Education Minister to Attend Launch of Global Monitoring Report

Education and Youth Minister, Maxine Henry Wilson, will join a high level team of Education Ministers, experts and practitioners of early childhood care and education from around the world, for the launch of the 2007 Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report (GMR), in New York on Thursday, October 26.
The launch will take place at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) House, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
After the launch, the Ministers will discuss findings in the Report as well as their implications for policy-makers and the donor community.
The Report, which is prepared annually by an independent team of experts and published by UNESCO, will focus on early childhood care and education this year. The document also includes its regular assessment of where the world now stand on its commitment to providing basic education to all children, youth and adults by 2015.
Latin America and the Caribbean lead the developing world in early childhood education, according to the Report. However, the document notes that despite its well documented benefits on all aspects of child development and well-being, this area remains the forgotten link in the education chain in most other developing nations.
The Report further shows a thorough analysis of aid to education, looking at who provides how much and where, as well as an annual education index showing which countries are making the most rapid progress and those still lagging behind.
The launching ceremony will be presided over by Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO.