21 to 22 March 2005 in Panama City, Panama

The office of UNESCO for Central America in San José, Costa Rica, under the auspices of the Government of Panama, organized a meeting on Policies, Access and Quality of Education and the Reduction of Extreme Poverty in Rural Areas.
The objectives of the meeting were to analyze objectively the educational situation in general and determine the impact and relevance of policies and financial investments that have been adopted by member states to reach equality of access and quality to benefit the poorest rural children in Central America.
In addition there was a debate concerning the most viable strategies for reaching the goals of Education for All and the relevant elements of the Millennium Development Goals directly related to the reduction of extreme poverty. An agreement was reached on developing a framework for a more effective and dynamic plan of action to create efficient educational systems that contribute to sustainable progress within rural communities suffering extreme poverty.
Participants included vice ministers of economics and finance, vice ministers of education, presidents of commissions of education of national congresses and legislative assemblies and representatives of FAO, UNICEF, UNESCO, The World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.
Members of the donor community were also be invited along with representatives of rural development projects. The workshop was a follow-up to the August 2004 Workshop Education for Rural People in Latin America: ALIMENTACIÓN Y EDUCACIÓN PARA TODOS held in Santiago, Chile.