The Role of the United Nations System in Implementing the Internationally Agreed Goals and Commitments in Regard to Education

E/RES/2012/2View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Economic and Social Council, under agenda item 4 The role of the United Nations System in implementing the ministerial declaration of the high-level segment of the 2011 substantive session of the Economic and Social Council, published in 2012.

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 subjects

Education Educational Policy Educational Quality Partnership

What’s in this document?

19 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the theme of the coordination segment of its substantive session of 2012;⁷

⁷E/2012/66.

Recognizes efforts made by the United Nations system to accelerate progress towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goal 2 and Education for All and related goals, and encourages further efforts in that regard;

Reaffirms the need for Governments to take the lead in education, and underlines the importance of commitments by national Governments, official institutions and local authorities to education, recognizing that each country has primary responsibility for and ownership of its own economic and social development and that development strategies, national policies and domestic resources are critical to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All goals, and calls upon the United Nations system to support those national efforts and commitments;

Encourages the United Nations system to increase its efforts and mobilize adequate resources to raise the profile of the international education agenda and maximize educational results;

Looks forward to the launch of the Secretary-General’s Global Initiative on Education;

Calls upon the funds, programmes and agencies of the United Nations system, as appropriate and within their mandates, to give attention to addressing factors of marginalization in education for all, particularly with regard to rural and indigenous women and girls;

Urges the United Nations system to support national efforts to improve the quality of education, so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes can be achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills;

Calls upon the United Nations system to support the efforts of Member States to improve the collection and analysis of education data disaggregated by sex, age, disability, location and other relevant factors for effective policy design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation;

Also calls upon the United Nations system to support the efforts of countries to counter the portrayal of stereotyped roles of women and men that can restrain educational choices at all levels of education;

Encourages efforts to provide education in humanitarian emergencies, including in order to contribute to a smooth transition from relief to development;

Stresses the importance of the contribution of voluntary partnerships on education to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, while reiterating that they are a complement to, but not intended to substitute for, the commitment made by Governments with a view to achieving those goals;

Encourages the United Nations system to continue to act as a framework provider and a facilitator for partnerships on education with a wide range of relevant stakeholders, with a view to building trust among all actors and sharing good practices and lessons learned for the final push to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All goals;

Urges the relevant United Nations entities working in the education, health and food sectors, within their respective mandates, to seek synergies in order to enhance enrolment, retention, participation and achievement of girls and boys at school and maximize interventions to the benefit of children;

Encourages the relevant United Nations entities and the international financial institutions working in the economic and educational fields to strengthen their collaboration in order to advance, as appropriate, technical and vocational training, higher education, access to and participation in the workforce and the promotion of entrepreneurship among youth;

Encourages relevant United Nations entities, within their respective mandates, to assess emerging trends in education and training, particularly the increased focus on learning outcomes, teacher training and the use of information and communications technologies in education processes, and to analyse the implications for their programmes on education;

Stresses that, when assisting Member States, upon their request, in determining future policy options, the United Nations system should have a broad vision that encompasses early childhood care and education, youth and adult literacy and vocational skills development as well as concern for the improvement of the quality and relevance of basic learning;

Also stresses that achieving development goals on education requires a coordinated and integrated approach in support of national and local efforts, involving all relevant stakeholders, including, as appropriate, civil society and the private sector;

Encourages appropriate consideration of education in the processes devoted to the definition of the post-2015 United Nations development agenda;

Decides to continue monitoring progress in education-related development goals and commitments, including the role of partnerships in education.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents