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In no other field does UNESCO's role as a 'shaper of the future' appear so clearly as in education.

UNESCO had its forerunners in the field of international cooperation among educators. In the aftermath of the First World War, the Council of the League of Nations proposed the creation of an international Committee to examine questions of intellectual and educational cooperation. The International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation established in 1925 did not actually have education as one of its specific functions, although it did devote a significant proportion of its activities - some of them in many ways foreshadowing those of UNESCO - to education. The somewhat marginal nature of the Institute's educational activities in fact so frustrated educators that in 1929 the International Bureau of Education (IBE) was transformed into an intergovernmental organization. Carrying on the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau Institute of the University of Geneve, IBE was to open the way to cooperation among governments in the field of education, hitherto regarded as a preserve of national sovereignty.

Conceived while bombs were falling, in the darkest hours of the bloodiest conflict in history, UNESCO was the offspring of a meditation on war and on the atrocities perpetrated during the period that came to an end in 1945. Its birth called education into question for falling to prevention the war and its consequences, yet constituted a declaration of faith in education for the building of a better future.

'Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.' But not peace at any price: peace founded upon 'the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind' and not merely the absence of war. This is a primarily educational mission, involving 'full and equal opportunities for education for all'. Hence the realization that the right to education and education for justice, freedom and peace are the two fundamental ethical tasks assigned to UNESCO. They go hand in hand. This is the first distinguishing feature of UNESCO - an organization whose ethical purpose has precedence over its technical function.

UNESCO was also endowed with other fields of competence besides education: the natural sciences, the social and human sciences, culture and communication. Its educational work greatly benefited from its contact with these disciplines and their occasional interpretation, which education had to take into account. As a result, education was no longer confined to teaching and pedagogical aspects, but was thrown open to the entire realm of knowledge, ideas and creativity that it blended to forge a modern humanism. This is UNESCO's second distingushing feature.

Its work in the field of education - and this is its third distinguishing feature - is to be seen in the context of th United Nations System. While independent, UNESCO is a party to a collective endeavor to forster peace and the common prosperity of all. Its contribution whose efforts to extend and improve education serve these causes, thereby giving a highly practical flavour to the debate on education and the policies to which it leads. All reflection, studies and exchanges of ideas among educators are action-oriented. UNESCO - and this is its fourth distinguishing feature - is the only intergovernmental organization with competence in education that has a universal vocation.

UNESCO is neither a technical agency, nor a research institute; nor is it a center for theoretical speculation or purely pedagogical study, or as has sometimes been mistakenly thought, a supranational ministry of education. Throughout the fifty years of its existence, it has constantly helped its Member States to identify their needs and aspirations in the national or regional conferences. But, in so doing it has always been guided by these countries' own choices and has always scrupulously abided by their decisions. While never neutral when principles of equity, human dignity, respect for human rights and international understanding have been at stake, it has never sought to impose national policies, curricula or textbooks.

UNESCO has constantly sought to mobilize the political will of the international community on behalf of the two great educational causes - the right to education and the role of education in building a more caring world - but it has never attempted to supplant the governments of its Member States. In any event, it lacks the means to do so. Even if it were to devote the whole of its budget, including its own operating costs, to illiteracy eradication it would have barely 25 cents a year to spend on each illiterate in the world.

Today the fact is that since the task of developing and improving education rests essentially with governments, UNESCO has been called upon to play a different and quite considerable role over the last fifty years: that of acting as a stimulus and a catalyst, analysing trends, defining policies, setting standards, formulating key ideas, encouraging innovation and organizing exchanges of information, ideas and people. And, at the appropriate time mobilizing the financial and human resources needed for the advancement of education. UNESCO's role in the field of education is to do with scant resources what other institutions cannot do, or cannot do as well.

UNESCO, 50 Years for Education, pp.24-25, 1997

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ROLE OF EDUCATIOIN

Education for justice, liberty and peace is the nations' sacred duty: the importance that the authors of the Constitution attributed to education and their faith in its power situate UNESCO's founding text within the great humanist tradition of the eminent thinkers who have been the glory of different civilizations, they make it one of the most remarkable ethical documents of the twentieth century and give it an imperishable relevance.

The importance of education in the eyes of UNESCO's founders is mirrored by the importance of its place in the Constitution. The fact that no other concept appears as frequently as that of education in its Preamble and Article I is significant in this respect. This vision of the role of education is one of the great messages conveyed by the Constitution from the founders of UNESCO.

UNESCO: an Ideal in Action. The Continuing Relevance of a Visionary Text, Federico Mayor and Sema Tanguiance, Paris, UNESCO. 1996

The Education for All (EFA) movement is a global commitment to provide quality basic education for all children, youth and adults.

At the World Education Forum (Dakar, 2000), 164 governments pledged to achieve EFA and identified six goals - 1) expand early childhood care and education, 2) ensure that all children are able to access and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality, 3) increase access to learning and life skills programme for youth and adults, 4) improve adult literacy rates by 50%, 5) eliminate gender disparities in education, and 6) improve all aspects of education quality - to be met by 2015. Governments, development agencies, civil society and the private sector are working together to reach these EFA goals.

The Dakar Framework for Action mandated UNESCO to coordinate these partners, in cooperation with the four other convenors of the Dakar Forum (UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank). As the lead agency, UNESCO focuses its activities on five key areas: policy dialogue, monitoring, advocacy, mobilization of funding, and capacity development.

The Korean National Commission for UNESCO (KNCU) has consistently and eagerly endeavoured to achieve EFA goals. Moreover, Korea is urged to play a greater role for EFA, as Korea was admitted to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in 2009; this implies Korea’s transformation from a ‘recipient country’ to a ‘donor country.’

With regard to achieving EFA goals, KNCU has utilized the Samsung-KNCU Education Fund since 2001, in collaboration with Samsung Electronics, to support educational development - teacher training, reconstruction, empowerment, and encouragement - of developing countries in Asia-Pacific and Africa. This year, KNCU will focus on 1) reinforcing the UNESCO Private-Public Partnerships (PPPs) in the field of educational development & cooperation through various business case studies, 2) managing and supporting ICT (information and communication technology) Training Centres for youths in developing nations, 3) providing necessary equipments for the International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA), and 4) publishing the Samsung-KNCU Education Fund Project Report.

● Workshop for peace and human rights education for teachers in Uganda (2007)
● Vocational & life skill training for disabled children in Mongolia (2006-2008)
● Development of educational programmes at a regional youth centre in Lao PDR (2006-2008)
● Financial support for the publication of science education materials in Afghan schools (2007)
● Training workshop on ICT use in education in Ethiopia (2008)
● North Korea: textbook printing machine (2006), paper for textbook printing (2007-2008)
● Establishment and management of ICT centres in the Asia-Pacific region (2010)

The UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize was created by the Government of the Republic of Korea in 1989. The Prize honours the outstanding contribution made to literacy by Sejong the Great, who created the Korean alphabet, Hangul, in 1443.

The prize (consisting of a sum of US$ 20,000, a silver medal and a certificate) annually rewards the activities of governments or governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) displaying merit and achieving particularly effective results in contributing to the promotion of literacy. It gives special consideration to the use and dissemination of mother-tongue languages in developing countries.

KNCU officially invites the prize winners to Korea every year for the purposes of promoting the excellence of Hangul and Korean traditional culture, and also for seeking the proper ways to make Korea best contribute to UNESCO literacy education programmes.

● Date: October, 2011 (provisional)
● Venue: Several regions of Korea such as Seoul, Yeoju, etc.
● Participants: prize winners of 2011 King Sejong Literacy Prize, literacy education officer of UNESCO

Hosted by the UNESCO Bangkok Office and organized by KNCU, the 12th Regional Meeting of EFA National Coordinators in the Asia-Pacific will be held in Seoul, Korea this year. Participants will share the information on current situations and facing subjects of EFA in the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Member States, and discuss regional strategies for achieving EFA goals. During this meeting, furthermore, the international forum for reinforcing the EFA Private-Public Partnerships (PPPs) in Asia-Pacific will also be held.

● Date: June-September (provisional)
● Venue: Seoul, Korea
● Participants: EFA national coordinators and Ministry officers in the field of education from 36 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Member States, UNESCO & UNESCO Bangkok officers, education experts from internal & external institutions and NGOs

Amid more than one billion poverty-stricken people globally, our world is intensely suffering from climate change, economic crises, mass consumption, human security threat, etc. In this situation, sustainable development is our fateful task to resolve on the basis of a global effort for whole generations in the past and the future.

Sustainable development is a vision of development that encompasses populations, animal and plant species, ecosystems, natural resources and integrates concerns such as the fight against poverty, gender equality, human rights, education for all, health, human security, intercultural dialogue, etc. For the holistic realization of economic development, environmental preservation and social peace, sustainable development demands a paradigm shift throughout production, consumption, education and our daily lives. Above all, reconstruction of consciousness through education is the top priority for sustainable development with the precondition of renovating people’s attitudes and values.

In recognition of the importance of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), the United Nations General Assembly declared 2005-2014 the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) and designated UNESCO as a lead agency for promoting DESD; UNESCO has sought to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning in order to address the social, economic, cultural and environmental problems we face in the 21st century.

KNCU has actively pushed forward different programmes for spreading awareness of ESD in domestic society and vitalizing related activities, and has gotten desired outcomes as below.

Major Fruits of ESD in Korea

2001	● Seven Necessary Complexes for future education released
2005	● Presidential Commission on Sustainable Development (PCSD) launched the research of developing national strategies for DESD ● UN RCE for ESD founded in Tongyeong
2006	● Planning strategies for ESD announced by the Presidential Commission on Sustainable Development (PCSD)
2007	● Handong University designated as the UNITWIN Network on Capacity Building of Sustainable Development in Developing Countries in the Asian Region ● UN RCE for ESD founded in Incheon
2009	● The Korean National Committee for ESD founded as an expert committee affiliated with the Korean National Commission for UNESCO (KNCU)

To promote the idea of sustainable development within the country and enhance Korea’s role in DESD, KNCU aims to expand activities carried out under the framework of the Korean National Committee on ESD, established in 2009. Through regular meetings twice a year, KNCU makes the road map on second-half strategy for DESD in Korea, builds current domestic inventories of UN DESD, and certify and support outstanding ESD agencies in Korea, etc.

The goal of the DESD is to embed sustainable development principles in education throughout the world. KNCU recognises that this can only be achieved by coordinating with diverse stakeholders at the national level. Recognising ESD practices places these concerns on centre-stage.

In March 2011, KNCU initiated a recognition and assistance programme on outstanding ESD practices in Korea by launching an on-line application system. Ongoing or implemented projects in ESD have the opportunity to apply for recognition as a “Korea UNESCO ESD Official Project.” Each awarded project will 1) be inscribed on the official website so that details of the project will be accessible for any on-line user, 2) be provided with financial and promotional support, and 3) have a chance to collaborate with other projects for mutual learning and the exchange of knowledge, including overseas outstanding projects. KNCU aims to collect by 2014 100 model practices of ESD in formal, non-formal and informal education.

● Official website: http://esdkorea.unesco.or.kr


	To spread awareness of ESD in domestic society and vitalize related activities in accordance with the International Implementation Scheme (IIS) for DESD, KNCU will promote a variety of ESD Studies and publications such as ESD modules for teachers and high-school students, the Sustainability Project Series, the ESD Policy Dialogue Series, etc.

ESD is to inculcate capacity and responsibility in society for the future, and it is getting widely utilized around advanced countries due to its infinite potential to integrate with domestic strategies in various fields. In light of the difficult circumstances of Korea, with many national issues that hinder sustainable development such as growth without development and ecological inequality, KNCU has embarked on the ESD Colloquium Series since 2010.

The ESD Colloquium Series, which will continue until 2014, aims at domestic specialized agencies, policy makers and experts, boosting their endeavours to adopt, graft, and apply ESD in their own fields. In the next five years, this series will accelerate in-depth debates among stakeholders for effective vitalization of ESD in Korean society and will also be a facilitator for contributing to global sustainable development.

Date	Themes(venues)	Co-hosts
6th Colloquium	ESD and Arts & Culture Education(Korea National University of Arts)	Korea Arts & Culture Education Service(sponsored by the Korea National University of Arts)
7th Colloquium	ESD and the Biosphere Reserves(Shinan-gun, Korea)	Korea National Park Service(sponsored by the Jeollanam-do Government)
8th Colloquium	ESD and Lifelong Learning City(Inha University)	National Institute for Lifelong Education(sponsored by the Incheon Nam-gu Government)
9th Colloquium	ESD and Information & Communication Technology (ICT)(Korean Education Research Information Service)	Korean Education Research Information Service
10th Colloquium	ESD and Museum Education(National Museum of Korea)	National Museum of Korea


	UNESCO has managed the teacher training programmes worldwide under the motto “Reorienting Teacher Education to Address Sustainability.” In line with this motto, KNCU will kick-start the ESD teacher training programme for elementary and middle school teachers in Korea, on the basis of the bilateral MOU between KNCU and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.

KNCU-UNU Global Seminar is a regular, annual event started in 2003 and is jointly hosted by the Korean National Commission for UNESCO (KNCU) and United Nations University (UNU).

This seminar is to offer internal/external students and young professionals a unique opportunity to better understand the global issues that are of great importance to the United Nations, its member states and their citizens. With around 70 participants, the seminar lasts for five or six days.

This year, it is composed of “Model UNESCO Conference” as well as lectures, which are delivered by the internationally renowned scholars and practitioners on the theme.

● Date: June 27-July 2, 2011 (6 days 5 nights)
● Venue: Korea UNESCO Peace Centre (Icheon City, Gyeonggi Province, Korea)
● Theme: Post-EFA & Post-ESD
● Participants: Approximately 70 undergraduate and graduate students as well as young professionals, mainly from East Asian countries

KNCU has participated in diverse education networks to promote internal & external educational cooperation and networks. In 2011, KNCU will manage a number of education networks in coordination with education-related organisations such as APEID, IBE, IIEP, UIL, UNEVOC, UIS, IITE, etc. Above all, KNCU will be a coordinator for implementing the “Better Education for Africa Rise (BEAR)” Project, the secondary vocational & technical training education programme targeting South-African countries, sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST). In addition, KNCU will arrange the Regional Follow-up Meeting (May 25-27, 2011) and the 2nd Meeting of the CONFINTEA Advisory Group (May 28, 2011), both held in Mexico.