Education Commission of the

Education Commission of the 39th Session of the UNESCO General Conference

Paris, France November 1?4, 2017

Report of the Canadian Delegation

Education Commission of the 39th Session of the UNESCO General Conference_____

Report of the Canadian Delegation

Table of Contents

1. Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 3 2. Canadian delegation................................................................................................................. 3 3. Education Commission ............................................................................................................. 4

i. Overview................................................................................................................................ 4 ii. Agenda................................................................................................................................... 5 iii. Debates and key messages shared by the Canadian delegation .......................................... 5 4. CMEC and Korea co-hosted Dialogue on Global Competencies and Global Citizenship

Education.................................................................................................................................. 9 5. Main outcomes of the conference......................................................................................... 10 6. Follow-up for CMEC................................................................................................................ 10

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Education Commission of the 39th Session of the UNESCO General Conference____________ Report of the Canadian Delegation

1. Introduction

The Education Commission of the 39th Session of the UNESCO General Conference took place from November 1 to 4, 2017, at the organization's headquarters in Paris, France. The General Conference, which is held every two years, determines the organization's budget and the direction of its programmes and activities for the next two years.

Founded on November 16, 1945, the organization currently has 195 Member States and is governed by the General Conference and the Executive Board. Irina Bokova has served as Director-General of the UNESCO Secretariat since 2013 and is responsible for implementing the decisions of these two bodies.

This General Conference included the election of a new Director-General, which occurs every four years. Audrey Azoulay, former Minister of Culture for France, was elected UNESCO's Director-General, and will succeed Irina Bokova (Bulgaria), who was re-elected Director-General of the organization at the 37th Session of the UNESCO General Conference in 2013.

At this past Education Commission meeting, members set priorities and adopted the 2018-2019 education budget, based on the four-year 2018?2021 Major Programme I ? Education program. The commission also explored, and made decisions, on a number of issues, including a global convention for the recognition of higher education qualifications, and UNESCO's role in the implementation of the SDG4-Education 2030 Agenda.

Education is one of UNESCO's five key sectors, along with Natural Sciences, Social and Human Sciences, Culture, and Communication and Information. UNESCO is the only United Nations agency whose mandate includes all aspects of education--from preschool-education development to postsecondary education, including technical and vocational training, nonformal education, and literacy.

In October 2017, both the United States of America and Israel withdrew from the organization. This will take effect in December 2018. Both countries were present during the 39th Session of the General Conference.

2. Canadian delegation

The Honourable Dale Kirby, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, Newfoundland and Labrador, was nominated by CMEC as the Chief Spokesperson at the Education Commission during the 39th Session of the General Conference. Pursuant to the Quebec-Canada agreement on UNESCO, the Honourable S?bastien Proulx, Minister of Education, Recreation, and Sports, Quebec represented Quebec at the Education Commission.

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Education Commission of the 39th Session of the UNESCO General Conference_____

Report of the Canadian Delegation

Other members of the CMEC delegation to the Education Commission included:

? Deputy Minister John McLaughlin, New Brunswick; ? Chantal C. Beaulieu, Executive Director, CMEC Secretariat; ? Mr. S?bastien Goupil, Secretary-General, Canadian Commission for UNESCO; ? Antonella Manca-Mangoff, Director, International, CMEC Secretariat; ? Chiara Cautillo, Senior Analyst, International, CMEC Secretariat; ? Marie Macauley, Analyst, Early Learning and K?12, CMEC Secretariat; and ? Kara Connors, Executive Assistant to the Honourable Dale Kirby, Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Members of the Quebec delegation included:

? Mr. S?bastien Proulx, Ministre de l'?ducation, du Loisir et du Sport; ? Mr. Jean-Fran?ois Helms, Conseiller politique, Minist?re de l'?ducation, du Loisir et du

Sport; ? Mr. Patrick Gauthier, Conseiller en affaires internationales, Minist?re de l'?ducation et

de l'Enseignement sup?rieur; and ? Ms. Catherine Valli?res-Roland, Conseill?re au pupitre de l'UNESCO, Minist?re des

Relations internationales et de la francophonie.

Please refer to APPENDIX I for the full list of participants included in the Canadian Delegation to the 39th Session of the General Conference.

3. Education Commission

i. Overview

A large focus of the Education Commission was the work on, and implementation of, Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) on education. There were a number of panels, and side events organized throughout the Education Commission, which focused specifically on SDG4.

High-Level Ministerial Panel Discussion on SDG4 ? Education 2030 Strengthening accountability in the implementation of SDG4-Education 2030

A high-level ministerial meeting on SDG 4 was held on November 1, 2017. This meeting preceded the work of the Education Commission, and provided an opportunity for Member States to share their experiences of strengthening their governance and accountability systems, and to further the understanding of the opportunities and challenges arising from the implementation of SDG4-Education 2030 commitments and its effective realization.

Two ministerial-level panel debates on mechanisms to promote accountability and transparency brought together 13 education ministers who highlighted initiatives that their

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Education Commission of the 39th Session of the UNESCO General Conference_____

Report of the Canadian Delegation

countries have undertaken to increase accountability and move the Education 2030 agenda forward.

During the first panel on accountability, ministers shared approaches, policy measures, strategies, and tools used by their governments in the context of SDG4, that are enabling effective accountability. During the second panel, ministers presented on ways in which better accountability systems are improving the financing of education, especially from domestic sources. Minister Proulx participated as a panelist for the second panel.

ii. Agenda

Members of the Education Commission considered 10 items on the General Conference agenda, divided into five debates, over three days.

The provisional timetable of the Education Commission's work is available at: (French)

The revised provisional agenda of the General Conference is available at: (French)

The organization of the work of the General Conference session is available at: (French)

iii. Debates and key messages shared by the Canadian delegation

First debate

? Consideration and adoption of Draft Programme and Budget for 2018-2021 (39 C/5) ? Part II. A: Major Programme I ? Education

? UNESCO's role in the implementation of the SDG4-Education 2030 agenda

Canada supported the adoption of the draft program and budget, as did other Member States, and expressed its satisfaction with the close alignment between the expected results in the draft programme and budget with SDG4 targets. However, Canada mentioned that the results framework could be improved to better demonstrate how planned activities contribute to the achievement of the organization's expected results.

Minister Kirby spoke about Canada's work on global competencies, noting that it references Indigenous pedagogy, and that it complements UNESCO's work on education. Minister Kirby also shared that Canada will be developing a pan-Canadian assessment strategy for global competencies, including global citizenship and sustainability, and work is being done to ensure that Indigenous students have equal access to all levels of education.

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