REPORT1: EIGHTH INTER-AMERICAN MEETING OF MINISTERS OF
EDUCATION: “BUILDING AN INTER-AMERICAN EDUCATION AGENDA:
EDUCATION WITH EQUITY FOR PROSPERITY”
February 4 – 5, 2015 Panama, Panama
The Eighth Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Education, jointly organized by the Government of Panama
and the Organization of the American States (OAS) 2 brought together the Minister of Education of the region to
discuss the theme “Building an Inter-American Education Agenda: Education with Equity for Prosperity”.
Specifically, the minister and delegates from 24 countries, received a report on the work of the Inter-American
Committee on Education (CIE) 3 from 2012 – 2014 and discussed the following issues: quality, equity and
inclusion on Education; teacher education and professional development; comprehensive Early childhood
education; mechanism for building an Inter-American Education Agenda; cooperation practices in building the
Agenda; and different perspectives on an institutional framework for Education in the Inter-American system.
The contributions of the meeting will be sent to the VIII Summit of the Americas: “Prosperity with Equity:
The Challenge of Cooperation in the Americas”, which will bring together the Heads of State and Government
of the 35 members states of the OAS in April.
Resolutions approved:
• CIDI/RME.RES.1/15 : “Building an Inter-American Education Agenda: Education with Equity for
Prosperity” which expresses the will of the countries of the Americas to work together “on Building an
Inter-American Education Agenda to provide the member states with a forum for policy dialogue in order
to define priority lines of action to guide the Inter-American cooperation in education over the next five
years according to the following existing mandates: quality, inclusive and equitable education;
strengthening of the teaching profession; and comprehensive early childhood care.
• CIDI/RME.RES/Res. 2/15: Vote to thanks to the People and Government of the Republic of Panama.
• CIDI/RME.RES/Res. 6/15: Proposed Language to Recommended to the Summit Implementation Review
Group (SIRG) for Consideration in the Mandates for Action Document of the VII Summit of the Americas,
entitled “Prosperity with Equity: The Challenge of Cooperation in the Americas”.
See Resolutions in Spanish and English: http://www.oas.org/sedi/dhdee/ministerial_meeting_VIII.asp
See Annex 1: CIDI/RME.RES.1/15: “Building an Inter-American Education Agenda: Education with
Equity for Prosperity” and Annex 2: Presentation by Dr. Gaby Fujimoto in the Eighth Inter-American
Meeting of Ministers of Education.
NOTE: Thanks to Dr. Maggie Koong, World President of OMEP for financing part of the travel expenses.
1 Gaby Fujimoto, OMEP Representative to the OAS and alternate representative to ECOSOC United Nations &UNICEF
2 The Organization of American States was established in 1948, brings together all 35 independent states of the
Americas and constitutes the main political, juridical and social governmental forum in the Hemisphere. In addition, it
was granted Permanente Observer status to 69 states, as well as to the European Union. http://www.oas.org
3 The Inter-American Committee on Education (CIE) was created in 2003 as a collegial body comprised of
representatives of the Ministers of Education of the member states of the Organization of American States; it serves as
an open-ended mechanism for ministerial dialogue and is responsible for developing and following up on the lines of
action set out by the Ministers of Education in response to the mandates issued under the Summits of the Americas
process.