Presentation by Etienne Clement,
Representative, UNESCO Cambodia
Honourable Deputy Prime Minister,
Distinguished Representatives of International Organisations,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is a great honour for me to be invited by Your Excellency to address this audience at this important Roundtable for the Education Sector Support Programme 2001-2005 (ESSP). On this occasion, I would like to warmly congratulate the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports which, under the impetus of His Excellency Tol Lah, has successfully completed and produced this ESSP. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to Secretaries of State, His Excellencies Im Sethy and Pok Than, and all the team of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for their personal commitment to this task.
I fully agree with you on the importance of the ESSP document for the human resource development of Cambodia. Together with the Education Strategic Plan (ESP), it can be considered as a major milestone in the reform process of the education sector in Cambodia, as it identifies the main priorities of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports over the next five years and paves the way for a participative implementation.
Another remarkable aspect of the ESP and the ESSP is the constructive and fruitful dialogue between the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and development partners. It is indeed worth noting that the vast majority of donor agencies, including international organisations, bilateral donors, development banks and non-governmental organisations, have, at the request of His Excellency Tol Lah, actively participated in the formulation of the ESP, the ESSP strategies and the appraisal. Moreover, the consultation mechanism has been guided by a principle of open and transparent information sharing between all concerned parties. This is a success which constitutes a good example for future initiatives and also for other countries. I have just come back from UNESCO Paris from a briefing meeting on Education for All and the example of Cambodia was mentioned in this respect.
It may be fair to say, at this kind of ceremony, that the ESSP is not the culmination of efforts, but is rather the starting point of a process. Indeed, another challenge is now to establish strong partnerships between the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, other Ministries and donors to make these very ambitious plans operational. Moreover, another challenge will be to link the ESP and the ESSP with the Education for All Plan of Action expected for 2002, as a result of the long-term commitment made by the Royal Government during the World Education Forum in Dakar in April 2000 to reach Education for All (EFA) in 2015.
In this regard, the ESSP, focusing mainly, although not exclusively, on the strengthening of the formal education system, constitutes therefore a key component of any strategy aiming to achieve Education for All. But a next step for an Education for All Plan of Action will be to develop programmes to reach the "unreached", this vulnerable part of the population which does not have access to education (street children, minority and indigenous groups and communities living in remote areas, such as former Khmer Rouge strongholds, and the large proportion of girls who either do not go to school or drop out after a few years). For this, it will be essential to consult widely with some other Ministries and with all stakeholders to promote a number of complementary programmes in the field of Non-Formal Education and the promotion of Literacy.
If the ESP and ESSP must be the backbone of the future EFA plan of action, both should also serve as the preparation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) to be developed shortly by the Royal Government. I am convinced that it is essential that these plans be intimately linked, under your leadership as far as education is concerned.
Now back to ESSP. A successful implementation will require the allocation of more of the public budget to education. Bilateral agencies will be also required to strengthen their support for education. Multilateral agencies will need to boost lending and enhance their collaboration. With this in view, we must benefit from the current impetus towards action, co-operation and networking, as established in the process leading to the ESSP document.
In this regard, as Chair of the Education Sub-Working Group of donors, I would like to express to His Excellency Tol Lah the commitment of donors to continue to work closely with you, building on the existing partnerships.
Honourable Deputy Prime Minister,
Distinguished Representatives of International Organisations,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:
The common ultimate objective is to ensure that this collective effort towards Education for All succeeds. I am confident that our strong partnership now firmly established with ESP and ESSP and the determined leadership of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports will lead Cambodia to attain the goal of Education for All by 2015, or even earlier by 2010, as hoped by His Excellency Tol Lah.
Thank you for your attention.