UNESCO Korea holds workshop for 9 countries under education aid program
Summary
The Korean National Commission for UNESCO is holding a three-day BRIDGE Workshop at UNESCO House in central Seoul through Thursday, bringing together field workers from nine countries. The program, launched in 2010, supports literacy, basic education and vocational training for out-of-school children, youth and illiterate adults in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Organizers said the workshop emphasizes practical peer-to-peer sessions on governance, stakeholder communication, data management and conflict resolution. Participants will also visit education sites in Suwon on Thursday to observe Korea’s informal education approach.
Key Facts
- Participants come from Timor-Leste, Laos, Malawi, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Pakistan, Tanzania, Ivory Coast and Zambia.
- The BRIDGE Programme was launched in 2010.
- The program supports literacy, basic education and vocational training for out-of-school children, youth and illiterate adults in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
- Jeong Il-seon of Good Neighbors and Ha Gi-uk of KODAC are advising participants as they draft country-specific action plans.
- On Thursday, participants will visit the Suwon Sinjungnyeon Center and International Cyber University in Suwon, south of Seoul.
Korean National Commission for UNESCO Secretary-General Hong Hyun-ik, center, poses with BRIDGE Programme participants at UNESCO House in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtresy of Korean National Commission for UNESCO
The Korean National Commission for UNESCO (KNCU) is holding a three-day workshop through Thursday at UNESCO House in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, bringing together field workers from nine countries under its long-running BRIDGE Programme, an international education development cooperation project.
Participants from Timor-Leste, Laos, Malawi, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Pakistan, Tanzania, Ivory Coast and Zambia are attending the "2026 BRIDGE Workshop," organized by KNCU with support from the Ministry of Education. The BRIDGE Programme, launched in 2010, provides literacy, basic education and vocational training to out-of-school children, youth and illiterate adults in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, in line with U.N. Sustainable Development Goals for quality education.
Rather than following a conventional lecture format, the workshop takes an "action over theory" approach, organizers said, with peer-to-peer sessions on real-world issues field workers face, including project governance, communicating with stakeholders, data management and conflict resolution.
Jeong Il-seon, who heads the Tanzania and Ethiopia office of the aid group Good Neighbors, and Ha Gi-uk, a senior consultant at the Korea International Development Consulting firm KODAC, are advising participants as they draft action plans tailored to their countries' education systems.
On Thursday, participants will travel to Suwon, south of Seoul, to visit the Suwon Sinjungnyeon Center, a non-formal education institution for middle-aged and older adults, and International Cyber University, to observe Korea's approach to informal education and discuss how those methods could be applied elsewhere.
"I hope this workshop will help participants build a sustainable peer-support system and find practical solutions each country urgently needs, taking the BRIDGE Programme to the next level," KNCU Secretary-General Hong Hyun-ik said in his opening remarks.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
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