Bangkok, Thailand, 23-24 November 2017 - The Consultation Meeting of Asia-Pacific UNESCO Category 2 Centres in Education was organised by UNESCO Bangkok Office, in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU). Aiming to share success stories and challenges encountered in the implementation of SDG4 in the previous year and explore better strategies for collaboration among the Centres, the meeting involved delegates from 6 Category 2 Centres as well as other relevant institutions.
Dr. Huang Ronghuai, Director of UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (INRULED), and Dr. Zhao Yuchi, Office Director, attended the meeting, along with delegates from 5 other UNESCO Category 2 Centres in Education, including APCEIU, South East Asia Centre of Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development (SEA-CLLSD), South Asian Centre for Teacher Development (SACTD), International Centre for Higher Education Innovation (ICHEI), and International Mother Language Institute (IMLI). The meeting also involved representatives from the UNESCO Office in Bangkok, Almaty, Dhaka, Jakarta and New Delhi as well as Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO). Additionally, representatives from the UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE) and Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) also took part in this important meeting via online communication platform.
Consultation Meeting of Asia-Pacific UNESCO Category 2 Centres in Education, Bangkok, Thailand
Under the theme Quality Education for a Peaceful and Sustainable Asia-Pacific ： The Role of UNESCO Category 2 Centres in Education 2030 , actions and plans of the Centres and UNESCO field offices on implementing SDG4.7 were presented at the meeting. Delegates also discussed the methods and strategies to strengthen communication and cooperation among UNESCO Category 2 Centres. It has been discovered that capacity development for educators, and research and development were the main focuses set by most of the participating centres.
INRULED took the opportunity to share the recent work progress and planned programmes in education for rural sustainable development, gender equality, education of ethnic minorities, and explored possibilities for cooperation with relevant institutions in the implementation of the SDG target 4.7. It was proposed in the meeting to have a communications strategy within UNESCO channels, and all relevant institutions should collaborate through joint-programme such as seminar organisations, research and development in order to progress toward achieving the sustainable goals by 2030.