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xiiEFA Mid-Decade AssessmentIntroductionIn January 2000, the Asia-Pacific Conference on the EFA 2000 Assessment was held inBangkok, Thailand. At the Conference, country representatives adopted a regionalframework for action that eventually contributed to the Dakar Framework for Actionadopted by the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, in April 2000. Anassessment of progress was made at the Dakar Forum and the collective commitmentto ensure that EFA goals and targets are reached and sustained was renewed.Following the World Education Forum, UNESCO Bangkok continued to supportcountries in the region by conducting regular meetings with National EFA Coordinatorsunder the auspices of the Sub-Regional Forum (SRF) for East and South-East Asia. Asthe preparation of National Action Plans progressed, it was agreed that draft EFA planscould be shared with other EFA National Coordinators, EFA partner agencies andexperts in order to learn from others’ experiences and receive suggestions for possibleimprovement.Sub-regional national EFA Coordinators meetings have been held annually since 2000to provide the forum for information sharing on EFA issues and challenges, includingupdating each other on the general status of EFA planning and implementation in eachcountry.With EFA National Action Plans in place (or soon to be in place) in most countries, theNational EFA Coordinators meeting has shifted its focus to provide support andassistance in EFA implementation and in the continuing process of plan revision. Inrecent years, meetings have taken a particular focus of interest. Themes for the 2003and 2004 meeting were Adult Literacy/Non-Formal Education and Inclusive Education,respectively.Fourteen countries from the sub-region are regularly invited to participate in the annualmeeting of the National EFA Coordinators. These are Cambodia, China, Indonesia,Japan, Lao PDR, Republic of Korea, DPR Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar,Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam. Member States from South Asia –India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal – attended the meeting for the firsttime. Afghanistan was also represented during the meeting.For the first two days, the focus of the 2005 meeting was Early Childhood Care andEducation, which is the theme for the 2007 EFA Global Monitoring Report. The nextthree days focused on planning for a national and regional EFA mid-decadeassessment. This report is a summary of the last three days of the meeting, focusingon the EFA mid-decade assessment.Education for All: Reaching the Unreached