The Dakar Framework for Action ‘Education for All’ was adopted in 2000 and the relevant stakeholders from government, civil society, international community have made concerted efforts by providing technical and financial support to countries in need.

Progress for some of the goals of EFA has accelerated, however, still much of the broad EFA agenda remains unfinished. Incheon Declaration, a pledge for inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all, was adopted in May 2015 in Incheon, South Korea and the Education 2030 Framework for Action was ratified in November 2015. Unattained EFA agenda will continue to be addressed with reaffirming education as a fundamental human right, and learning improvement encompassing early childhood development, care and education to higher education will be emphasized in the post-2015 agenda.

Japan has been committed to promote EFA through bilateral cooperation as well as international organizations such as UNESCO and GPE and at multilateral fora such as the G8 Summits and the Tokyo International Conferences on African Development (TICAD). With a view to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Japan announce its new strategy on education cooperation, “Learning Strategy for Peace and Growth”, which serves as a foundation for building peace and resilient nations. Based on a new strategy’s three pillars, (1) education cooperation to achieve inclusive, equitable and quality learning (2) education cooperation for industrial, science & technology human resource development and sustainable socio economic development (3) establishment and expansion of international/ regional network for education cooperation, Japan will continue to make contributions in education sector to achieve quality education through mutual learning.

The 13^th JEF, which takes place shortly after Education 2030 being adopted, will look back on educational cooperation of Japan, initiatives taken by Japan to achieve EFA goals, its achievement, and remaining challenges from the viewpoint of Japan, aid recipient country, and the international community. It will also focus on possible future direction of Japan’s international educational cooperation in order to contribute to the achievement of post-2015 education goals.

The Japan Education Forum (JEF) is an annual international forum established in March 2004 through governmental and academic collaboration as part of Japan’s educational cooperation. Its purpose is to provide an opportunity for open and frank exchanges of opinions and ideas by officials in the public sector, practitioners of international development and NGOs, and scholars on ways of promoting self-efforts of developing countries toward sustainable educational development and of effective international cooperation in education. The forum also offers an opportunity to present Japan’s own experiences in educational development and its international cooperation in practice.

Theme: “Japan’s Initiatives to Achieve the Goals of the EFA and Possible Future Direction of International Education Cooperation to Achieve Education 2030 Goals”

Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Venue:　Conference room, National Center of Science Building

(2-1-2 Hitotsubashi,Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan)

Organized by:

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA)

Hiroshima University

University of Tsukuba

 Supported by: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

       *Languages: English-Japanese simultaneous interpretations