDS 
education - all of which target Africa in great proportion. 
 
Medium-Term Strategy 
 
8.  There was broad consensus in favor of a resolution that 
set the format and procedure to be followed in drafting the 
next medium-term strategy.  The aim of the resolution is to 
ensure that member states take a pro-active role in the 
process; for the U.S., this presents an opportunity to 
enhance UNESCO's focus on programs, rather than on normative 
instruments. 
 
Education Roundtable 
 
10. Once again, education ministers met for two days to 
discuss key issues surrounding UNESCO's mission to achieve 
Education for All. U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret 
Spellings' remarks were particularly well received. With an 
eye on the upcoming 5th High Level Group meeting in Beijing, 
China, the group boiled down their views in a communiqu 
about what they will do in their own countries and what they 
want UNESCO to do to speed the progress on EFA. 
 
http://www.unesco.org/education/mined2005/com munique.pdf 
 
Decade for Education for Sustainable Development 
 
11. Since last spring, USDel has worked to curb the excesses 
in a proposed framework to guide the UN Decade for Education 
for Sustainable Development. The document, a 52-page 
rambling and unfocused effort prepared by UNESCO at the 
request of the UN General Assembly, pleased no one when 
initially presented at the April 2005 Executive Board. At 
the time, USDel called for major changes and the document 
was revised and presented during the General Conference. 
 
12.  A number of delegations during the General Conference 
urged new ADG/Education Peter Smith to consolidate the 
various education initiatives - Education for All, UN 
Literacy Decade, Decade for Education for Sustainable 
Development, Literacy Initiative for Empowerment, HIV/AIDS 
education, and the Teacher Training Initiative for Sub- 
Saharan Africa -- to minimize overlap and maximize results. 
 
13.  Comment:  Unlike the fireworks in the cultural 
commission, the education commission dealt with some 
difficult issues and reached consensus.  There was a spirit 
of cooperation and openness in this commission that was 
absent in the cultural commission.  The U.S. came back to 
UNESCO primarily to focus on educational programs and our 
return is already bearing fruit.  The task of getting more 
focus to the education programs has been something like 
turning a super tanker; it is slow at first but eventually 
the ship starts turning, and that is what we are seeing. 
 
OLIVER