UNESCO: BRIEFING ON EDUCATION SECTOR REFORM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 004674 SIPDIS FROM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS SENSITIVE STATE PASS TO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FOR ROBIN GILCHRIST AND STEPHANIE WHELPLEY E.O. 12958:N/A TAGS: SCUL UNESCO SUBJECT: UNESCO: BRIEFING ON EDUCATION SECTOR REFORM ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Peter Smith, UNESCO's Assistant Director General for Education, briefed representatives from the Executive Board's Group I countries on his plans for reform of UNESCO's Education Sector, July 6 at UNESCO headquarters. Smith announced that he has put the plan into action as of July 3, and said that he is finding strong support for his proposed reforms throughout all electoral groups. Mission officers, however, have been told that the Ambassador of Benin has questioned whether Smith has the necessary mandate from the Executive Board to advance with his reform plans. The other problem on the horizon is that the staff unions at UNESCO are gearing up to fight the reform plan, having already sent out messages to their constituents asking the Director General (DG) to suspend the reforms and enter into negotiations with the unions. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Smith said that the hard work begins this week, now that the plan has been approved by the DG and presented to the personnel of the Education Sector. He asked that all country delegates feel free to provide him with "loving criticism," to help improve elements where needed. Smith said that the reform was the result of a request by both the Executive Board and General Conference to help the Global Action Plan on Education. He highlighted a few key elements of the plan and the concerns they are trying to respond to: ¶3. (U) Accountable decentralization: Smith said that today, there is not enough accountability by the field offices to headquarters, and noted that under current arrangements he does not have the authority to hold field directors accountable for how their budgets are spent. ¶4. (U) Budget woes: Smith said that inefficiencies in the system translate into a 25-30 percent drop in spending power for the Education Sector's budget. He said that the initial elements of his reform plans will have no impact on the current budget, but also made it clear that member states, the Executive Board and the General Conference can not continue to add more responsibilities if they do not provide funding to carry out their requests. ¶5. (U) Deprofessionalization and demotivated staff: There are not enough qualified people in the "right" positions. His sector is �00A;currently obliged to cut positions by attrition, not taking into account the work the Education Sector is trying to accomplish or which employees have the skills to fill the needs. ¶6. (SBU) Decentralization: The original concept of decentralization does not and cannot work the way the system is designed today. According to Smith, UNESCO needs to strengthen its regional bureaus, sub-regional and national level offices to better use expertise and control the situation in the field, supported by regional institutes that also will need to be supported better in terms of finances and management. Smith described the current situation as "organized mayhem, which is defended by no one." He said this point is "non-negotiable" and that accountability must be absolute. (Note: Mission has heard that there was language about the lack of accountability in the original reform document that was excised by the Deputy Director General.) ¶7. (U) The reform plan's strategy regarding personnel is to bolster staff in the field by almost 100 percent. The plan envisions a reduction of 11-12 positions at headquarters and the creation of new posts in the field. The plan calls for abolition of several of the Sector's current offices; restructuring the section into several basic sections covering: Pre-K to high school; Vocational/technical education; Higher education/tertiary studies; U.I.L. (non-formal education) Hamburg and IBE Geneva. Smith also said that a new office for Eastern and Emerging Europe would be created based out of the CEPES office in Bucharest. Smith noted that regional institutes would now report to regional bureaus, and those bureaus would report to him. ¶8. (U) Smith said that the new structure of the Education Sector would more closely mirror the many Ministries of Education that UNESCO works with around the world, making for simpler integration between the systems. Smith said that a new division would be created, the Division for UN Priorities, which would cover the issues of sustainability, EFA, HIV/AIDS, and Literacy. This division would ensure that UNESCO would have voice in the larger crosscutting issues in the larger UN family regarding education. He also noted that a section would be created to provide Regional Support and Planning, which would coordinate and improve communications between field offices, regional bureaus, and headquarters. ¶9. (U) Smith complained about his inability to provide accurate budget estimates given the existing budget system for his sector. He also said that the current Planning and Information software is flawed beyond recovery and will be dismantled. He said that he would be pushing the idea of a standardized international platform at an upcoming meeting with the other ADGs to improve bottom-up planning and program cycles. ¶10. (U) Smith then took questions from the floor: The Belgian Ambassador asked about how progress is monitored. Smith said that a new monitoring and evaluation program would be created, as it is critical to measure success or failure of the programs. Another question was asked about measuring capacity development. Smith said that the way it is done today is hit or miss, with no team, no plan, and no common assumptions. He said that it is vital to be able to measure all of the programs put into place to determine how well they are doing. ¶11. (SBU) The British Ambassador asked how the Education Sector reform plan fit into the overall United Nations reform plan now being studied. Smith said that the Education Sector's reform plan does fit into the larger UN plan. The Ambassador followed up with a comment that decentralization, for example, has implications for the rest of UNESCO, and asked if the Education Sector is an experiment to test how it works. Smith replied that he saw the Education Sector reform plan as a test case, and that this is an opportunity to move the pendulum for all of UNESCO quite quickly. At the same time, he said, he will have to find a balance, so as to not lose focus and drive by trying to solve the problems of "big UNESCO" when his responsibility is reforming the education sector. ¶12. (U) Smith then talked about establishing budget and human resources positions within the education sector and temporarily finding a human resources specialist to help during the transition. ¶13. (SBU) The Norwegian representative commented that he supported Smith's plan, and said that he didn't believe it was proper for the Executive Board or member states to micro-manage the implementation of the Education Sector reform plan. (Note: His comment stands in contrast to a report we have heard that the Beninese ambassador, who sits on the Executive Board, believes that the plan should not be implemented until blessed by the board. In contrast, the UK deputy has told us that most delegations believe that Smith was empowered to carry out his reform by the General Conference and the Executive Board has no say.) ¶14. (U) The Dutch Ambassador spoke briefly, expressing support for Smith's work so far, and said that the reform he has outlined makes a lot of sense. There was then a question about the IICBA (International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa),and the fact that it is currently without a director, no office, nor necessary materials. Smith answered saying that the situation is better than what people report. He mentioned that he will be interviewing candidates for the IICBA after the G-8 Summit, and also said that the government of Ethiopia has proposed a plot of land in Addis for a future facility. Smith said that he hopes that IICBA will soon be able to concentrate on its key role, which is teacher training. ¶15. (U) Smith then raised, again, the subject of financing. He said that lack of money continues to be a major problem, as member states demand more and more services, whether it be a new institute, or a new program, but don't provide the necessary finances to support them. Smith said that extra budgetary funding is not the answer, unless it comes with a 15-year commitment. ¶16. (U) US Mission Charge asked about reactions from the Education Sector staff after they were briefed on the reforms. Smith said that extensive consultations were held, and estimated that some 20 percent of the staff was intensively involved in the reform planning. He said that there were a handful of disgruntled employees, perhaps seven or eight, who were not happy about how the reforms would affect them. ¶17. (U) Over the past week, at least two of UNESCO's staff unions have come out forcefully against Smith's reform plans. One union has called for a freeze of the reform and wants to open direct negotiations with the Director General. The unions claim that Smith's plans has abolished sections, is forcing long-time employees close to retirement to accept positions in foreign posts, or is obliging others to take early retirement against their wills. It is highly probable that the unions will be a major thorn in Smith's side as the reform plans move forward.