A/RES/59/237 and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling and that boys and girls will have equal access to all levels of education, Taking note of the oral report presented on 18 October 2004 at the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly by the Assistant Director-General for Education of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization regarding its preparations for the Decade, 6 Taking note also of the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, 7 in particular the reference to the issue “Learning to live with risk”, as regards the need to focus on education and awareness, linked with the Decade, to be considered at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, to be held in Kobe, Japan, from 18 to 22 January 2005, 8 Emphasizing that education is an indispensable element for achieving sustainable development, 1. Reaffirms that education for sustainable development is critical for promoting sustainable development; 2. Requests the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, as the designated lead agency, to promote the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, in coordination with other relevant United Nations organizations and programmes, while taking into account the special needs of developing countries; Requests the Secretary-General to call upon the United Nations 3. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to finalize the draft international implementation scheme for the Decade as soon as possible, preferably by the beginning of the Decade, in consultation with Governments, the United Nations and relevant international organizations, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders, while clarifying its relationship with the existing educational processes, in particular the Dakar Framework for Action adopted at the World Education Forum 9 and the United Nations Literacy Decade; 10 4. Also requests the Secretary-General to call upon the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to submit the draft international implementation scheme to the governing bodies of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for their final consideration and adoption; Encourages Governments to consider the inclusion, especially upon 5. completion and adoption of the international implementation scheme, of measures to implement the Decade in their respective educational systems and strategies and, where appropriate, national development plans; Invites Governments to promote public awareness of and wider 6. participation in the Decade, inter alia, through cooperation with and initiatives _______________ 6 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-ninth Session, Second Committee, 14th meeting (A/C.2/59/SR.14), and corrigendum. 7 A/59/228. 8 Ibid., para. 8. 9 See United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Final Report of the World Education Forum, Dakar, Senegal, 26–28 April 2000 (Paris, 2000). 10 See resolution 56/116. 2