Series - Partnerships and program collaboration

Partnerships - Task Force on Higher Education / US Department of Education - Correspondence Workshop - Basic Education for Out of School Youth and Adults - World Conference on Education For... Steering Group - World Conference on Education For All (WCEFA) - Correspondence Primary Education - World Conference on Education For All (WCEFA) - Correspondence Pre-School - World Conference on Education For All (WCEFA) - Correspondence Non-Governmental (NGO) Organization Rules - World Conference on Education For All (WCEFA) - Corre... Charter - World Conference on Education For All (WCEFA) - Correspondence Adult Education - Boxes - World Conference on Education for All (WCEFA) - Correspondence World Conference on Education for All Subject Files - Press Coverage World Conference on Education for All Subject Files - Regional Consultations - List of Participants World Conference on Education for All Subject Files - Consultation of Major Funding Agencies - 1989

Identity area

Reference code

WB IBRD/IDA WB_IBRD/IDA_88-02

Title

Partnerships and program collaboration

Date(s)

  • 1978 - 2003, 2007 (Creation)

Level of description

Series

Extent and medium

17.37 linear feet of textual records

Context area

Name of creator

Archival history

Most of the pre-1990 World Conference on Education for All (WCEFA) records were initially created and maintained by the conference secretariat based at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) headquarters in New York City. These records were transferred to the custody of the Education and Employment Division, Population and Human Resources Department (PHREE) once the division took responsibility for follow-up matters after the inaugural WCEFA conference in 1990. Records were then sent to the Bank Archives in 1992. Other records in this series were transferred by the responsible units of the education sector to the Archives in 2001 and 2007 according to approved records retention schedules.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Series contains records related to the partnerships between education sector units and external organizations and global program collaboration that cover the period from 1987 to 2000. The largest portion of records in the series relate to the World Conference on Education for All (WCEFA), an inter-agency initiative that began with a conference to universalize basic education and that launched the Education for All (EFA) program.

World Conference on Education for All (WCEFA)

The WCEFA records document the establishment, governance, and proceedings of the conference convened by World Bank, United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations and Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The impetus for the conference was the United Nations General Assembly declaration of 1990 as International Literacy Year. Invitations to the inaugural WCEFA were jointly sent from Bank President Conable and the heads of fellow sponsoring agencies. The conference was held March 2-5, 1990, in Jomtien, Thailand and brought together 155 governments, 33 intergovernmental bodies, and 125 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The participants adopted the World Declaration on Education for All charter consisting of six goals to meet the learning needs of children, youth, and adults, and a Framework for Action: Meeting Basic Learning Needs that outlined general priority actions for countries.

WCEFA records were mostly maintained by Wadi Haddad, executive secretary of the WCEFA Inter-agency Commission originally based in New York City, and WCEFA Deputy Executive Secretary Nat J. Colletta. For more information about the custody of these records, see the above archival history section. Haddad and Colletta were both senior Bank staff prior to their appointment to the Inter-agency Commission secretariat. Haddad served as the Population and Human Resources, Education and Employment Division chief (PHREE) and Colletta was previously a senior educator in the Bank's India Country Department. WCEFA records were also maintained by Maris O'Rourke who represented the Bank on conference committees during her tenure as senior adviser, Human Development Department (HDD, 1995 - 1996) and director, Human Development Network, Education Team (HDNED, 1998 - 2000). Prior to O'Rourke, other Education Sector senior management or advisers represented the Bank on the various committees and working groups. Adriaan Verspoor, implementation adviser (PHREE, predecessor of HDD), served to represent the Bank on the WCEFA Executive Committee along with Vice President Visvanathan Rajagopalan, Sector Policy and Research (PRE).

The earliest WCEFA records in this series dated 1978 to 1987 are reference items including external reports and a journal article. Most of the early correspondence includes letters and facsimiles between UNICEF and other UN agency representatives and Executive Secretary Haddad. Haddad coordinated the consultations and comments on the draft charter and framework for action from sponsors, co-sponsors, and associates prior to the conference. The correspondence is often filed with background reports from UNICEF and UNESCO and other organizations and consultants, outlines of the basic working documents, some annotated outlines, first drafts of the charter and framework for action, and the final revised papers presented at the 1990 Jomtien conference. There is also correspondence and back-to-office reports of Deputy Secretary Colletta following his participation in partnership or task force meetings and a file that pre-dates his position with WCEFA. This includes an India education sector work file that contains country information, statistics on projects, and initiating memoranda for proposed studies and projects (1987 - 1989).

The earliest WCEFA records in this series dated 1978 to 1987 are reference items including external reports and a journal article. Most of the early correspondence includes letters and facsimiles between UNICEF and other UN agency representatives and Executive Secretary Haddad. Haddad coordinated the consultations and comments on the draft charter and framework for action from sponsors, co-sponsors, and associates prior to the conference. The correspondence is often filed with background reports from UNICEF and UNESCO and other organizations and consultants, outlines of the basic working documents, some annotated outlines, first drafts of the charter and framework for action, and the final revised papers presented at the 1990 Jomtien conference. There is also correspondence and back-to-office reports of Deputy Secretary Colletta following his participation in partnership or task force meetings and a file that pre-dates his position with WCEFA. This includes an India education sector work file that contains country information, statistics on projects, and initiating memoranda for proposed studies and projects (1987 - 1989).

The series also contains a substantial portion of meeting records related to the organization and governance of the WCEFA. These are: Steering Group Meeting (1988 - 1990, first meeting October 1989) including proposals for membership and chronological file, (1987 - 1990); regional consultations (1989 - 1990); Working Group on the Basic Education for All Conference (1988 - 1989); Executive Committee meetings (first meeting in Paris, March 1989 - 1990); heads of agencies meeting (1988 - 1990); sponsors meetings (1989); Regional Conference and International Task Force on Literacy and regional consultations minutesand reports (1989 - 1990). Most files contain agenda, minutes, and correspondence, however others may only contain list of participants and annexed reports or briefing notes.

There are also agreements between the WCEFA sponsors and host government of Thailand, preliminary conference objectives notes, conference programme and roundtable programmes in English and French, and numerous conference workshop files (1989). Workshop files on basic training for out-of-school youth contain the agenda, list of participants, terms of reference, externally authored background reports, case studies, journal articles, and pamphlets. Other workshops on the topics of adult literary and data analysis and presentation include terms of reference, summary record, and correspondence from Deputy Executive Secretary Colletta regarding workshop preparation.

Other WCEFA files are titled "Illustrative" and "Thematic" (1978 - 1990). Illustrative files contain conference pamphlets, abstracts, background papers, case studies, and othersession materials distributed to participants. Thematic files contain guidelines, publications, and special studies booklets for roundtables organized by the secretariat, lists of proposed thematic or global roundtables, draft outlines, notes for the record, and correspondence with roundtable coordinators and attached proposals from sponsoring agency representatives regarding contributions. Some thematic files contain abstracts and background reports as in the illustrative files. Abstracts, or synthes, arecommonly in both English and French. Several reports and publications presented or studied at the roundtable sessions were prepared by Bank education staff. The earliest report is the 1978 World Bank Staff Working Paper No. 298 by Stephen P. Heyneman, Education Department Research Program (EDCRS) and co-authors.

WCEFA subject files (1984 - 1992) relate to topics including: WCEFA partners and participants such as UN agencies, government aid agencies, NGOs, private foundations, and various countries; conference declaration and press coverage; and cultural factors and learning needs.

The 1990 Jomtien conference launched the international Education for All (EFA) program with the financial support of the Bank and the other conference conveners as well as various foundations and international and nongovernmental organizations. As of 2021, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), formerly EFA, continues to fund projects, activities, and services in the public and private sectors for children, youth, and adults within and outside school. This series contains records concerning the Bank's participation in post-conference EFA initiatives and meetings. These records pertain to the International Consultative Forum on Education for All Steering Committee established to monitor goals and progress towards the Education for All program (1997 - 2000), the G8 Task Force on Education organized with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in (2001), Accelerating Action for Education for All, Amsterdam (2002), and Education for All Fast Track Initiative (EFA - FTI) donor meeting and technical meeting (2002 - 2003). FTI was established in 2002 before evolving into the GPE. There is also a general Education for All initiative partnerships file (1997 - 2000).

Other liaison and partnership files

Other partnership records comprising the series (1994 - 2001, 2007) mostly consist of correspondence to and from HDNED Director O'Rourke and other senior staff concerning the sector's collaboration and liaison activitieswith numerous international and national organizations, academic institutions, and private sector education and employment institutions.

A small portion of records were created by Director Ruth Kagia who succeeded O'Rourke as director in 2001. The partnership files document the sector's involvement in high-level meetings including the arrangement and proceedings of meetings, and discussion of shared activities and collaboration. Correspondence consists of all-in-one notes and email hard copies, memoranda, incoming and outgoing letters, and facsimiles. Back-to-office reports are in the form of memoranda. Other record types found among the correspondence include external annual reports, agenda and invitations to meetings or conferences, proposal papers, brochures, and copies of external articles.

Records regarding partnership activities with UNESCO and other United Nations agencies comprise most of the files. There is a single file concerning UNESCO partnership dated 2007 and two files related to the UN Special Rapporteur Katarina Tomasevski which contains correspondence with Director Kagia, Human Development Network Vice Presidency, and others. The topics covered are Bank financing and support to education programs, draft annual report for comment and final annual report to United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and feedback on an HDNED Education Sector Strategy Paper.

Other partner institutions include, but are not limited to: European Union; Soros Foundation; Japan International Cooperation Agency; International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement (IEA); and World Links. There are also individual files concerning the Human Development Professional Mentoring Program (1997), Development Grant Facility (DGF, 1997 - 1999), and various conferences (1996 - 1997).

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

Accruals are expected.

System of arrangement

Records are arranged by name of partner organization.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Records are subject to the World Bank Access to Information Policy.

Conditions governing reproduction

Records are subject to the Copyright Policy of the World Bank Group.

Language of material

  • English
  • French
  • Arabic

Script of material

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

An inventory list is available here.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

  • See Records of the Education Sector - Director and Front Office records (WB IBRD/IDA WB_IBRD/IDA_88-01) for more records related to partnerships, Education for All (EFA), and other global programs.

  • See Records of the Education Sector - Education Sector Board records (WB IBRD/IDA WB_IBRD/IDA_88-04) for subject files and meeting records concerning partnerships with certain external organizations.

  • See Records of the Education Sector - Policy and best practice development (WB IBRD/IDA WB_IBRD/IDA_88-07) for records regarding the EFA program.

  • See Records of the Education Sector - Grant and trust fund management (WB IBRD/IDA WB_IBRD/IDA_88-06) for records related to coordination of funds to support partnership programs.

  • See Records of the Office of External Relations - Liaison with external organizations (EXT-08) for more records related to the Bank's liaison function with UNESCO and other organizations involved in the education sector.

  • See Central Files - Liaison with external organizations, individuals, and United States Government (WB IBRD/IDA ADMCF-08) for records related to the World Bank's external liaison function for the years 1969 to 1971. During this period records relating to all Bank functions and organizational units managed by the Central Files unit were combined into one large series originally classified as "Bank Administration, Policy and Liaison" files. These files are arranged alphabetically by name of organization or institution.

  • See Records of the Social Development Sector (WB IBRD/IDA WB_IBRD/IDA_87) for records relating to the Bank's relationship with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other non-UN external organizations. The Social Development Department was responsible for this function from 1997 to 2002. records relating to the Bank's relationship with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other non-UN external organizations. The Social Development Department was responsible for this function from 1997 to 2002.

Related descriptions

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Rules and/or conventions used

Internal World Bank Group Archives rules

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Dates of creation revision deletion

11 February 2021

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