25. Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the United Nations conference on education to be held in Senegal in April. [111197]
§ Clare ShortThe World Education Forum in Dakar from 26–28 April will assess progress achieved in the 10 years since the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien. This International Consultative Forum has been convened by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World bank. I will attend the Forum.
297WOur priority in Dakar is to obtain a strong commitment from North and South to the implementation of strategies for achieving effective primary education for all by 2015. In assessing the progress that has been made since Jomtien, it is important that the Forum pays particular attention to analysing why some countries, including some of the poorest, have managed to achieve considerably more than others.