ADEA participates in Liberia Joint Education Sector Review

At the request of the Liberian Ministry of Education, Mr. Mohamed Chérif Diarra, Coordinator of the ADEA Working Group on Education Management and Policy Support (WGEMPS) participated in the Liberia Joint Education Sector Review Workshop and Consultations with Liberia’s Ministry of Education officials, held in Monrovia from September 23 to October 1, 2013. This was in support of Liberia’s planning of a Policy Dialogue Forum on Education in Reconstruction and Youth Skills Development.

This upcoming policy dialogue forum is expected to review the findings of the Liberia case study on education in post-conflict and reconstruction and will recommended on how to consolidate peace through the education system. Drawing from the review of the case study, this national policy dialogue forum will also examine the key challenges of youth unemployment and skills development issues in Liberia. During the Joint Education Sector review, participants came to terms with the potential of the education system to exacerbate or ease out conflict. ADEA’s contribution focused on Early Childhood Education, Higher Education, Technical and Vocational Skills Development (TVSD) and the Planning, Governance and Funding components of the program of work. Liberia is now expected to develop an action plan on consolidating and reinforcing peace and youth skills development. This conference brought together a wide range of stakeholders with divergent views and opinions around the table to initiate meaningful dialogue and deliberations on the issues of peace, conflicts, crisis and youth skills development.

The ADEA Working Group on Education Management and Policy Support (WGEMPS) has undertaken four case studies on post-crisis, post-conflict countries (Democratic Republic of Congo-DRC-, Kenya, Liberia and Zimbabwe) and analysed their experiences of reconstructing education with peace responsiveness as a special focus. These studies were undertaken in 2011 by team members of the ADEA WGEMPS and their preliminary findings presented at the ADEA 2012 Triennale held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in February 2012. In an effort to share the study findings with the country’s stakeholders having a vested interest in the topic and ultimately in peace, ADEA WGEMPS decided to present the studies’ findings in the form of a National Policy Dialogue Forum (PDF) that brings together a wide range of constituencies beyond the Ministry of Education but under its leadership. In 2012, WGEMPS held  two National PDF in Nairobi, and in Kinshasa. The Zimbabwe national PDF topic broadened to encompass youth skills development as a twin theme was held in Harare, in June 2013. WGEMPS is seeking to link up Peace education and Youth Skills Development thus pattern the Liberia PDF after the Zimbabwe model and hold during 2013.