1. UNESCO's programs are important to U.S. foreign policy. Improving education worldwide will meet security, economic and humanitarian objectives. The water programs and the cultural dialog programs are also important. UNESCO is probably more important in the networks it creates than in the other functions conducted by its staff of international civil servants. The the United States should be encouraging more focus on encouraging and backstopping of these networks.
2. The U.S. educational, scientific and cultural communities should be more involved in UNESCO's work and networks if the Organization is to best serve our national interests. The National Commission is the best vehicle to increase that organization. To accomplish this function, the NatCom charter should be revised to empower the members to link civil society to UNESCO programs, the membership should be renewed and revised, and some resources made available to the NatCom.
3. It is important to increase the number of Americans in the UNESCO secretariat. I am sure that the State Department is working to find Americans to fill the top level positions that are now open, but I would suggest that the United States also participate actively in the Associate Expert program and internship programs to provide American professionals with opportunities to work for some time in UNESCO.
3 comments:
Perhaps you can have a look at how we deal with ICT in mass education which until today not a single country has actually succeeded in implementing.
How we can enable a developing country close the digital divides
How we can overcome the five "impossibles" without major infrastructure costs like laying out broadband
http://www.paperlesshomework.com/Ymoe.htm
... to overcome the major problem of reaching out to the unreached..
We have create the tools, contents, and the econsystem of homework assignments... to enable all.
We recommend that UNESCO should put efforts to make schools go paperless (or rather use less paper) through pragmatic approach and not be over awed by expensive technologies which more often than not are impractical.
We recommend that using this method if hundreds of million students use less paper, the Mother of all environment protection would be fruitful and easily participated by ordinary guys.
It is better than recycling because trees saved yesterday will cummulate the number of trees to cut down CO2 today.
our site is at www.paperlesshomework.com
Regards
Alan
Thank you for your comment. I try to run my own class without paper, but the students really seem to want paper.
In this Year of Biodiversity, I think a high priority should be for the Obama administration to restore U.S. participation in UNESCO's People, Biodiversity and Ecology program.
alan Foo, very interesting comment. Personally I try to avoid printing saving both paper and ink.
You have asked a very nice question on how to enable developing countries close digital divides. I think it is important to teach them to understand the potential of emerging technologies than giving them technology which become outdated very quickly... When developing countries realize and understand the benefits of it, they may get technologies. Spending too much to supply technologies is not the right way.
ghanabusinessnews.com/2009/05/09/europes-e-waste-in-africa/
Now another term "e-waste" coined in addition to e-learning and digital divide...
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