November 20, 2003 - Washington DC, USA In response to the direct requests of the Education Ministers of Argentina and Brazil, the Social Development and Educaton Unit of the Organization of American States (OAS) brought together Argentina's Minister of Education - Mr. Daniel Filmus, Colombia's Vice Minister of Secondary Education - Mr. Javier Botero, and Peru's Advisor to the Ministry of Education - Mr. Cesar Languasco for a dialogue via videoconference on the need to find strategies for financing education and existing alternatives.

Topic experts from Washington and New York joined the dialogue: Mr. Stewart Paperin, Vice President of the Open Society Institute of the Soros Foundation; Mr. Jesus Seade, Advisor fo the International Monetary Fund's Fiscal Affairs Department; and Mr. Ronal Scheman, Director of the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and Development. The dialogue was moderated by Dr. Sofialeticia Morales, Director of the Social Development and Education Unit of the OAS.

Background:

• III Meeting of the Ministers of Education, Mexico City: Called to a hemispheric level due to the importance of considering the exchange of debt for education. (Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil)
• XIII Ibero-american Conference on Education, Tarija, Bolivia: Led by Brazil and Argentina, Ministers reached a consensus and requested for their heads of state to consider the exchange of debt for education.
• or reducing the external debt by 10% and channeling it through a Multilateral Development Bank towards education projects. (Brasil)

UNESCO Proposal

• 32nd Session on the UNESCO General Conference, Paris:
• Argentina presented the proposal of exchanging debt for education.
• Towards a Mixed Commission of borrowing and lending countries in order to develop a proposal that will make the initiative viable.
  • Fiscalization by international organization and NGOs so that the new investment does not replace regular budgets or that it becomes dilluted or become lost in fiscal budgets.
  • Emphasis in basic education for the marginalized communities.

Examples of Exchange in Latin America

• Costa Rica: debt exchange for investing in the environmental sector
• Peru: bilateral exchange with France of debt for recuperation of national wealth.
• IMF with five countries in Latin America that are not in conditions to once again become indebted.
• Peru and Bolivia: debt exchange for nourishment education programs.

Objectives of the Dialogue:

• Reflect on different proposals and alternatives.
• Possibility that the leaders in the Extraordinary Summit of the Americas take up this topic.
• Coordinate joint actions.
• Add contributions by experts and relevant actors.
  

Next Steps

• Establish new mechanisms in order to facilitate the donations from debt instruments to improve education.
• Continue with the proposed dialogue of having a consensus between key actors in the countries.
• The OAS and other organization should support the building of this consensus and look to mediate the initiatives that come from this with other debtor countries.
• It is crucial that the OAS create an awareness of this topic among debtor countries so that they may see the need to focus their efforts and actions towards improving education.
• Establish a debate among debtor countries, financial institutions, and the International Monetary Fund.
• Ensure the discussion of these topics in the Extraordinary Summit of the Americas.
• Targetting Strategy
• Inclusion de of all the sector of societies
• Importance of transparency and the principles of "adicionalidad"

Conclusions

• Create an Education Trust Fund
• The principal incentive for the donation of funds will be development at a national level.
• The central challenge for the Trust Fund will be to structure it in a manner in which all direct actors be represented, this includes the private sector, international and local organizations.
• In relation to the impact educationhas on economic development of the countries, it is crucial to increment the investment in education, especially in primary and secondary education.
• Latin America needs a greater investment in Education in order to create a qualified labor force that is capable and able to respond to the debt problems the countries face.
• The dialogue between debtor and creditor countries is key for the creation of viable alternatives with respect to greater investment in education.
• It is key that this dialogue include all sectors, government, civil society and the public sector.
• Instead of being solely perceived as social policy, Education should be the base for development of the countries.

Final Comments

• Qualify people in each country to receive donations under national statutes. There are clauses that can be adapted to each country based on the themes of this discussion.
• ECLAC and UNESCO meeting on December 9th and 10th.
• Conclusions and report of this videoconference to be published in the Virtual Forum coordinated by UDSE.
• The theme of exchanging the debt should be brought up in the Extraordinary Summit.
• Spokespeople in the Treasury Ministries as well as in the Ministries of Education should be designated.
  

To read the complete report on the hemispheric dialogue, please click here. (spanish only)

For additional information regarding this activity or to learn of future prorgrams to be offered by GDLN in Education related topics, please contact Carmen Carpio (ccarpio@worldbank.org).