WORDS FROM THE WORLD PRESIDENT

February 2019

As the year of 2019 begins, I wish all of our OMEP committee members a happy and prosperous new year. I would like to share some updates with you 

A. OMEP’s Work at UN/UNESCO: 2018 Global Education Meeting

OMEP was officially invited to the Global Education Meeting (GEM) Forum held in Brussels, Belgium from Dec 3 to 5. The Global Meeting reviewed progress towards the global education targets and commitments in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It brought the global community together to take stock of progress and identify strategic priority areas requiring political guidance and intervention for the practical achievement of the global Education 2030 Agenda.As a world president of OMEP, I have attended the forum and Maggie Koong also attended the forum as OMEP’s representative of CCNGO. The GEM forum was organized in three sessions consisting four different issues in each session, a total of 12 themes as below.

The 12 main themes are those which are considered as a vital issue in achieving 2030 agenda for sustainable development and most importantly early childhood education was listed one of the 12 themes. I have participated in the Forum session Ⅱ, ‘Ready to Learn: The promise of meeting the target for universal quality pre-primary education,’ as an invited discussant

The policy recommendations for each theme were discussed within forum sessions, and the discussed policy recommendation in the early childhood section was as below.

• Urgent policy prioritization and a significant increase in financing by governments, partners, and donors to this sub-sector, with an aim to increase financing to at least 10% of education budgets
• Governments taking on a progressive universalist approach to expansion of services, ensuring access for the most marginalized children is prioritized
• Strategic investments in improving quality, including strong quality assurance and workforce development, and robust ongoing professional development opportunities

As a biggest and oldest international organization in early childhood education, We, OMEP, have a crucial role to endeavor for a better life of children around the world.

B. ESD Practice & Policy

I was invited to ESD seminar at Western Norway University Applied Sciences in Bergen, Norway on Dec 7, 2018. The theme of the seminar was ‘Dialogue on Sustainability in a Global and Local Perspective’ and my presentation on ESD for young children focused on the policy and practice.The seminar was hosted by ‘Kindergarten Knowledge Centre for Systematic Research on Diversity and Sustainable Futures (KINDknow)’ and co-hosted by OMEP Norway.

C. Intergovernmental Conference to adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration(ICM)

The International Conference to adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration(ICM) took place in Marrakech, Morocco, on Dec 10 and 11, 2019.The conference was convened under auspices of the United Nations General Assembly and was held according to resolution 71/1 of 19 September 2016, entitled “New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants” which decided to launch a process of intergovernmental negotiations leading to the adoption of the global compact for migration.On behalf of OMEP, Maria Pia, OMEP’s chief representative at UN NY station, and Nektarios Stellakis, Former Vice President of European Region, participated in ICM Conference.OMEP has been acknowledged as an instrument in the realization of the intergovernmental conference to adopt the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. UN New York team has been working hard for the inclusion of the ECD in Global Compact for Migration(GCM) and the Global Compact on Refugees(GCR) in the past yearThe booklet ‘I am a child!’, four steps for protecting children’s rights in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and in the Global Compact on Refugees, is an example of good policies and practices by Governments in multi-stakeholder partnerships as OMEP.This booklet is a result of a collaboration between OMEP and FAWCO, and co-sponsored by the NGO Committee on Migration, Caritas Internationalis, World Vision, Save the Children has the goal to demonstrate how few steps (birth registration, access to education and health without discrimination) can change the life of millions of migrant and refugee children. It is available on the OMEP website.

D. 2018 OMEP Africa Regional Conference

2018 OMEP Africa Regional Conference was held in Nairobi- Kenya from September 26 to 28. The conference theme was ‘Creative learning in Early Years; Foundation for a Sustainable Future.’The former vice president of Africa region, Mrs. Abimbola Are attended the conference.The OMEP Kenya Committee hosted the conference, and with the cooperation of Africa regional committees, the conference was successfully completed.

E. International Journal of Early Childhood

In 2018, the International Journal of early childhood (IJEC) published volume 50, issue 1, 2, 3 each in April, August and December 2018.For more information, please visit below URL.
– Volume 50, Issue 1: https://link.springer.com/journal/13158/50/1
– Volume 50, Issue 2: https://link.springer.com/journal/13158/50/2
– Volume 50, Issue 3: https://link.springer.com/journal/13158/50/3