Kerline Paul has worked as a bilingual executive assistant for over 20 years. In preparing meetings and files, in organising seminars and training courses, and in managing customers, she has honed her capacity for initiative, fast turnarounds and resilience to stress. Since 2020 she has worked for Enéal (Action Logement Group), which aims to rethink accommodation solutions for older persons.

Kerline Paul’s career follows on from a FEDE European Master’s in Business Management and Strategy. Now, having caught the research bug, she plans, thanks to the opportunity provided by the FEDE, to pursue a dream of hers: to develop and write a DBA thesis.

Kerline Paul’s research will focus on the positive impact of non-profit organisations that are committed to social and solidarity-based economics. In her view, the social innovation capacity of these organisations drives a type of societal engagement that makes them worthy of recognition as major and distinct economic actors.

In short, she wishes to demonstrate that civil society organisations, like commercial organisations – though they operate differently – have an essential role to play in liberal economies.

In 2012, Jean Frédéric Minatchy set up a firm specialised in training (coaching and professional mentoring). He has also continued his career as a teacher, lecturing at Néoma Business School and the Université de La Réunion, where he has supervised bachelor’s and master’s dissertations. He also has taught marketing and human resources management at the training department of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Réunion.

Jean Frédéric Minatchy has two master’s degrees: one in economics, administration and management (Panthéon-Sorbonne University) and the other, awarded by the FEDE, in business management and strategy. He also has two Global Executive MBA degrees (from IFG Paris/San Francisco Executive Education and IAE (Sorbonne Business School). He is also a certified coach. In fact, he intends to keep on learning all his life, as is demonstrated by his enrolment in a DBA.

Jean Frédéric Minatchy’s DBA thesis will focus on the following research question: ‘How might managers, with the support of human resources, mentor their colleagues in order to help them find meaning in their work and create shared, sustainable values?’ In a nutshell, he will be reflecting on a human and proactive mode of team management.

On 28 October 2021, during the FEDE’s General Assembly, the FEDE and the FÉdération française des Écoles de NAturopathie (FÉNA) signed an educational memorandum of understanding . It addresses, in particular, skills and other requirements for professional practice in the naturopathy and well-being sector.

We spoke to Dr Alioune Diaw, President of the FENA

 

1. The FENA has, for over 30 years, worked to promote and increase recognition of naturopathy in France, particularly through the accreditation of institutions and the certification of naturopaths. The FEDE and the FENA wish to work together to develop an institutional structure for the sector and advance its legal regulation. Could you provide a brief overview of your sector?

Naturopathy is a discipline that focuses on how we can improve our lives: stress, sleep problems and the regulation of emotions are major concerns and have become even more pressing during the COVID-19 pandemic. People want to improve their physical fitness and their well-being; healthy eating is another important aspect.

Most naturopaths work in a private consultation room, but this is changing: some are now being hired by companies, which are starting to get interested in naturopathy.

I’ve focused on the situation in France, since that is where I work.

 

2. One of the main goals of the memorandum of understanding between the FEDE and the FENA is to improve quality control in institutions that offer programmes in subject area 06 (Sport, Health, Society and Education). How do you think the FEDE and the FENA could increase connections with companies in the naturopathy sector and ensure alignment between educational programmes and the skills needed on the job?

Developing a career as a naturopath requires various strategies; but it also requires, first and foremost, a specific skill: business administration. This is sometimes overlooked, or even repudiated, by practitioners working in non-conventional healthcare. However, being a naturopath does not simply mean opening up a consultation room and giving out appointments. Successful naturopaths also need to be able to manage their accounts and to put in place communications and prospecting strategies to increase their visibility and attract enough clients to ensure a regular and sufficient income. The FEDE is an expert in developing teaching guidelines containing crosscutting skills. It will therefore be able to help actors in the sector develop some important professional competencies.

3. During the FEDE’s General Assembly, you gave several examples of careers in naturopathy. Could you tell us about some job roles in the sector that you consider to have good prospects in terms of future employability and the development of our societies?

There are a range of careers opportunities in naturopathy. These include jobs at fitness centres, thalassotherapy centres, and spas; in holiday and leisure facilities; in events venues (courses, seminars, retreats); at sports clubs and federations; at birthing centres; at health-food shops; in nutritional supplement laboratories; and in care and retirement homes. There are especially promising prospects for naturopaths working in the following sectors:

• Companies and public administration

Businesses of all sizes – not just large corporations – are showing more and more interest in the well-being of their staff. In 2020, 55% of French people said they were stressed at work. The well-being at work index (Ibet) shows that the cost associated with the disengagement and unavailability of a staff member in the private sector stands at around €14,310 per year. More and more employers are organising relaxation activities, particularly during the lunchbreak or after work. They are also organising courses lasting from a few hours to a whole day, along with one-hour workshops during seminars. [The Global Wellness Institute (https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/) has international data that could be interesting for a number of FEDE institutions. In France, where I work, the GWI estimates that 12 million people took part in such activities during 2018, which adds up to an expenditure of around €2 billion.] In order to access this market, which still has few actors, naturopaths need to contact companies directly via their staff committees or ‘life quality at work’ reps; they can also get in touch with specialised platforms that offer well-being services to companies.

• Pharmacies

More and more pharmacies want their dispensers to be trained in naturopathy. They also sometimes invite naturopaths into the store to advise their customers on dietary supplements, essential oils and healthy living. Naturopaths can also get in touch with yoga teachers, dance and martial arts instructors, sophrologists, hypnotherapists, reflexologists, and massage and shiatsu practitioners; this will enable them to reach a larger audience interested in improving its well-being.

Sources

• Bpifrance creation, ‘Devenir naturopathe’, September 2021
• ACCOR, ‘It’s a Wellness World: The Global Shift Shaking Up Our Business’, white paper, 2019
• ADP Research Institute, ‘Workforce View 2020: une étude mondiale’, January 2020
• Global Wellness Institute, ‘Europe Wellness Economy Monitor,’ study, October 2018
• Information collected by Bpifrance from Alexandra Attalauziti, President of the SPN, May 2021
• Le Magazine Thermal, ‘La naturopathie en cure thermale’, 7 March 2018
• Mozart Consulting for APICIL, ‘L’Ibet©, un indice pour mesurer le capital santé des collaborateurs’, 16 October 2020

 

Claude Vivier Le Got, Chairwoman of the FEDE

 

How did you meet Dr Diaw, and why naturopathy?

I met Dr Alioune Diaw during the FEDE’s GA. I love our GAs because they are a great networking opportunity and help build connections quickly. We got talking and began a very lively discussion about Dr Diaw’s sector. I have been interested in well-being for a long time and I consider that the sector has a lot of promising career prospects. I myself practise week-long fasting – I’ve done this once or twice a year for many years now, in specialised centres that are often run by naturopaths. At these centres I have met some genuine professionals but also some people who mistake a genuine desire to help others with professional competency. Dr Diaw had already worked with the FEDE: he had us accredit his bachelor’s-level programmes. I was very interested in his wish to build professionally oriented, well-structured and scientific programmes for naturopaths, given that the sector does sometimes attract amateurs without rigorous training.

Why are you keen to build links between the FEDE and trade associations?

The FEDE aims to provide young people with professional skills and to help educational institutions implement their teaching programmes. My role at the FEDE is to drive excellence, in terms both of the FEDE’s image and the quality of our course guidelines. Here at the FEDE we craft our learners’ future careers, and in doing so we are guided by a 360° approach to quality control. We can only innovate, anticipate and build future-oriented skills if we have close relations with trade associations, be they national, European or international. We need them, and vice versa. As you know, human relations really help to advance a project. Consequently, when I discovered that Dr Diaw is Chairman of the FENA, I immediately suggested that we work together. The FEDE has institutional connections and can provide expertise with regard to cross-cutting skills. The FENA, on the other hand, is an expert in naturopathy and course content in this field. In short, the FEDE has a crosscutting approach to a range of sectors, whereas the FENA – just like Geopa-Copa for agriculture in Europe, or the FNIH for the hospitality and tourism sector in Morocco, with which we have also signed partnership agreements – has a vertical, expert approach towards a specific sector. We can only gain through working together.

 On 14 February 2022, the Chairwoman of the FEDE, Claude Vivier Le Got, and the General Director of the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO), Lise Fuhr, signed a memorandum of understanding at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris.

Founded in Brussels in 1992, ETNO is the main European federation representing employers and large companies in the European telecommunications sector. Officially recognised by the European institutions (European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the EU), ETNO, as part of European social dialogue, defends the interests of telecom operators via-à-vis the demands of trade unions. FEDE-ETNO cooperation aims to promote synergies between, on the one hand, educational institutions offering FEDE subject area N°3 (IT, Digital Tools and Technology) and, on the other hand, companies in the new technology, IT and communications sector.

Indeed, the agreement will help ensure that the FEDE’s educational programmes match up with the skills needed to work in telecommunications. Growing interconnection between digital platforms, open-source solutions and increased mobility are nowadays an important part of how companies work. Consequently, employers need staff who have both technological skills and the ability to adapt to the societal challenges arising from digitalisation. Jobs relating to new technology have excellent prospects and are an exciting opportunity for graduates who possess both IT and digital know-how and business and people skills.

The FEDE-ETNO agreement aims to encourage all forms of cooperation between FEDE institutions and employers in the sector – be it strategic, financial, representational or promotional – with a view to reducing skills shortages and obstacles to employment and equipping staff with the skills needed to adapt effectively to new technology.

Following the signing of the partnership, Grégory Gillet – senior manager at British Telecom and an ETNO representative – actively participated at the FEDE’s General Assembly in Dubrovnik in March 2022. Mr Gillet presented the goals of the FEDE-ETNO Memorandum of Understanding and spoke with representatives of FEDE member institutions offering telecommunications-related programmes. Furthermore, at the end of May Ruxandra Stroe from the FEDE’s education team attended a conference in Lisbon organised by ETNO and another European telecom social partner – the European Services Workers Union (UNI Europa).

 

Geopa-Copa is the EU institution-recognised European federation representing the agriculture sector. On 21 October 2021, a memorandum of understanding was signed in Malmö, Sweden between the FEDE’s Chairwoman Claude Vivier Le Got and the President of Geopa-Copa Joseph Lechner. It aims to create synergies between agricultural companies and farms and FEDE institutions in our subject areas 10 (Environment, Natural Resources and Sustainable Development) and 11 (Nature, Agriculture and Farming). In particular, it will help to ensure a good match between the FEDE’s educational programmes and the skills needed in the agriculture sector.

We spoke to Joseph Lechner, President of Geopa-Copa and a hops farmer based in Alsace.

• During the seminar in Malmö, you deplored the loss of 2 million employees in the agriculture sector since the beginning of the 2000s. In your opinion, how can the sector combat this labour shortage? How can it attract and retain more young people and women?

Yes, there are fewer and fewer farmers in Europe. Young people are turning away from careers in farming, which have a negative image and are often poorly understood by careers advisors. Simultaneously, half of farmers will be retiring in the next 10 years, and demand for qualified workers is increasing. It is urgent to act so as to replace the older generation with the new. Current trends, such as digitalisation and environmental transition, are both challenges and opportunities. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown, on the one hand, that farms can use digital tools and new technology to improve production, recruitment and working conditions. On the other hand, more and more young people want a job that will give them a sense of purpose in life and a form of authenticity. They can find these things in a career in agriculture, working alongside nature and animals. These developments need to be matched with information and guidance campaigns targeting young people: talks in schools, visits to farms, work experience placements and more apprenticeships. This will make it possible to address prejudices and nurture a sense of vocation, particularly among women. Now more than ever, agriculture is a sector with a promising future. We need to make people aware of that!

• During the discussions in Sweden, there was talk of some new job roles that are expected to exist in the agriculture sector by 2040. Could you briefly describe an agricultural career that you think has a promising future?

The agriculture sector faces a paradox: it must keep up (or even increase) production while at the same time reducing its environmental impact. Consequently, robotics is a fast-growing field. It is already providing numerous solutions and will doubtless play an increasingly important role: drones, robots for milking, for precision harvesting, for manual weeding in organic farming etc. The technological leap of the past 20 years has been spectacular, and the future possibilities for reducing the arduousness of farm work and its environmental impact are infinite. Nonetheless, I don’t think we’ll have fully autonomous robots. We will always need a farmer to operate them. So I’d say that a career as a farmer-robot operator, in charge of managing and maintaining farms, has a very promising future. We will need to include this technical dimensional and in the academic training of future farmers and agricultural workers.

• From the FEDE’s point of view, the aim of the FEDE-Geopa-Copa partnership is to create synergies between FEDE institutions that offer agriculture-focused programmes and agricultural businesses and farms; we want to ensure a good fit between course content and the skills needed in the sector. The partnership has only just started, but what are your hopes for our memorandum of understanding?

For me, this partnership agreement is precious. It is fully aligned with our European organisation’s policy to boost the attractiveness of agricultural careers. The aim is twofold: to help optimise educational programmes and to create connections between FEDE institutions and the members of Geopa-Copa. The FNSEA, which I represent at the European level, is already working hard with secondary-level agricultural colleges and, in collaboration with the public authorities, is trying to ensure that qualifications are aligned with changing job needs. The partnership with the FEDE aims to continue this work at a higher-educational level, thereby increasing the pertinence of what is taught and bringing together employers and graduates at the national and European levels. I hope that the agreement will lead to concrete action, such as regular talks by our professionals at FEDE institutions, farm visits, grants for internships, European exchanges, and perhaps events to reward student initiatives that favour future-oriented farming. The memorandum of understanding is a starting point; we will need to develop the partnership and make it known to our respective members.

 

Joseph Lechner

President of Geopa-Copa

The FEDE and the Pact for Skills for Europe’s agrifood ecosystem

Following its joining of the European Commission’s Pact for Skills in March 2021, on 27 June 2022 the FEDE signed a joint position statement on the skills needed in the European agrifood ecosystem. The FEDE’s commitment in this area follows on from its signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Employers’ Group of Professional Agricultural Organisations in the European Union (Geopa-Copa) in October 2021.

The agrifood ecosystem is one of Europe’s largest job-generating sectors. In the EU, 11 million farms and 22,000 agrifood cooperatives provide jobs to 22 million people, and 289,000 food-processing companies provide jobs to 4.5 million people. At the same time, the agri-food industry has a growing need for highly qualified workers, such as agronomists, sustainability experts, biotechnology experts and high-level technicians.

The aim of this partnership is to boost the quality of the teaching and vocational training of agrifood employees, who do not currently always have the skills needed to work effectively. The project will put in place a shared strategy to design and implement a sector-specific framework for education, teaching, upskilling and reskilling.

This will help to maximise the competitivity of all relevant actors, thereby protecting agri-food ecosystem jobs and improving their attractiveness. The project will also monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) so as to measure progress towards the objectives and identify and overcome challenges.

Project networking will help partners to organise co-operation between education and training organisations and business actors, which should also help to address skills shortages. The first stages of the project will be launched during 2022.

 

As of 22 July 2021, the FEDE is an official partner of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The special consultative status granted by ECOSOC’s Committee on NGOs will allow the FEDE to forge close ties with the world’s most important international organisation – a reference on social, economic and environmental issues. Everyone on the FEDE team is delighted at the exciting prospects this new partnership brings.

Presentation of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

Since its founding in 1945, the United Nations (UN) has worked actively with NGOs, recognising their importance in advancing the Organisation’s ideals and supporting its work. Article 71 of the UN Charter states that the Economic and Social Council may take all necessary steps to consult NGOs on subjects falling under its competence. In 1946, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established a consultative status for 41 NGOs. 75 years later, in 2021, it has granted this status to nearly 5200 NGOs across the world. These partner NGOs help to strengthen connections between the UN and civil society and are active in various sectors, including education, health, the fight against poverty, human rights, gender equality, indigenous issues etc. The six main UN organs, established in 1945, are: the General Assembly (main deliberation, decision-making and representative organ of the United Nations); the Security Council (whose main responsibility is peacekeeping and national security); the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); the United Nations Trusteeship Council; the International Court of Justice (main UN organ of justice); and the Secretariat (serves the other main UN organs by administering their policies and programmes). ECOSOC is the main organ in charge of making recommendations to Member States on economic, social, cultural, educational, public health, sustainable development-related and other associated matters. It is also in charge of implementing the UN’s internationally adopted development goals – in particular the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out in the 2030 Agenda. It plays a central role in the activities of the United Nations system and of specialised UN agencies, particularly through its role in supervising subsidiary and consultative organs. Its role consists in examining relevant issues. It maintains close links with NGOs in its areas of competence. It is also the main UN deliberative, debating and innovation-seeking organ focusing on sustainable development. ECOSOC has 54 members, of which 18 are elected each year by the General Assembly on three-year terms. France is represented on ECOSOC until 2023, and Switzerland until 2022. Since 23 July 2020, the President of ECOSOC has been Mr Munir Akram, the Permanent Representative to the United Nations of Pakistan. ECOSOC has two headquarters – one in New York  and one in Geneva. For more detailed information, take a look at ECOSOC’s website, (only available in English): https://www.un.org/ecosoc/

Special consultative status

The 19 members of ECOSOC’s Committee on NGOs can recommend two types of status for applicant NGOs. The first, general consultative status, is granted to large international NGOs whose areas of work and action cover the majority of items on the agendas of ECOSOC and its subsidiary organs. These NGOs are authorised to submit written communications and petitions to ECOSOC and to suggest items for inclusion in its agenda. The second status is special consultative status, which is granted to NGOs whose work focuses on a specific field. NGOs holding this status may submit written communications or petitions to ECOSOC. It was decided that the FEDE, in view of its expertise on educational matters, met the criteria for joining ECOSOC, and we have been granted special consultative status.

ECOSOC and NGOs

Since the adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in 2015, NGOs have played an important role as ECOSOC partners on the ground, helping the international community to implement the UN’s revolutionary agenda. The general idea is that governments, civil society, academics and the private sector should work together to advance sustainable development. Consultative status is a formal relationship between NGOs and the United Nations that enables civil society to get involved in the work of the UN. ECOSOC is the main point of entry into the UN system for NGOs, providing a formal framework for their participation in the Organisation. Accredited NGOs can take part in various events, including (but not only) regular sessions of ECOSOC and of its Functional Commissions and other subsidiary bodies. They can also attend official meetings; submit written declarations prior to sessions; deliver oral declarations; meet official government delegations, UN officials and other NGO representatives; organise and attend parallel events that take place during ECOSOC sessions; and take part in debates and interactive dialogues.

History of FEDE-ECOSOC relations since 2019

In March 2019, Claude Vivier Le Got met Lidiya Grigoreva (a UN diplomat) in Warsaw during a conference on connections between European civil society and the Council of Europe. Lidiya Grigoreva, who is Director of the NGO Liaison Unit at the Office of the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, encouraged the FEDE’s Chairwoman to submit an application to request special consultative status at ECOSOC. Following this fruitful discussion, the FEDE compiled and submitted its application to ECOSOC at the end of May 2019. Our application was to be examined by the relevant bodies between February and July 2020. However, the global pandemic prevented UN staff from meeting to assess NGO applications. Consequently, the procedure was postponed to 2021. On 7 June 2021, the Committee on NGOs recommended that ECOSOC grant general consultative status to four NGOs, and special consultative status to 432 others. Of the five applicants for general consultative status, the following NGOs were successful: the American NGOs Institute of Noahide and The Fishermen; the Cameroonian NGO African Network for Young Peace and Sustainable Development; and the French NGO International Association of University Professors and Lecturers. Of the 855 applications received, the Committee recommended special consultative status for 432 NGOs, including the FEDE. Finally, on 21 and 22 July 2021, ECOSOC gave its decision as to the Committee’s recommendations and officially granted the FEDE special consultative status.

 

Prospects for the FEDE-ECOSOC partnership

Now that it has obtained special consultative status, the FEDE will have access to the meetings of numerous ECOSOC subsidiary bodies, such as: the Partnerships Forum; the Commission for Social Development; the Commission on the Status of Women; the Commission on Population and Development; the Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations; the Youth Forum (organised every year since 2012); and certain extraordinary meetings depending on the subject addressed.

Each year during the Partnerships Forum, ECOSOC and other UN bodies work together to assemble some of the most influential leaders from politics, the private sector, NGOs and civil society. Those convened discuss innovative ways in which partnerships might be used to advance international development. The Forum expands the range of people involved in ECOSOC and promotes concrete measures to help different groups to work together to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The Forum sessions of recent years have covered topics such as ‘more and better jobs for young people,’ ‘innovative solutions for sustainable development’ and ‘the contribution of partnerships to the Sustainable Development Goals’.

Since 30 September 2020, the FEDE has been an official partner of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The so-called ‘consultative’ status granted to our Federation will allow it to develop close relations with UNESCO – an international organisation and world reference in education. Everyone on the FEDE team is excited about the prospects that this new partnership will bring.

About UNESCO

In 1942, during the Second World War, some of the countries fighting against Nazi Germany and its allies met in the United Kingdom for the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education (CAME). Their aim was to find ways to reconstruct their education systems. The project soon took on an international dimension, and UNESCO was officially founded on 4 November 1946. UNESCO aims to secure peace through international cooperation in education, science and culture. UNESCO programmes also help to implement the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out in the 2030 Agenda adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. As of 1 January 2019, UNESCO has 193 Member States.

UNESCO’s vision

More than 75 years after the end of the bloodiest conflict in history, cultural diversity is under attack, and new forms of intolerance, denial of scientific facts and violations of freedom of expression are threatening peace and human rights. In such a context, UNESCO has a duty to reaffirm the humanist goals of education, science and culture. Political and economic cooperation between governments is insufficient to ensure durable and sincere commitment to universal peace; peace must be based on dialogue, mutual understanding and the moral and intellectual solidarity of humankind.

In this spirit, UNESCO develops educational tools to help each individual to live as a world citizen and to provide every child and adult with access to quality education. UNESCO promotes programmes and scientific policies, which serve as development and cooperation platforms to strengthen relations between nations by promoting cultural heritage and the equality of cultures. UNESCO acts as a laboratory for ideas, playing an essential role in consolidating the foundations of durable peace and sustainable and equitable development. UNESCO carries out its activities through five key programmes: Education, Natural Sciences, Social and Human Sciences, Culture, Communication and Information.

UNESCO’s educational goals include:

– to lead the construction, at an international level, of structures providing access to education for people from every part of the world;

– to provide expertise and encourage the creation of partnerships to build the capacities of all countries to provide quality education to all;

– to urge states and the international community to accelerate progress towards the UN’s educational goals, and to measure the progress made.

FEDE-UNESCO relations since 2018

The FEDE compiled and submitted a request for official UNESCO partnership (consultative status) in May 2018, having begun the process in 2017. The application included proposals for activities that would draw on the FEDE’s education-related skills and expertise. In support of its application, the FEDE requested a number of high-level meetings. In December 2018, the FEDE Chairwoman met with two senior UNESCO staff members at the Organisation’s headquarters – the Director for Cultural Policies and Development (Culture Sector) and the lead specialist within the Cultural Policies and Development Programme. She went on to meet, in April 2019, with the Head of the Section of Education Policy within the Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems and with an expert on world citizenship education. The FEDE Chairwoman also got in touch with a number of UNESCO ambassadors. During these meetings, the UNESCO experts particularly appreciated, on the one hand, the educational links inherent to the FEDE’s network and, on the other hand, its academic research and its involvement at the Council of Europe, where our Federation’s activities have a strong relevance for UNESCO (as a reminder, the FEDE produced an anti-corruption teaching programme in collaboration with GRECO and is leading the creation of a white paper on European cultural identity). UNESCO enthusiastically participated in a FEDE-organised white paper consultation focusing on world citizenship education. The collaboration of the two organisations on this subject of shared interest enabled the FEDE to demonstrate its expertise. In October 2019, the UNESCO’s Director of Education supported the FEDE’s stance concerning the dreadful situation of schoolchildren in the Sahel and replied to a letter sent by the President of the FEDE’s Human Rights Committee Farhang Ghassemi. UNESCO also recognised the FEDE’s commitment to humanism, as demonstrated by its official statements and its annual Human Rights Prize. It has become very difficult for an NGO to obtain consultative status at UNESCO since UNESCO requires that applications be both of high quality and relevant to its policy interests.

FEDE-UNESCO: a win-win partnership

The FEDE’s areas of expertise are highly relevant to UNESCO’s objectives. Like UNESCO, the FEDE is convinced that education is an essential driving force in improving the situation of both states and their citizens. The FEDE’s educational programmes allow learners to take career-oriented courses while simultaneously developing the skills needed to become open-minded citizens.

As an official UNESCO partner, the FEDE intends to play an active role in UNESCO’s collective and bilateral cooperation mechanisms, particularly as regards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN in 2015. The FEDE is particularly eager to contribute to SDG 4, which aims to ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’. By working together to this end, the FEDE and UNESCO will help, at their respective levels, to meet this ambitious SDG by 2030. Thanks to their partnership, the FEDE and UNESCO will be able to draw on their respective skills, knowledge and resources to step up the impact and visibility of their activities. For UNESCO, the 10,000 students and large number of teachers belonging to the FEDE network constitute an important group of people as they are likely to be interested in UNESCO educational programmes and in sharing their experience. This collective work is clearly useful for both the FEDE and UNESCO as it can only help to verify and potentially improve their respective programmes and educational materials.