It is my pleasure to introduce to you the 7th edition of the Kenya and UNESCO magazine 2006.

During the period under review we witnessed a lot of reforms in the Ministry of Education in general and within the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO in particular. In order to refocus and strengthen the Commission as well as clarify its vision and mission a key stake holder’s workshop was held in April 2005. The workshop recommended fundamental reforms in the management and operations of the Commission. Most of these recommendations are currently being implemented. A taskforce to oversee the reforms of the Commission was immediately formed. The major programme committees have been reconstituted with clear Terms of Reference (TOR) and resources of the Commission enhanced among other reforms.

Later in the year Kenya effectively participated in the 33rd General Conference of UNESCO that was held in October 2005 in Paris, France. At this Conference, Kenya managed to secure positions in Strategic Committees and Council including; International Bureau of Education (IBE), World Heritage Committee (WHC), Intergovernmental Council on Bioethics (IGCB) and Presidency of the Youth Forum. These will definitely go along way in strengthening the participation of Kenya in the global arena.

The Kenya National Commission for UNESCO collaborated in the implementation of regional and sub-regional workshops and seminars including; UNESCO Regional Seminar on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Regional Training Course for Managers and Directors of World Heritage Sites, International Conference on Accreditation, Quality Assurance and Recognition of Qualifications. Co-operation and collaboration was also witnessed in the implementation of national projects which included; HIV and AIDS, preparation of Special Needs Policy, Quality Assurance and Standards, Teenage Mothers’ project, Assessment of groundwater quality in urban and peri urban centres and the launching of the Youth Forum. All these contributed significantly to the visibility of UNESCO in the country.

Kenya acknowledges the critical role UNESCO plays in capacity building of human resources. The various meetings organized by UNESCO have greatly contributed to the building of the capacity of Kenyans participating in these fora.

Finally I would like to thank all those who participated in the implementation of these activities. I also wish to thank the publisher for the quality work in the previous six editions. It is therefore my hope that the reader of this magazine will find it resourceful.

Dr. Noah Wekesa, EGH, MP,
Minister for Education, Science and Technology