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The UNESCO Delegation from the Regional Office for East Asia visited the Republic of Korea recently to engage with the National Commission for UNESCO of the Republic of Korea and Korean Institutions. The purpose of the mission was to hold consultation with the UNESCO Category II centre of Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) within the framework of the planned evaluation of APECIU. The second purpose of the mission was to engage with education institutions in Republic of Korea to boost and strengthen bi-lateral cooperation. 

The UNESCO delegation, comprised of Director and Representative, Prof. Shahbaz Khan, Education programme specialist Mr. Robert Parua, and Consultant Ms. Di Zhao, visited Korea from 8^th to 12^th April, 2024. During the visit, the UNESCO Delegation met with Korean National Commission for UNESCO, Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APECIU), Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Sub-regional Office for East and North-East Asia, and selected Korean universities.

During the Courtesy visit to APCEIU, the UNESCO delegation met with Dr. Lim, Director of APCEIU and his team. Prof. Khan informed the APCEIU team about the statutory evaluation process of UNESCO and the parameters of the Evaluation of APCEIU. During the exchange, the Director of APCEIU provided valuable feedback on the scope, budget duration articulated in the terms of reference for the evaluation of APCEIU. 

Director of UNESCO Beijing Office informed Director of the APCEIU and Staff of the field office of the reform and upgrading of UNESCO Beijing as Regional Office for East Asia which provides the opportunity for UNESCO Beijing to work very closely with APCEIU to promote GCED.  Director of APCEIU highlighted the key achievements of the APCEIU over the past 6 years and he welcomed the evaluation to confirm some of the key achievements and challenges of the Centre. He also suggested closer collaboration with UNESCO Beijing aligned with Education for International Understanding and GCED in 2024 in the framework of the 42 C5 and Medium-term Strategy of UNESCO.

The UNESCO Delegation paid a courtesy visit to the UN ESCAP Sub Regional Office for East Asia, in Incheon in South Korea. Dr. Ganbold, Director of ESCAP Sub-regional Office for East and North-East Asia warmly welcomed Prof. Khan and his delegation to visit the premises of ESCAP. Both Directors acknowledged that the two offices of UNESCO and ESCAP geographically cover the same countries (Mongolia, Japan, DPRK, ROK, China) in East Asia region and ESCAP covers Russia so it provides a solid platform and opportunity and synergies for joint cooperation on agreed key thematic areas. 

The ESCAP Director had highlighted key strategic priority areas and focus of ESCAP in the East Asia sub-region. Environment is a major focus of the ESCAP sub-regional office, which focused mainly in marine protected areas, climate change and environmental protection. The ESCAP Director also highlighted youths as a major cross-cutting priority area and welcomed UNESCO partnership to host joint activities and projects in the thematic areas covered by ESCAP. The two agencies could also work jointly together in Incheon and Mongolia on some common platforms. 

Moreover, the UNESCO Delegation paid a courtesy visit to the Korean National Commission for UNESCO and met with the Secretary-General, Dr Han Kyung Koo and his team. Professor Khan briefly updated the Secretary-General and his team about the purpose of the UNESCO mission to the Republic of Korea to meet with the APCEIU team and review the scope of its evaluation as a UNESCO Category II Centre and hold be0lateral talks with selected Universities that host UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN in various themes in education

The Secretary-General of the Korea National Commission warmly welcomed Prof. Khan and the UNESCO delegation. He highlighted the restructuring and priority areas of the Korean National Commission in the medium and long-term. The Secretary-General pledged to work more closely with the UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia in all the programme areas of UNESCO. The Director of Beijing office and Secretary-General exchanged views to deepen and strengthen the bi-lateral cooperation between the two Institutions to advance UNESCO programmes in ROK. The Secretary-General stressed that the National Commission had expressed interest in hosting a global forum on the futures of education and currently holding discussion with Education Sector at UNESCO Headquarters. 

During the visit to Republic of Korea the UNESCO Delegation paid courtesy visits to universities that host UNESCO Chairs/UNITWIN and explored potential areas of bi-lateral cooperation.

Mr. Parua met with officials from the Korea National University of Education (KNUE), a UNITWIN network for teacher education. The two sides exchanged ideas to strengthen cooperation in the area of teacher education, teacher policy and research. The two institutions agreed to jointly organize a seminar on UNESCO global report on Teachers and research project 

Mr. Parua then paid a courtesy visit to Sookmyung Women’s University, the host institution for UNITWIN network for Gender Studies (APWINC). Mr. Parua discussed with the President and her team to boost cooperation between the two institutions on gender equality, girl’s education, research and capacity development. During the courtesy visit to the premises of the Korean National Open University (KNOU), Mr. Parua met with the KNOU team to explore past collaboration and explored potential areas of collaboration in Open and Distance learning and digital skills development. The KNOU is a UNITWIN network for ODL and will very soon be evaluated for renewal. 

This visit to ROK highlighted the significant importance of fostering closer collaboration between UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia and its Member States in East Asia. Overall the mission to ROK was concluded on a successful note. With joint efforts, UNESCO and its Member States in East Asia fulfill the mandate of UNESCO and ensure the successful implementation of UNESCO core programmes aligned with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development that leaves no one behind.