Tomorrow Today

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support the development and implementation of ESD. It also indi-

cates ways forward for the remaining half of the DESD.

The third major milestone since the launch of the DESD was

the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable

Development, held in 2009 in Bonn, Germany. Organized by

UNESCO and the German Federal Ministry of Education and

Research, in cooperation with the German Commission for

UNESCO, the Bonn Conference provided a platform for dialogue

and advocacy on ESD. Around 900 participants, including some

50 ministers and vice-ministers of education, attended the confer-

ence. The participants came from all world regions and represented

UNESCO Member States, UN agencies, civil society organizations,

youth and the private sector.

This event was a pivotal moment at the mid-point of the DESD. It

provided all stakeholders with a lively forum in which to exchange

ideas and best practices, discuss challenges and consider the direc-

tion to take for the remaining years of the DESD. The main outcome

of the conference was the Bonn Declaration on ESD, which all

conference participants adopted by consensus in the closing plenary.

The Bonn Declaration provides a strategic orientation for the second

half of the DESD, attesting the importance of ESD in the current

world situation.

Moreover, it is worth mentioning that UNESCO convenes several

ad hoc groups to participate in the implementation of the DESD,

including the UN Inter-Agency Committee for the DESD (IAC), the

DESD High-Level Group and the DESD Reference Group. The IAC

is a forum of UN agencies for open-ended collaboration towards the

effective implementation of the DESD. The IAC promotes the role of

ESD and its implications for all forms of international initiatives, such

as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It brings together

17 UN agencies committed to achieving the DESD goals: UNESCO,

FAO, ILO, UNAIDS, UNCCD, UNDP, UNEP, UNFCCC,

UNFPA, UN-HABITAT, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNU, WFP,

WHO, the World Bank and WTO.

The role of UNESCO as implementer of the DESD

Education is one of UNESCO’s principal fields of activ-

ity. Since its creation in 1945, the organization has

worked to improve education worldwide, believing it

to be key to social and economic development. The

organization aims to help build a sustainable world

in which societies value knowledge, promote peace,

celebrate diversity and defend human rights, achiev-

ing these goals by providing quality Education for All

(EFA). Hence, UNESCO’s mandate makes the organiza-

tion not only a natural global coordinator but also an

important implementer of ESD.

Strategy for the second half of the DESD

Taking into consideration the Bonn Declaration, the

2009 DESD Monitoring and Evaluation Report, and

the context of climate change negotiations and financial

crisis as well as comments gathered in several consulta-

tion rounds, UNESCO has developed its own strategy

for the second half of the DESD. During the 2010-2015

period, UNESCO intends to focus its efforts on the

following four key areas of strategic action:

• Enhancing synergies with different education and

development initiatives (EFA, MDGs, United Nations

Literacy Decade (UNLD), EDUCAIDS, Hyogo

Framework of Action, etc.) and strengthening part-

nerships among ESD stakeholders

Member States’ representatives at the 2009 UNESCO World Conference on ESD

Cover page of the UNESCO publication EFA-ESD Dialogue