CIDI OF THE OAS LAUNCHES KNOWLEDGE BANK ON EDUCATION AND DEBATES COOPERATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

Washington, November 21- The Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) of the Organization of American States (OAS) was the scenario for the launch of the Inter-American Collaboratory on the Teaching Profession (Co-TEP), a knowledge bank on education in the Americas, and a discussion on cooperation for development in which senior officials from several member states took part.

The Chair of CIDI and Permanent Representative of Guyana to the OAS, Bayney Karran, opened the meeting, whose first part was dedicated to the launch of the Co-TEP a multilingual, open-access, and collaborative knowledge bank designed for all stakeholders concerned with teacher policies and practices. The Co-TEP, financed by the United States Mission to the OAS, will become a component of the Inter-American Teacher Education Network (ITEN), a professional network of leaders in education in the Americas that promotes horizontal cooperation on issues related to teacher policies and the teaching profession among the OAS member states.

Maureen McLaughlin, Senior Adviser to the Secretary of Education of the United States and Director for International Affairs, explained that the Co-TEP “will build on the existing success the Inter-American Teacher Education Network (ITEN)” of the OAS, but will bring new value added elements as well; among them a flexible search tool, abstracts for all documents, and the potential for technical assistance meetings. “Indeed, the learning from other countries which really motivates Co-TEP is what we believe is essential for all of us in our education work,” said McLaughlin.

Emiliana Vegas, Chief of the Education Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), spoke about the progress made and the challenges remaining with regard to education in the region. The most important challenge, explained Vegas is that “student learning is low, unequal and inadequate.” Vegas explained that the IDB has identified five characteristics common to all successful educational systems, and among them identified the need that “the students have access to effective teachers,” precisely the aspect that the instrument presented today is designed to address. “We believe that the Co-TEP will contribute to closing gaps in teachers and schools leaders throughout the region to access best practices to improve teaching and learning,” said the IDB official. “But its also for policy makers, it includes some best research the most current knowledge that we have to inform better decision making in terms of policy,” concluded Vegas.

For her part, Marie Levens Director of the Department of Human Development, Education and Employment of the OAS, began her address with a video that introduced the fundamental elements of Co-TEP, including messages from education authorities in the region. “Low quality education continues to be a challenge for the region,” said Levens, especially in rural areas, among indigenous population, and people living in poverty. “We at the OAS support the advancement of quality teachers, and therefore we support professional training through several education initiatives,” said Director Levens. “The real value of Co-TEP will depend on the support of its users to commit themselves to submitting contributions,” she said, before concluding with a call to member states: “the knowledge bank is now online and ready to accept contributions”.

The same meeting of CIDI included a debate on “Cooperation for development: what will the future bring?” The first presentation on the subject was delivered by Guadalupe Romero de Olvera, the First Lady of the Mexican state of Hidalgo, who spoke on "Strategic alliances: cooperation for greater impact." The Mexican representative recalled that in 2012 the state of Hidalgo and the OAS signed a Framework Agreement of Cooperation that aimed to establish cooperation on "the design and development of activities, programs and projects aimed at strengthening public policies on issues of mutual interest." The First Lady explained various programs carried out by the Mexican state on integral development issues, including combating gender violence, training teachers, increasing access to justice for indigenous women and understanding the role of migration. "In the State of Hidalgo we are convinced that teamwork and strategic alliances promote the development of social practices that significantly impact the well-being of our society," said the wife of Governor Francisco Olvera.

Rossana Valeria de Souza e Silva, Executive Director of the Coimbra Group of Brazilian Universities, described the creation five years ago of the network, which has the support of the government, includes 65 universities from all regions of Brazil and works primarily on projects "with immediate social impact, which contribute to the solution of problems." The goal, she explained, is "to contribute to the internationalization of Brazilian universities, through partnerships with other universities and international organizations, with the understanding that no country, no people and no institution is strong in everything it does, but we have to learn from others. The idea is that cooperation leads to the strengthening of our actions." The Coimbra Group, she added, has maintained since 2011 a partnership with the OAS through which almost 500 scholarships for master's and doctoral students from 27 member countries of the hemispheric organization have been granted.

Hugo Figueroa, Director of Innovation at the National Secretariat of Science and Technology (SENACYT) of Guatemala, described how his government sees cooperation as a tool for innovation in search of economic development and social inclusion, and therefore proposed "transforming the national system of science and technology." In the process, said Director Figueroa, "hemispheric cooperation is key”. "You can not ask for greater contributions to science and technology programs" from national governments "if we do not show results, and in that respect, the experiences of other countries, best practices that can allow us to shorten the learning curve are of paramount importance," he added.

Denzil Thorpe, the Director of Social Security of Jamaica, made a presentation on "horizontal cooperation on social protection: the Jamaican experience." Director Thorpe discussed his country's experiences with social protection programs, especially the PATH (Program of Advancement through Health and Education) program, and the importance of international cooperation in the horizontal cooperation program "Puente in the Caribbean." "The OAS has served, and continues to serve as the focal point for cooperation and exchange of knowledge" for the program, said the Jamaican official. "It is not just a learning experience for our benefit. It is also an opportunity for us to share the knowledge gained with our Caribbean partners," he said.

The Executive Secretary for Integral Development of the OAS, Sherry Tross, summarized the presentations and highlighted the importance of the idea of inclusion in all of them. "Certainly, we hear the importance of partnerships and alliances" said Executive Secretary Tross, who emphasized the importance of studying some countries and even improving the ideas created by others. "By bringing together in these partnerships and alliances experiences, capacities and resources, we are able to do much more through that multiplier effect than if we each did this individually," said the OAS official. In situations of horizontal cooperation, the Executive Secretary said, "there are several partners, and each has a role to play, the challenge is how to make these roles complementary”.

The Chair of the CIDI, Bayney Karran, closed the debate urging delegations "to reflect further on the discussions today, taking into account the guidance and direction of the new global agenda, especially as we continue the discussion on the strategic vision of the OAS to try to define how the Organization can be a better tool to advance policies and programs that contribute to inclusive growth and sustainable development”.

On another agenda item, the delegation of Colombia presented a report on the Eighteenth Conference of Ministers of Labor, which took place in Medellin on November 11 and 12 and at which participants commemorated the 50th anniversary of the first conference. Through a video message, the Minister of Labor of the country, Rafael Pardo, summarized the achievements of the Conference, including the adoption of the Declaration of Medellín, entitled "50 Years of Inter-American Dialogue for the Promotion of Social Justice and Decent Work: Progress and Challenges towards Sustainable Development." At the meeting in the Colombian city, Ministers or delegates from 27 member countries of the OAS took part, as well as more than 80 workers representatives, unions and employers, as well as international organizations.

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