The Education for All-Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI) Technical Meeting and Related Meetings, and Policy Speech by Mr. Masahiko Koumura, Minister for Foreign Affairs

April 18, 2008

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosts the Education for All–Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI) Technical Meeting and related meetings in Tokyo from April 21(Mon) to 25 (Fri).
    
2. On the sidelines of these meetings, MOFA will co-host the “International Symposium on the Self-reliance and Sustainability of EFA,” where Mr. Masahiko Koumura, Minister for Foreign Affairs, will deliver a policy speech on Japan’s international cooperation for education.
    
3. EFA-FTI was established in April 2002 as a global assistance framework aiming at achieving universal primary education by 2015, which is part of the Dakar Framework for Action on EFA and the Millennium Development Goals. It is the practice for the G8 chair to co-chair the EFA-FTI together with a non-G8 donor country, and therefore Japan acts as the co-chair country of the FTI this year (the current non-G8 co-chair country is the Netherlands).
    
4. At the FTI related meetings, persons engaged in educational assistance from donor countries, international organizations, recipient countries, educational NGOs, private corporations and foundations will meet to share their views on the present situation and their various efforts and experiences on primary education, as well as discuss what is to be done by the international community toward 2015.  Taking into account the discussions in the past EFA-related meetings and the G8 Development Ministers Meeting, Japan intends to contribute to the discussions of these meetings and tie in the fruits of discussions appropriately with the TICAD IV and the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit.

Related Information (Education)