Overview
ORGANISATION OF EDUCATIONAL COOPERATION (OEC)
OVERVIEW
The Organisation of Educational Cooperation (OEC) was established on 29 January 2020 by Latin American, Caribbean, African, Asian, Middle Eastern and Pacific Island countries at the International Summit on Balanced and Inclusive Education held in Djibouti.
As set out by its Constitutive Charter, the purpose of the OEC is to “contribute to the equitable, just, and prosperous social transformation of societies by promoting balanced and inclusive education, in order to attain the fundamental rights to liberty, justice, dignity, sustainability, social cohesion, and material and immaterial security for the peoples of the world.”
The OEC acts, therefore, as an instrument of intellectual, technical and financial cooperation and solidarity between its Member States as well as its Associate Members.
OUR FUNCTIONS
Support and assist in the work of achieving the commitments made in the Universal Declaration of Balanced and Inclusive Education, proclaimed in Djibouti City on 29 January 2020
Contribute to the development and implementation of systemic solutions to achieve universal, inclusive, quality education for the peoples of the world
Contribute to the strengthening of mutual knowledge and understanding of humanity’s historical, cultural, and shared roots
Support and contribute to the construction and adoption of a third, alternative, inclusive way of development emerging through and from education, founded upon the spirit of multilateralism, solidarity, and self-determination
Cultivate, increase, and democratise knowledge, information, and research by establishing and making available, on-site and online, a clearing house hosting comprehensive resources to enable learning from similar challenges and best practices
Establish, oversee, and manage an ethical financial subsidiary to provide financial assistance to its Members States in their educational initiatives
WHAT WE DO
South-South Cooperation Amplification
Knowledge, Information and Research Democratisaton
Financial Solidarity and Cooperation
Paradigm Shift Acceleration
Technical Assistance
Policy Support
Why an Organisation of the Global South?
Adopting a balanced and inclusive education is an investment in the sustainable human, social and economic development of a nation and of the world. It is, in consequence, introducing changes to existing education systems. This inevitably implies a mobilisation of human, technical and financial resources. With the purpose of realising the aspirations proclaimed in the Universal Declaration and, therefore, supporting countries in the process of transformation, the OEC was established as an international organisation founded by States, and to whom it would be fully accountable.
The Organisation is designed, however, to be lean and, with a systemic and innovative approach, capable of efficiently supporting the reforms to which its Member States aspire, as well as facilitating intersectoral collaborations in both research and implementation.
Therefore, the Universal Declaration is supported by the Organisation of Educational Cooperation (OEC), whose main characteristics are:
Efficiency
The OEC adopts, structurally, an administrative mechanism which is cost-efficient and without excessive bureaucracy.
Intersectoriality
International, intersectoral collaboration in research and in the implementation of educational transformation plans being essential, the OEC includes civil society and academic organisations as Associate Members, with limited rights.
Sustainability
The OEC’s purpose being the support of Member States, it does not depend on their continual investment but, rather, finances, in the medium term, its own budget through the integration of an ethical financial subsidiary generating the funds needed to support OEC programming.
Solidarity
The OEC provides technical support to Member States, by placing at their disposal intellectual and human resources and, through the integration of an ethical financial subsidiary, in terms of solidarity-based financing. This financial subsidiary of the OEC is structurally directed towards investments into socially and ecologically responsible projects in Member States.
Equality
Cooperation and inclusion being possible only where there is equality amongst stakeholders, the OEC operates on the democratic basis of one vote per Member State, a process which extends, in turn, to the financial subsidiary, since it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the OEC, whose Secretary-General is accountable to the Member States.
