Interview of the Month Greg Mortenson: the man who builds schools In Pakistan, he is known as “Dr Greg”. Since starting without a penny and living in his car to save money, Greg Mortenson, a nurse by training, has devoted his life to education. He is the executive director of the Central Asia Institute that promotes education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. His book, “Three Cups of Tea” has become required reading in hundreds of high schools and universities across the United States and the US Pentagon has purchased several thousand copies for its staff. A version for young readers was recently released. Mr Mortenson will receive the Star of Pakistan civilian award from the government of Pakistan in honour of his contribution to the country. He spoke to EduInfo at the High Level Group on Education for All in Oslo, Norway in December 2008. More Upcoming events International Mother Language Day, February 21 The launch of the third edition of UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger of Disappearing will form part of the celebrations for International Mother Language Day (IMLD). India: preparatory regional conference on higher education, February 25-26 The future of higher education in the South, South-West and Central Asia was discussed by ministers, educationists, NGOs, policy makers and experts from 14 countries in New Delhi, India. The UNESCO Future Forum, March 2 The Global Financial and Economic Crisis: What Impact on Multilateralism and UNESCO? International Women’s Day, March 8, 2009 UNESCO celebrates International Women’s Day by hosting a flagship programme of roundtables and exhibitions News Roundup Arab education conference explored learning societies, January 5 to 7 Investment in adult education and the long term benefits for the Arab region were discussed at a conference in Tunis. The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, awarded the 2008 UNESCO ICT in Education prize, January 14 Chinese and Egyptian laureates receive UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICTs in Education. A Strategic Turn for the UN Literacy Decade, January 26 to 28 If you open up a health centre, people will be lining up to get in; if you open up a literacy training centre no one will come” said André Lázaro, Brazil’s Vice-Minister of Education. Pedagogy Congress 2009 January 26-30 Exchanging idea and experiences and strengthening regional co-operation were the twin themes of an education congress held in Cuba. UNESCO at the 2009 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland 28 January - 1 February The Forum focused on ‘Shaping the Post-Crisis World’ and gathered over 40 heads of State and Government and over 2,500 participants from the business, political and cultural communities. Director-General appeals for rapid financing of UNESCO education projects for Gaza, February 5 The Director-General of UNESCO has called for urgent assistance for five UNESCO education projects included in the $613 million UN Flash Appeal for Gaza. Francophone countries prepared for CONFINTEA VI, 11-13 February, Lyon, France Experts from 54 Francophone countries gathered in Lyon this month to discuss sustainable literacy in preparation for the world conference on adult education (CONFINTEA VI) to be held in Brazil in May. UNESCO launched a series of teaching aid publications for teachers in Latin America and the Caribbean, February 17 These publications are devoted to reading, math, natural sciences and writing, and present theoretical and practical elements that can help teachers deepen and improve their teaching practices in these subjects.