Education For All (EFA) is a global movement led by UNESCO (United
Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), aiming to
meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015
UNESCO has been mandated to lead the movement and coordinate
the international efforts to reach Education for All. Governments,
development agencies, civil society, non-government organizations
and the media are but some of the partners working toward reaching
these goals.
The EFA goals also contribute to the global pursuit of the
eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially MDG 2 on
universal primary education and MDG 3 on gender equality in
education, by 2015.
UNESCO also produces the annual Education for All Global Monitoring
Report, replaced by the Global Education Monitoring Report.[2]
1990-World Education Forum at Jomtien, Thailand (Jomtien Declaration)
In 2000, ten years later, the international community met again at the
World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, an event which drew 1100
participants.
The forum took stock of the fact that many countries were far from
having reached the goals established at the World Conference on
Education for All in 1990. The participants agreed on the Dakar
Framework for Action which re-affirmed their commitment to
achieving Education for All by the year 2015, and identified six key
measurable education goals which aim to meet the learning needs of
all children, youth and adults by 2015.
The six goals established in The Dakar Framework for Action,
Education for All: Meeting Our Collective Commitments are:
Goal 1: Expand early childhood care and education
Goal 2: Provide free and compulsory primary education for all
Goal 3: Promote learning and life skills for young people and adults
Goal 4: Increase adult literacy by 50 percent
Goal 5: Achieve gender parity by 2005, gender equality by 2015
Goal 6: Improve the quality of education
UNESCO has developed the Education for All Development Index (EDI).
The EDI measures four of the six EFA goals, selected on the basis of
data availability. Each of the four goals is evaluated using a specific
indicator, and each of those components is then assigned an equal
weight in the overall index.
The EDI value for a given country is thus the arithmetic mean of the
four indicators.
The four goals measured in the EDI and their corresponding indicators
are:
Goal 1: Expand early childhood care and education - The indicator
selected to measure progress towards this goal is the total primary
net enrolment ratio (NER), which measures the percentage of
primary-school-age children who are enrolled in either primary or
secondary school. Its value varies from 0 to 100%. Therefore, a NER
of 100% means that all eligible children are enrolled in school.
Goal 4: Increase adult literacy by 50 percent - Although existing
data on literacy are not entirely satisfactory, the adult literacy rate
for those aged 15 and above is used here as a proxy to measure
progress.
Goal 5: Achieve gender parity by 2005, gender equality by 2015: The
indicator selected to measure progress towards this goal is the
gender-specific EFA index, the GEI, which is itself a simple average
of the three gender parity indexes (GPI) for primary education,
secondary education and adult literacy, with each being weighted
equally. Therefore it encompasses the two sub-goals of the original
EFA goal: gender parity (achieving equal participation of girls and
boys in primary and secondary education) and gender equality
(ensuring that educational equality exists between boys and girls)
proxied by the GPI for adult literacy
Goal 6: Improve the quality of education - The survival rate to Grade
5 was selected for as being the best available proxy for assessing
the quality component of EDI, as comparable data are available for
a large number of countries.[9]
The EFA Global Monitoring Report[10] published annually by UNESCO
tracks progress on the six education goals. The 2015 review indicates
that only a third of countries reached all the goals with measurable
targets.[11]
---
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), officially known
as Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development is a set of 17 "Global Goals" with 169 targets between
them.
Spearheaded by the United Nations through a deliberative process
involving its 193 Member States, as well as global civil society, the
goals are contained in paragraph 54 United Nations Resolution
A/RES/70/1 of 25 September 2015.[1] The Resolution is a broader
intergovernmental agreement that acts as the Post 2015 Development
Agenda (successor to the Millennium Development Goals). T
he SDGs build on the Principles agreed upon under Resolution
A/RES/66/288, popularly known as The Future We Want.[2] It is a non-
binding document released as a result of Rio+20 Conference held in
2012 in Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil.[2]
The SDGs were in large measure informed by the perspective reflected
in the often quoted assertion by Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations
Secretary-General from 2007 to 2016, that "we don’t have plan B
because there is no planet B".[3]
On 19 July 2014, the UN General Assembly's Open Working Group
(OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) forwarded a proposal
for the SDGs to the Assembly.
On 5 December 2014, the UN General Assembly accepted the
Secretary-General's Synthesis Report which stated that the agenda for
the post-2015 SDG process would be based on the OWG proposals. [5]
The Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Post 2015 Development
Agenda (IGN) began in January 2015 and ended in August 2015.
Following the negotiations, a final document was adopted at the UN
Sustainable Development Summit September 25–27, 2015 in New York,
USA.[6] The title of the agenda is Transforming our world: the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development.[7][8]
Young people holding the SDGs banners in Lima, Peru
The history of the SDGs can be traced to 1972 when governments met
in Stockholm, Sweden, for the United Nations Conference on the
Human Environment, to consider the rights of the human family to a
healthy and productive environment.[9] It was not until 1983 that the
United Nations decided to create the World Commission on
Environment and Development which defined sustainable development
as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs". In 1992 the
first United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development was held in Rio. The first agenda for Environment and
Development, also known as Agenda 21, was developed and adopted
in Rio.
Paragraph 246 of the Future We Want outcome document forms the
link between the Rio+20 agreement and the Millennium Development
Goals: "We recognize that the development of goals could also be
useful for pursuing focused and coherent action on sustainable
development. The goals should address and incorporate in a balanced
way all three dimensions of sustainable development (environment,
economics, and society) and their interlinkages. The development of
these goals should not divert focus or effort from the achievement of
the Millennium Development Goals". Paragraph 249 states that "the
process needs to be coordinated and coherent with the processes to
consider the post-2015 development agenda".
Taken together, paragraph 246 and 249 paved the way for
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).[11] The MDGs were
officially established following the Millennium Summit of the United
Nations in 2000 and the agreement in the Future We Want outcome
document. The Rio+20 summit also agreed that the process of
designing sustainable development goals, should be "action-oriented,
concise and easy to communicate, limited in number, aspirational,
global in nature and universally applicable to all countries while taking
into account different national realities, capacities and levels of
development and respecting national policies and priorities".[12]
Because the MDGs were to be achieved by 2015, a further process was
needed. Discussion of the post-2015 framework for international
development began well in advance, with the United Nations System
Task Team on Post 2015 Development Agenda[13] releasing the first
report known as Realizing The Future We Want.[14] The Report was the
first attempt to achieve the requirements under paragraph 246 and 249
of the Future We Want document. It identified four dimensions as part
of a global vision for sustainable development: Inclusive Social
Development, Environmental Sustainability, Inclusive Economic
Development, and Peace and Security. Other processes included the
UN Secretary General's High Level Panel on the Post 2015
Development Agenda,[15] whose report[16] was submitted to the
Secretary General in 2013.
On 25 September 2015, the 194 countries of the UN General Assembly
adopted the 2030 Development Agenda titled Transforming our world:
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Following the adoption,
UN agencies under the umbrella of the United Nations Development
Group, decided to support an independent campaign to help
communicate the agreed Sustainable Development Goals to a wider
constituency. Known as Project Everyone,[17] the independent
campaign introduced the term Global Goals and was supported by
corporate institutions and other International Organizations. Because
this decision was made without the approval of the member states, it
met resistance.[18] In addition, several sections of civil society and
governments felt[19] the UNDG ignored "sustainability," even though it
was the most important aspect of the agreement. That the term
"Global Goals" also refers to several other processes not related to the
United Nations was another concern.
The Official Agenda for Sustainable adopted on 25 September 2015
has 92 paragraphs. Paragraph 51 outlines the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals and the associated 169 targets.
The 17 SDGs are listed below, together with some of their key facts
and figures:[20]
The process (for arriving at the Post-2015 development agenda)[edit]
Since Rio+20 - the Earth Summit of 2012 - did not elaborate specific
goals, a 30-member Open Working Group (OWG) was established on 22
January 2013 by the decision of the UN General Assembly. The OWG
was tasked with preparing a proposal on the SDGs for consideration
during the 68th session of the General Assembly, September 2013 –
September 2014.[61]
The OWG used a constituency-based system of representation: most of
the seats in the working group are shared by several countries. After
13 sessions, the OWG submitted their proposal of 17 SDGs and 169
targets to the 68th session of the UN General Assembly in September,
2014.[62]
The Rio+20 outcome document mentioned, “at the outset, the OWG
will decide on its methods of work, including developing modalities to
ensure the full involvement of relevant stakeholders and expertise
from civil society, the scientific community and the United Nations
system in its work, in order to provide a diversity of perspectives and
experience”.[63]
Critique[edit]
A report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) of
2013 criticized the SDGs for not being ambitious enough. They cite
evidence from the report "An Ambitious Development Goal: Ending
Hunger and Undernutrition by 2025" to suggest the emphasis should
not be on an end to poverty by 2030, but on eliminating hunger and
under-nutrition by 2025. The assertion is based on an analysis of
experiences in China, Vietnam, Brazil and Thailand. The report
identifies 3 pathways to achieving the goal by 2025. 1) agriculture-led;
2) social protection- and nutrition intervention-led; or 3) a combination
of both of these approaches.[64]
The SDGs have been criticized for being contradictory, because in
seeking high levels of global GDP growth, they will undermine their
own ecological objectives. It has also been noted that, in relation to
the headline goal of eliminating extreme poverty, "a growing number of
scholars are pointing out that $1.25 is actually not adequate for
human subsistence", and the poverty line should be revised to as high
as $5.[65]
A commentary in The Economist argued that 169 targets for the SDGs
is too many. The article used descriptors like "sprawling",
"misconceived", and "a mess" compared to the Millennium
Development Goals. Another criticsm is that the goals ignore local
context and promote "cookie-cutter development policies". That all
other sustainable development goals are contingent on achieving SDG
1, ending poverty. The Economist estimated that alleviating poverty
and achieving the other sustainable development goals will require
about $2-$3 trillion USD per annum for the next 15 years. Critics do not
see this as being feasible. The reduction in the number of people living
in abject poverty can be attributed to the growth of China, while the
MDGs have been mistakenly credited for this drop.[66] The SDGs have
also been criticized due to the inherent shortcomings in the very
concept of sustainable development and the inability of the latter to
either stabilize rising carbon dioxide concentration or ensure
environmental harmony.[67]
Another view is more positive. The SDGs were the first outcome from a
UN conference that was not criticized by any major Non-Governmental
Organization (NGO). Instead, there was broad support from NGOs. This
is in stark contrast to the MDGs which were heavily criticized by
NGOs. The MDGs dealt with the problems, the SDGs deal with the
causes of the problems. The MDGs were about development while the
SDGs are about sustainable development. Finally, the MDGs used a silo
approach to problem, while the SDGs take into account the inter-
linkages.
Nearly all stakeholders engaged in negotiations to develop the SDGs
agreed that 17 goals were justified because the agenda they address
is all encompassing.
Implementation[edit]
Implementation of the SDGs has started worldwide. It is no easy task
however, fortunately many people, universities, governments,
organisations but also citizens[68] work on several topics at the same
time everywhere. In each country, governments must translate the
goals into national legislation, develop a plan of action, allocate a
budget, be open and search for partners. Poor countries need the
support of rich countries, and coordination at the international level is
crucial.[69]
The Agenda is very ambitious; here are some of the obstacles and how
they are being addressed:
Communicating the Goals. A team of communication specialists did
a wonderful job in transforming the pages the diplomats drafted at
UN level in which the Sustainable Development Goals and the
whole endeavour are described - quite boring - into a way these
goals could be marketed. Following a process, lead by Jakob
Trollbäck,[70][71] icons were developed for every goal, the title was
shortened to its essence from "The 17 Sustainable Development
Goals" to "Global Goals", dedicated workshops and conferences
developed on the topic of communicating the #GlobalGoals [72] - s.a.
the Global Festival of Ideas for Sustainable Development at the
UNO headquarters in Bonn in march 2017; the endeavour was
opened up so everybody could participate,[68] etc.
Goal 1 to eradicate poverty is hampered by growing inequality,
increasingly fragile statehood and the impacts of climate change. [73]
For dealing with the complexity and often interlinking of the goals
with each other, several techniques and methodologies are used,
e.g. at the Global Festival of Ideas for Sustainable Development at
the UNO headquarters in Bonn in march 2017, the 2030 Hive
Mind game[74] was used: "The SDGs are highly interdependent –
objectives overlap; policies compete and complement; countries
have to set priorities, sequence their efforts and manage trade-offs.
The game simulates some of these complexities to spark inventive
solutions and build alliances. This was not a modelling exercise,
although the game was built on empirical evidence. Nor was it
prescriptive. The game was designed to help people, regardless of
their backgrounds, engage in a complex decision-making process.".
[74]
Cross-cutting issues[edit]
Women and gender equality[edit]
Despite a stand-alone goal on gender equality, there is widespread
consensus that progress on any and all of the SDGs will be stalled if
women's empowerment and gender equality is not prioritized.
Arguments and evidence from sources as diverse and as economically-
oriented as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) to expected sources such as UN Women, bolster
the case that investments in women and girls impact national and
global development in ways that exceed their initial scope.[75]
Role of women board members[edit]
European scholars have insisted that the economic empowerment of
women should be construed as an issue of global significance in
both Northern Hemispherenations and the Global South: “the
empowerment of […] women board members” being viewed as a
central, cross-cutting issue allowing female experts and thought
leaders to exercise direct oversight over corporations, governments
and institutional asset owners in both developed and developing
nations [76]
SDG-driven investment[edit]
Capital stewardship is expected to play a crucial part in the
progressive advancement of the SDG agenda across all asset classes:
“No longer ‘absentee landlords’, [ pension fund ] trustees have
started to exercise more forcefully
their governance prerogatives across the boardrooms
of Britain, Benelux and America: coming together through the
establishment of engaged pressure groups […] to ‘shift the
[whole economic] system towards sustainable investment’.”[77]
The boards of directors of large Dutch and Scandinavian public
and sectorial pension funds[76] were early adopters of this SDG-
driven approach: in March 2017, Holland’s Pensionfund Metalektro
(PME), the main retirement scheme for the metal and electrical
engineering sector, announced it would bring rapidly 10% of its €45
($49) billion investment portfolio in line with the UN SDGs [78]
North-South economic cooperation[edit]
At the 2017 G20 Hamburg summit, India's Prime
Minister Narendra Modi invited Norwegian pension funds to
invest in his country's National Infrastructure Investment platform
as he met Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who, in a gesture
symbolising renewed cooperation towards the attainment of the
Sustainable Development Goals, offered him a round leather
football embroidered with the initials 'SDGs'[79]
Education[edit]
Education for sustainable development (ESD)[edit]
See main article: Education for sustainable development
Education for sustainable development (ESD) is explicitly
recognized in the SDGs as part of Target 4.7 of the SDG on
education, together with Global Citizenship Education (GCED),
which UNESCO promotes as a complementary approach.[80] At the
same time, it is important to emphasize ESD’s crucial importance
for all the other 16 SDGs. With its overall aim to develop cross-
cutting sustainability competencies in learners, ESD is an essential
contribution to all efforts to achieve the SDGs, enabling individuals
to contribute to sustainable development by promoting societal,
economic and political change as well as by transforming their own
behaviour.[81]
Massive open online course (MOOC)[edit]
Main article: Massive open online course
MOOCs can be seen as a form of open education offered for free
through online platforms. The (initial) philosophy of MOOCs is to
open up quality Higher Educationto a wider audience. As such,
MOOCs are an important tool to achieve Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development ("Ensure inclusive and equitable
quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for
all").[82] They could also make an important contribution to SDG 5:
"Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls".[82]
