Priority to education, tourism development and resilience to climate change were part of the talks at the meeting of UNESCO attended by Prime Minister, Charlot Salwai.
PM Salwai met with Director-General UNESCO Irina Bokova last week and expressed his gratitude for the support that Vanuatu got from the organization after it was hit by hurricane in 2015.
With 25% of the national budget allocated to education, Mr Salwai indicated that the priority focus fell on the extension of free education up to the tenth year of schooling, as well as on improving curricula for a multilingual system, and also teacher training.
He also highlighted the importance of technical and vocational education for the tourism industry as well as academic institutions offering relevant curricula for the needs of the country.
In addition, he shared the reforms initiatives that are being undertaken to strengthen the stability of the government, a key factor to fulfill the country's obligations towards international organizations.
Director-General Bokova highlighted the importance that UNESCO attaches to Small Island Developing States in the Pacific and to the implementation of "Samoa Pathway", adopted at the Samoa International Conference, held in Apia in 2014.
She also referred to the work of the UNESCO Task Force on Climate Change and its commitment to supporting the Republic of Vanuatu in the implementation of 2030 Agenda, particularly in the fields of quality education, teacher training, skills development and the use of new technologies.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by Foreign Minister Bruno Leingkon and Minister of Agriculture Seremia Matai Nawalu.
Photo: UNESCO/PM Charlot Salwai with Director General Irina Bokova