Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - As part of the ongoing commitment to support Africa's educational system, the U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will host the Africa Regional Education Workshop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on June 6-9. The workshop will feature His Excellency Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, His Excellency Amani Abeid Karume, President of Zanzibar, opening remarks by Ambassador Alfonso E. Lenhardt, U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania and the East African Community, and keynote address by Dr. Rebecca Winthrop, the Brookings Institution. The theme of this year's workshop, "Quality Education for All: Forging a New Agenda," will unite more than 180 participants from ministries of education, private sector stakeholders and implementing partner organizations from over 22 African countries to share knowledge, best practices and innovations in education.

"Investing in children yields results and every shilling, dollar, naira or rand spent to improve the education of a child is an investment in the future of the family, the community and the nation," said Ambassador Lenhardt. "With participation from many countries, this meeting is an excellent opportunity to share progress and lessons learned in essential areas like teacher training, technology for teaching and learning, and educational policies to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals."

The goal of the workshop is to forge a collective agenda of new models for education development that will build sustainable partnerships, enhance national ownership of development activities, better utilize national systems to channel education assistance and more effectively engage civil society and institutions of higher learning in finding African solutions to the continent's education challenges.

Participants will share their successes and challenges in implementing innovative education strategies that maintain and improve access, especially for underserved populations, while enhancing the quality of education in Africa for all.

Education in developing countries remains a priority for the U.S. government and an important pillar of USAID's work in Africa. With the support of Congress, $925 million dollars has been appropriated in FY 2010 to carry out education programs and assistance around the world, with a particular interest in Africa. Since the last education workshop held in 2008 in Ethiopia, great success has been made in reaching our goals and we have worked tirelessly on behalf of millions of African children and their families. While both inspired and invigorated about the work ahead, this workshop will enable us to learn from our past and help to inform future efforts in increasing access to quality education in Africa.

For more information about USAID's education programs, please visit: http://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/education.