Paris, Nov 5 (IANS): Several heads of state and some 150 ministers and delegates from all 195 Unesco member states gathered in Paris Tuesday at the 37th session of the General Conference of Unesco to discuss its development strategy for the next eight years.

The conference is also expected to confirm another four-year term for Irina Bokova as director-general, Xinhua reported.

The session comes at a particularly critical time for Unesco as the organisation is in the midst of a major reform aimed at making it more relevant, more effective and more performing in response to global challenges to peace and development.

Opened Tuesday at the Unesco headquarters in Paris, participants will use the 15-day meeting to approve a programme that reinforces the reform of the organization and gives shape to policies needed to achieve the sustainable development goals that will guide the international community in the coming years.

It will also be asked to approve an expenditure plan of $507 million for Unesco for the next two years.

The highlights of this session include a leader's forum to be attended by Costa Rica president Laura Chinchilla, President of Tunisia Moncef Marzuki and some high level government representatives to discuss the post-2015 international development agenda in the areas of education, science, culture and communication.

The first BRICS-Unesco Ministerial Consultation Meeting on Education will also be held and will group the five education ministers from the BRICS countries - Brazil Russia, India, China and South Africa - to step up their efforts to strengthen cooperation in the educational domain.