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In this issue

Message from the Director 1

Announcements 2,3

Web news of the week 4

Events of the week 4,5

Missions 5

From the Office 5,6

Meetings 6,7,8

Message from the Director This week will see an important effort of UNESCO to promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in the Region. The Ministerial SDG4 Regional Forum for Eastern Africa will take place in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania from 15 to 16 February 2017 on the theme ´Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all´. The forum is organized in partnership with the Ministry of Education of Tanzania, UNESCO and the SDG4 co-conveners (ILO, UNFPA, UNDP, UNICEF, UN Women, UNHCR and the World Bank) with the participation of Ministers or their representatives, the SDG country focal points and the Secretary-Generals of National Commissions from 13 Member States in the region (Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda). The meeting is an important opportunity to identify priorities and policy recommendations for a regional roadmap for the implementation of the SDG4-Education 2030 agenda and linkages with other SDGs; to develop proposals and recommendations for regional coordination/collaboration, partnership, monitoring and follow-up mechanisms in view of translating the global agenda into achievable national policies, plans and targets; and to adopt a regional outcome statement on the implementation of SDG4-Education 2030 at the end of the Forum. On the same occasion in Dar es Salaam on 17 February 2017, the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa will organize a Regional meeting for Secretary-Generals of the National Commissions of Eastern Africa countries. The objective of this regional meeting is to find better synergies between UNESCO and the National Commissions and the role of the National Commissions in accompanying the processes for the implementation of SDGs and the follow up with governments on the implementation of conventions especially the recently revised Addis Convention on higher education. The meeting will also be an opportunity to follow-up on the meeting of Secretary- Generals held in Nairobi in December 2016 on the Agenda 2030 and Africa Union Agenda 2063 and discuss the implementation of the programme of the organization, including Regional Participation Programmes. Last week on 8 February 2017, I also had the opportunity to meet with the Cabinet Secretary of Education of Kenya Mr Fred Matiang'i. The meeting was an opportunity to discuss ongoing initiatives in Kenya and in the Region and the importance of changing the mindset in education in focusing more on knowledge production than knowledge consumption. This mindset is applicable from primary, secondary but most importantly higher education levels. Education has a fundamental role in creating knowledge, especially in view of radical changes in the traditional patterns of knowledge production, diffusion and application. In the emerging knowledge societies, exponential growth in the quantity of knowledge produces a growing gap between those who create and access knowledge and culture, and learn to master them, and those who are deprived of such access. Our focus should be on leaving no one behind in the process of knowledge production, creativity and innovation which would inform the mainstreaming and acceleration of policy support and build capacities for all citizens to partake in knowledge societies. A Higher Education Ministerial Conference is planned to take place in Djibouti from 2 to 4 May 2017 which would engage Ministers of Higher Education, universities and intellectuals on science, technology and innovation to respond to emerging issues like climate change and human security and peace. Finally, I am particularly pleased with the outcome of the visit of the UNESCO Assistant Director General for Social and Human Sciences, Ms. Nada Al-Nashif and Mr Whitaker, UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace & Reconciliation to Uganda, from 7 to 11 February 2017. The delegation accompanied by the Resident Coordinator and the UNHCR Country Representative in Uganda participated in the capacity building workshop for young people from both Uganda and South Sudan on International Peace & Security in Education and visited the Kiryandongo area where the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative is to launch a new programme intended for young women and men in refugee settlements.

Ann Therese Ndong Jatta

Weekly Newsletter

UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa Issue 13: 6th to 10th February 2017

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Announcements

Social media in the UNESCO Office for Eastern Africa The social media platforms of the regional office have been reactivated as of 1 February 2017. The website and social media platforms are mutually reinforcing, and it requires being active in both and promote and link to the content of the field office website. Social media accounts are currently managed by a team of volunteers and Kefan Yang is overseeing the posts together with Tabitha Mwanzia and Wycliffe Omedo. Each one will be responsible for 2 units:

Kefan Yang: Director’s Office and Education; Tabitha Mwanzia: Natural Sciences and Culture; Wycliffe Omedo: Social and Human Sciences and Communication and Information.

You are all encouraged to follow the office activities on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unescoeastafrica

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChcugghX1GHDjOhCLvezNCA

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/unescoafrica/

UNESCO celebrates International Day for Women and Girls in Science 11 Feb 2017 UNESCO is partnering with NACOSTI and the African Women in Science and Engineering (AWSE) to organize a half-day round-table discussion on the topic: “Gender Equality in Science: Myths, reality and Future perspectives”, on Saturday 11 February 2017 at the UN Complex in Nairobi, Kenya. The main objective of the Round table will be to provide a

platform for prominent Kenyan Women Scientists and Engineers to deliberate on the issues affecting Women and Girls in the Science and Engineering fields in Kenya and outline how these issues can be mitigated to ensure realization of the sustainable development goals, particularly Goal 5 on Gender Equality.

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13 February is World Radio Day!

This day is celebrated to raise awareness on the importance of radio and how it positively impacts on millions of lives every day. It is also a day to

celebrate radio as a medium of communication, to improve international cooperation among broadcasters and to encourage major networks and community radio alike to promote access to information and freedom of expression. To mark this day, the UNESCO Communication and Information and Culture sectors will be supporting celebrations in Kenya and Rwanda. Ministerial SDG4 Regional Forum for Eastern Africa in Dar Es Salaam 15 to 16 Feb 2017 On the 15 and 16 February 2017 Ministers of Education in Eastern Africa and partners will

meet in Dar Es Salaam to discuss regional priorities and policy recommendations for the interpretation, implementation and monitoring of the 2030 Education Agenda-SDG4 in the region. Following the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 SDGs at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in New York in September 2015, the SDG4-Education 2030 Framework for Action was adopted as the overall guiding framework for the implementation of SDG4-Education 2030. This

new ‘Education 2030’ agenda is fully captured in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4), “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all”.

The 2017 United Nations Public Service Awards The United Nations has launched a call for nominations for the 2017 United Nations Public

Service Awards (UNPSA). The awards are given by the UN Secretary-General to reward innovation and excellence in public services in support of the realisation of the SDGs. Nominations must be completed online at: https://publicadministration.un.org/en/U

NPSA. The deadline is 28 February 2017.

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Web news of the week

Piloting the “ICT Essentials for Teachers” Programme to enhance the Capacity of Primary and Secondary Teachers to Integrate ICT in Classrooms in Rwanda

South Sudan Journalists Trained in Conflict Sensitive Reporting

Rwanda joins World Radio Day global conversation for the first time

Events of the week Kenya

11 Feb 2017

International Day for Women and Girls in Science in Nairobi

13 Feb 2017

Celebration of World Radio Day in Nairobi

13 to 16 Feb 2017

Ministry of Education (MoE) /UNESCO workshop to develop tools/test items for Kenya

Adult Literacy Survey II in Nairobi

Rwanda

13 Feb 2017

Celebration of World Radio Day in Kigali

South Sudan

13 to 17 Feb 2017

National workshop on education statistics in Juba

Tanzania

15 to 16 Feb 2017

Interministerial SDG4 Regional forum for Eastern Africa in Dar es Salaam

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17 Feb 2017

Regional Consultation Meeting of UNESCO National Commissions in Dar es Salaam

Madagascar

16 Feb 2017

Press conference on trainings for investigative journalists in Antananarivo

Missions

Lydia Gachungi 12 to 16 Feb 2017 Kigali, Rwanda World Radio Day event and meetings with Safety of

Journalists media stakeholders

Benno Boer

15 to 16 Feb 2017 Djibouti City, Djibouti Workshop for the establishment of the 3RDG

technical support group

Several Staff of UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa

15 to 17 Feb 2017 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania SDG4 Regional Consultation Meeting of

UNESCO National Commissions

From the Office Knowledge Sharing Session on UNESTEAMS 3 and 6 Feb 2017

On the 3 February 2017, UNESCO Dar es Salaam staff members participated in a knowledge sharing session, which was jointly organized with KMI staff in Paris through Skype for Business. The training focused on various sections of UNESTEAMS, including updating user profile, using libraries, forums, tasks, calendar and OneDrive. Sergei Novikov and Juan Frias Velatti from KMI Unit in Paris facilitated the session. On Monday 6 February 2017 after a review of the six

previous sessions of Connect U trainings staff of UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa had the opportunity to have live Skype for business meetings from their offices in an effort measure the progress of the trainings.

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Knowledge sharing-- Korea keen to learn from Africa Traditional Justice Mechanisms 7 Feb 2017

On 7 February 2017, the Communication and Information Sector team met with a delegation from the Korean Kangwon National University to contribute to a research on African Traditional Justice. Making reference to the activities of the office in media development, the Korean delegation was keen to learn how UNESCO promotes traditional justice within communities. The discussion focused on the role of the community radio stations in promoting traditional justice in communities including refugee camps. Discussions were also held on the role of Information and

Communication Technologies in promoting justice in informal settlements, citing the use of GPS technology to map waste heaps in Kibera, located in Nairobi Kenya. The results of the research carried out by Kangwon National University are expected to contribute to Korean traditional justice mechanisms and will be made available as reference materials. Meetings Director’s meeting with Ambassador Kimulu 7 Feb 2017

On Tuesday 7 February 2017 Ann Therese Ndong Jatta, Director of UNESCO Regional Office in Eastern Africa met with Ambassador Mary Kimulu to discuss a number of issues related to UNESCO’s work in the sciences in Kenya. They discussed the work of the office of the UNESCO special envoy for water, His Excellency Mwai Kibaki and agreed on the need to strengthen his relationship with the Regional Office. They also discussed Kenya’s role in the revitalising the Management Of Social Transformation(MOST) forum. Ambassador Kimulu is the former Kenya Ambassador to UNESCO and since her retirement has been supporting the Regional Office work in the national sciences and Social and Human Sciences.

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UNESCO participates in Mobile Apps Developers follow up meeting 6 Feb 2017 Curriculum monitoring and evaluation framework development workshop in Nairobi 6 to 10 Feb 2017 In support of the ongoing curriculum reform process in Kenya, UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa in collaboration with UNESCO-IBE, Ministry of Education and Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) have been conducting a week long training on the development of a curriculum monitoring and evaluation framework. After the launch of the curriculum framework in January this year, KICD has embarked on developing the scope and sequence as well as the curriculum designs in preparation of the pilot of the curriculum in May 2017 for early grade classes. The monitoring and evaluation framework will be instrumental in conducting learning assessment and outcomes that will further inform the national curriculum roll out planned for 2018. Training for community radios technicians on technical and equipment maintenance proficiency 6 to 13 Feb 2017 As part of the 2017 World Radio celebrations, UNESCO Dar es Salaam Office has organized a training for community radios technicians on technical and equipment maintenance proficiency in Dar es Salaam. The 7 days training, which started from the 6 February 2017, has brought together 34 participants from community radios in Tanzania. Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation is facilitating the training.

On 6 February 2017, the CI Team participated in Mobile Apps Developers Follow Up Meeting organized by the Kenya National Commission with representatives from key partners. The meeting aims to follow up the mobile apps developers’ workshops of 2015 and to provide a platform for key partners to share their experiences in mobile apps related initiatives and practices. It also offers opportunities for fundraising and partnership with private companies. UNESCO expressed its interest in working closely with mobile developers to empower young people through ICTs, thereby tackling the issue of unemployment in Kenya.

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Visit of Nada Al-Nashif and Forest Whitaker to Uganda 7 to 12 Feb 2017

Uganda hosted the UNESCO delegation from 7 to 11 February 2017 led by the UNESCO Assistant Director General for Social and Human Science, Ms. Nada Al-Nashif, and comprising of Mr. Forest Whitaker, UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace & Reconciliation accompanied by Ms.

Caroline Descombris, an Assistant Programme Specialist and liaison officer from the ADG office at UNESCO in Paris, France. The mission took place in partnership between UNESCO and the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI), a Non-Governmental organization founded and managed by Mr. Forest Whitaker, to support young women and men from conflict- and violence-affected communities fully in line with the SDG framework.

South Sudan journalists trained in Conflict Sensitive Reporting in Juba 9 Feb 2017

Meeting with a delegation of the Somaliland Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs 10 Feb 2017

Fifty one journalists working for radio stations located in various states in South Sudan have been trained in conflict sensitive reporting and peace journalism from 31 January to 2 February 2017 at the Juba Regency hotel in Juba. The training was conducted under the ‘‘Communicating with Communities’’ project being implemented in South Sudan by UNESCO and UNDP. The three-day training equipped journalists with conflict sensitive reporting skills to enable them report in a manner that promotes and builds peace.

UNESCO met with the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Somaliland, together with the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission and the Director of Planning in the Ministry Labour and Social Affairs. The minister highlighted his interest in working further with UNESCO in the field of national heritage protection, women literacy and numeracy empowerment and strategies for women empowerment.