Since 1961, UNESCO
has organized seven conferences of Ministers of Education of African Member
States (MINEUR). MINEDAF VII held in Durban (20-24 April 1998) brought
together some 500 participants including representatives of African Member
States, non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies and the United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Thirty-nine delegations of the
Member States were led by Ministers. For more information, see the Final
Report of the Durban Conference.
Previous conferences of African Ministers of Education organized by UNESCO ---
Ais
Ababa, 1961; Abidjan, 1964;
Nairobi, 1968;
Lagos,
1976; Harare, 1982;
Dakar,
1991; and Durban, 1998 --- have been
instrumental in the development of education in Africa. Although each of these
conferences focused on a specific theme, the overriding concern of each of
them was to foster inter-African co- operation. The Durban conference stressed
the need for solidarity among the African countries in specific areas of
educational development. It has been heralded as a significant event for
Africa since it was held in a free and democratic South Africa. The priorities
identified by the conference are summarized in the Durban
Statement of Commitment, approved by the African Ministers by acclamation.
Related Downloadable Documents
Most of the documents referenced below are in Portable Document File (PDF)
format. 
Adobe's Acrobat Reader has to be already installed in your computer
for you to able to read documents in this format. Acrobat Reader is a free
utility which you can download
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In due course, a number of these documents will be made available
in other formats as well, e.g., in HTML and in Microsoft Word (DOC),
for download from the MINEDAF Document Service.
Seventh Conference of Ministers of Education of African Member States
(MINEDAF
VII); organized by UNESCO. Durban, South Africa, 20-24 April 1998.
Sixth Conference of Ministers of Education and Those Responsible for Economic
Planning in African Member States (MINEDAF VI); organized by UNESCO with the
co-operation of ECA [U.N. Economic
Commission for Africa] and OAU [Organization
of African Unity]. Dakar, Senegal, 8-11 July 1991.
Conference of Ministers of Education and Those Responsible for Economic
Planning in African Member States (MINEDAF V); organized by UNESCO with the
co-operation of ECA and OAU. Harare, Zimbabwe, 28 June - 3 July 1982.
Conference of Ministers of Education of African Member States (MINEDAF IV);
organized by UNESCO with the co-operation of OAU and ECA. Lagos, Nigeria, 27
January - 4 February 1976.
Conference on Education and Scientific and Technical Training in Relation to
Development in Africa (MINEDAF III); organized by UNESCO in co-operation with
the Organization of African Unity. Nairobi, Kenya, 16-27 July 1968.
Conference of African Ministers of Education (MINEDAF II); organized by
UNESCO. Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, 17-24 March 1964.
Meeting of Ministers of Education of African Countries Participating in the
Implementation of the Addis Ababa Plan; organized by UNESCO in co-operation
with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. UNESCO House, Paris,
France, 26-30 March 1962.
Conference of African States on the Development of Education in Africa (MINEDAF
I); organized by UNESCO in collaboration with United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15-25 May 1961.
