Assembly/AU/Dec.173 (X) DECISION OF SUMMIT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SECOND DECADE OF EDUCATION FOR AFRICA - DOC. EX.CL/386 (XII) The Assembly: 1. TAKES NOTE of the Report of the Third Ordinary Session of the Conference of Ministers of Education of the African Union (COMEDAF III) held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 6 to 10 August 2007; 2. ENDORSES the decision of Executive Council on the report ; 3. CALLS ON the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to establish strong education desks in their Secretariats by 2009 in order to support the implementation of the Plan of Action for the Second Decade of Education for Africa; 4. REQUESTS the Commission to expedite the operationalisation of the Pan African Institute for Education for Development (IPED) and the Centre Internationale pour l’Education pour Filles et Femmes en Afrique (CIEFFA) as specialised institutions of the AU by recruiting qualified staff and building their institutional capacity; 5. FURTHER REQUESTS the Commission to oversee the formalisation of collaboration with the Association for the Development of Education for Africa (ADEA) as follows: a. Signing of a memorandum of understanding between the AU and ADEA b. Merger of the COMEDAF Bureau with the ADEA Bureau c. Invitation to all Member States that have not yet done so, to join ADEA. 6. CALLS ON development partners to ensure harmonisation of their education programmes for Africa with the priorities set out in the Plan of Action for the Second Decade of Education for Africa.