The Diplomat
The Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have signed a cooperation agreement in Paris that focuses on compliance with the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, approved by the United Nations in September 2015.
The signing of the agreement took place last Friday at UNESCO headquarters and was attended by the Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, and the Secretary General of the OEI, Mariano Jabonero. “With this agreement, UNESCO, the most important cooperation agency in the world, and the OEI, the most important cooperation agency in Ibero-America, reinforce their commitment to developing actions and initiatives in the field of education, science, culture, communication and information in Ibero-America”, the OEI said in a statement.
The main objective of the agreement is to contribute to the fulfilment of Agenda 2030, with special attention to the implementation of sustainable development goal number four (SDG4), dedicated to education, through various international and regional coordination mechanisms.
The agreement also provides for support for initiatives aimed at improving the contribution of culture to sustainable development, the promotion of cultural and creative industries in Latin America, support for initiatives in favour of inclusion and equity as basic principles of quality education, the promotion of initiatives that position early childhood as a key stage in learning, the promotion of training processes for democracy and citizenship, and the development of lifelong learning opportunities.
Through this agreement, the OEI and UNESCO are also committed to supporting initiatives aimed at strengthening higher education in the Ibero-American region, working closely with the UNESCO Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC), and will collaborate in promoting and strengthening scientific cooperation and the advancement of science, technology and innovation in the region, which will make the OEI the main partner of UNESCO at the next Open Science Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean (CILAC).
