1. UNESS UNESCO NATIONAL EDUCATION SUPPORT STRATEGY

2. 1.Introduction 2.Bodies involved in strategic and budgetary decision making for UNESCO programming 3.Main features of the current planning and budgeting processes 4. What is UNESS? 5. Why UNESS? 6. Main features of the international context 7. Main features of in-country contexts for designing UNESS 8. UNESS: Content 9. UNESS: Who and How? 10. UNESS: When and Where? 11.UNESS: Implications for in-House capacity development and resources 1. CONTENT OF PRESENTATION

3. The Organization’s Governing Bodies (Political legitimacy) The Secretariat (Institutional feasibility) The Member States (Technical foundation) 2. BODIES INVOLVED IN STRATEGIC AND BUDGETARY DECISION MAKING

4. Top-down planning Actions and activities designed in general for and by the ED Sector’s entities, even tailored-made for individual Programme Specialists, rather than for meeting countries’ needs Fragmentation of budgetary allocations thinly across a diversity of actions and activities, often having little impact on educational development in Member States Micro-activities in terms of budget, relating to marginal aspects, limited in time and space, with often no links between them. 3. MAIN FEATURES OF THE CURRENT PLANNING AND BUDGETING PROCESSES

5. A tool for assessing the needs and priorities for cooperation of the ED Sector with the Member States UNESS analyses, then proposes the most realistic and efficient methods and means for responding to the support needs of each country UNESS aims to assess the support needs at country level with decision-makers and managers of the national education systems UNESS is to be prepared by Field Offices in consultation and/or participation of NATCOMs and other development partners The UNESS document is prepared, then updated per country every two years, on the occasion of the C5 (and C4) planning, but its usefulness goes beyond this The content of UNESS, particularly the proposals for cooperation, must be validated by the country concerned before its adoption UNESS can play the role of coordinating the development partners 4. WHAT IS UNESS?

6. UNESS aims to identify the potential support that can have a strategic impact on Member States’ educational development; UNESS will allow for the conformity of national priorities with international development objectives; UNESS will enable a coherent integration of UNESCO’s three priority initiatives for EFA in the context of national education sector development planning; UNESS primarily aims at strengthening national institutional capacities; UNESS provides the rationale/justification for mobilization and allocation of extra-budgetary resources; UNESS aims to reinforce partnership with other agencies, i.e. a necessary precondition for our active participation in development partners’ in-country programming exercises. 5. WHY UNESS?

7. Global Action Plan (GAP) EFA Mid-Term Assessment CCA/UNDAF and other “international” in-country development programming exercises Norway-Initiative for national capacity development for implementation of sector plans Mobilisation and allocation of “extra-budgetary” resources Regional initiatives (e.g. NEPAD). All these initiatives can benefit from the results of UNESS. 6. MAIN FEATURES OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

8. Sector Planning ---------------------------------- Education Sector Development Plan Multisector Planning ------------------------------------------ Economic and Social Development Plan 7. MAIN FEATURES IN-COUNTRY FOR UNESS DESIGN PRSP CCA/UNDAF EFA Goals HIPCs DESD UNGEI MDGs C4 & C5 LIFE, TTISSA EDUCAIDS SWAp EFA-FTI

9. 8. WHAT IS UNESS? FOCUS: Analysing national needs, policies and priorities Learning lessons from UNESCO’s past support Mapping partners’ interventions and support gaps Identifying strategic areas for UNESCO’s support, such as policy and capacity development Proposing a cooperation programme in conformity of the Organization’s mandate, human and budgetary capacity and comparative advantage

10. 8 Bis. WHAT IS UNESS? CONTENT OF THE 5 CHAPTERS: 1. The Country’s Overall Development Context and Priorities The Country’s Overall Development Context National Development Priorities 2. The Country’s Educational Context, Priorities and Strategies The Country’s Educational Context Government Education Priorities and Strategies 3. Priorities of the Development Community and Areas of Intervention 4. UNESCO’s Programmatic Thrust UNESCO’s Past Support to National Educational Development UNESCO’s Regular Program Priorities in Education Government’s Expectations vis-à-vis UNESCO 5. UNESCO’s National Education Support Strategy Assessment of Gaps in National Educational Development Proposed Interventions: Areas and Strategies

11. 9. UNESS: HOW AND WHO? This is not a research exercise, nor should it entail any primary data collection. Rather, it is a culling of existing information, including discussion with the relevant ministries and development partners, especially those in-country. Two extreme cases for developing UNESS: i)A country which has already developed a credible education plan, in which case, the work will consist of compiling, carefully analysing the existing documentation, and consolidating the information. ii)A country having no education plan, in which case the design will be much more time and resource consuming, involving in-depth needs assessments (in areas of EMIS, sector analysis and educational planning).

12. 9 bis. UNESS: HOW AND WHO? Process for designing UNESS: Carried out by Field Offices (national and cluster offices) In close consultation with ministries of education and other stakeholders With the support of Regional Bureaux, HQ and Institutes External consultancy mobilized if needed, especially during diagnostic phase Analysing national needs, policies and priorities for integration into UNESS The UNESS Draft to be submitted for appraisal by relevant national authorities for validation of data, analyses and cooperation proposals Discussion with technical services and decision makers likely shedding light on countries’ priorities and perspectives for cooperation.

13. … will be pilot-tested in a dozen countries … revised as necessary before its wider application, and … then gradually generalised throughout all countries requesting UNESCO’s support for their education development. PILOTING: In 11 Countries receiving CapEFA program support (extra-budgetary) AFR: Angola, Guinea, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, UR Tanzania APA: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Viet Nam ARB: Egypt, Morocco (April through July 2006) WIDER APPLICATION: To all countries requesting the Organization’s support in education (September through early 2007) POINTS FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION: i)Beginning with developing countries with a UNESCO field presence, then continuing with those countries belonging to cluster offices, and eventually to transition countries, etc. ii)For reasons of limited capacity, UNESCO could start UNESS in a simple manner, then improve with more analyses and details. 10. UNESS: WHERE AND WHEN?

14. 11. UNESS’S IMPLICATIONS IN TERMS OF IN-HOUSE CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT LEARNING BY DOING: -- through joint involvement of FOs, Institutes and HQs Joint missions by different UNESCO entities Workshops with support by the Institutes Experience-sharing among FOs, and between our different entities Covering additional costs involved for designing the UNESS (enough for missions and technical assistance) REORIENTATION OF THE STAFF CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME: -- streamlining the Staff Development Programme Using internal resources (Institutes for example) and if necessary, external institutions Development of medium and long-tem staff development plans.