UK Minister adds her voice to 1GOAL

Nov 12th, 2009 10:21 AM EST
By David Cole

© 2009 Foreign & Commonwealth Office

UK Foreign Office Minister Glenys Kinnock has signed up to the 1GOAL campaign during her recent visit to South Africa.

Speaking at Winnie Ngwekazi Primary School in Soweto, she said “Many millions more children are in school now because governments have focussed on that as a priority, but it is still totally unacceptable that 75 million children are not receiving any kind of primary education.”

She also said that she will discuss 1GOAL when Commonwealth leaders meet next month in Trinidad & Tobago.

The 1GOAL campaign, a partner to ONE, aims to ensure that the lasting legacy of the football World Cup next year in South Africa is that every child can be learning in school by 2015.

Watch an interview with Glenys Kinnock discussing 1GOAL:

1GOAL

Oct 12th, 2009 2:07 PM EST
By David Cole

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown with Queen Rania al Abdulllah of Jordon and famous faces from the football world at the 1GOAL global campaign launch in London © 1GOAL

Last week 1GOAL held its global launch, with an event hosted in London by 1GOAL co-chair Queen Rania of Jordan and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. They were joined by a variety of speakers via satellite including FIFA President Sepp Blatter in Zurich, President Zuma in South Africa, Prime Minister Zapatero in Madrid, as well as a special message from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The football World Cup, taking place next year in South Africa, is the world’s biggest single sporting event. It is a moment when millions will come together to share the passion of football. The 1GOAL campaign, a partner to ONE, aims to ensure that the lasting legacy of the tournament is that every child can be learning in school by 2015.

President Jacob Zuma of South Africa talked about the importance of education and said “We support the footballers and their fans in calling on all world leaders to do their part to ensure every child can go to school. We need to see action at the World Cup and beyond. By acting now, together we can ensure education for all.”

1GOAL is supported by some of the leading members of the football world and its governing body, FIFA. England international footballer Rio Ferdinand said, “Children from every country deserve a chance at a better life and we want our leaders to make sure they get the education they need to break the cycle of poverty. Musicians have led influential campaigns against poverty; it’s time for the football world to do our part.”

P.S.– Check out photos from the global launch here.

Dear G8,

Jul 3rd, 2009 11:46 AM EST
By Nora Coghlan

On Tuesday, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus and the former President of Ireland Mary Robinson joined together to present the G8 with one simple request: send every child to school.

In an open letter to the leaders of the G8 countries, the group asked for the G8 to commit to launching a Global Fund for Education. The proposal comes from a pledge made by President Obama himself.

The letter reads:

We are heartened by the commitment of the United States President, Barack Obama, to provide a contribution of at least $2 billion dollars to a Global Fund for Education which would help to eliminate the global education deficit by 2015. Such a bold and ambitious plan should be endorsed by other members of the G8 through a public commitment to such an initiative, which must be launched before the end of the year with full funding. A Global Fund for Education would ensure that the funding shortfall is no longer the main impediment to progress on basic education, and moreover that those investments have the greatest impact on access to and quality of education.

Putting every child in school seems like a tall order, but history has shown that remarkable progress is possible with a combination of dedicated government investment and international support. Ethiopia, for example, was able to double its enrollment rates between 1999 and 2007, leading to a total of 3.3 million more children in school. Increased government spending on education, incentives for girls to enroll and the construction of schools in rural areas all contributed to this impressive progress. Across Africa, stories like this have resulted in 34 million more children in school since 1999.

A Global Fund for Education could help replicate successes like Ethiopia’s by helping to galvanize new momentum toward basic education and reverse the declining investment the sector by international donors. This is more vital than ever given the current global financial climate. In many countries, expenditure on sectors like health and education will be one of the first victims of stretched government budgets, and a skilled, educated workforce will be one of the key ingredients to recovery and fueling long-term economic growth.

We’ll be following the G8 closely next week, so we’ll keep you posted on any new education commitments and hopefully, a plan to launch a Global Fund for Education.

-Nora Coghlan

Advocacy is spelled GCE

Apr 22nd, 2009 1:47 PM EST
By Nora Coghlan

On Monday, the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) launched its annual Global Action Week, seven days of advocacy to raise awareness around education and encourage governments to follow through on their commitments to put 75 million children in school by 2015.

Here in Washington, GCE kicked off the week with a roundtable discussion on the state of global education and the potential for a new U.S. investment. The guest of honor was Queen Rania of Jordan, a longtime advocate for education in her home country and around the world. Queen Rania began the conversation with a timely topic: economic growth. Education, she pointed out, is central to fueling national economies and raising incomes at the family level. And as a critical input into health, gender empowerment and democracy, education is one of the highest-yield investments we can make into families and communities, especially in the world’s poorest countries. With the global financial crisis in full swing and threatening to hit poorest countries the hardest, the time is riper than ever for a bold new initiative to get every child in school.

Queen Rania was backed up by three powerful education advocates here in the U.S.: Congressional champion Representative Nita Lowey and two experts who are now serving in the Administration - Gene Sperling (who is Council to the Secretary of the Treasury) and Gayle Smith (Senior Director for Relief, Stabilization and Development and Senior Advisor to the President on the National Security Council).

Rep. Lowey spoke first, saying that the “stars are aligned” for achieving the education for all. She noted that U.S. funding for basic education has increased seven-fold since 2001 (thanks largely to her leadership on the House Appropriations Committee), an impressive scale-up but still a far cry from the U.S.’s fair share of the $11 billion price tag for meeting the Education for All goals. Rep. Lowey pointed out that strong congressional leadership is now paired with clear support from the Administration, a reference to President Obama’s commitment to contribute $2 billion to a Global Education Fund. As a result, she said, the constituency for global education has never been stronger. Gayle Smith also spoke on President Obama’s commitment to education, saying that the President remains committed to his campaign promise and that she was hopeful that “in the not-too-distant future,” he will make an announcement on the establishment of a robust, sustainable Global Fund for Education.

This discussion couldn’t have been more timely- details on President’s Obama’s budget request will be coming out in the next couple weeks. ONE and other advocates are hoping that they contain a strong boost for global education spending to indicate the Administration’s intent to fulfill its commitment to a Global Fund for Education. An investment in education by the U.S. in FY10 will ensure that any initiative in the “not-too-distant future” will have the resources it needs to be successful.

Gene Sperling (former head of the Center for Universal Education) ended the panel by outlining a few trade-offs that global policy makers cannot afford to make when it comes to education- access vs. quality, donor funding through bilateral vs. multilateral channels, and a focus on primary education (5 years) vs. eight years of basic education. He also said it was time for global leaders to step up their efforts to supporting education in countries in conflict and transition, noting that just as a dollar invested in girls’ education is one of the best-spent dollars in the world, so is a dollar invested in education for children of conflict.

To drive this point home, Sperling quoted a passage from What is the What by Dave Eggers, one of my favorite books. The scene takes place in a school in a refugee camp in the midst of the Sudanese civil war. A group of boys are writing lessons in the dirt. Their teacher looks over their work and attempts to convey to them the magnitude of what they’re doing, saying:

Many of you no longer have mothers. You have lost your fathers. Here, if you are smart enough to accept it, you will be educated. Education will be your mother. Education will be your father. While your older brothers fight this war with guns, when the bullets stop, you will fight the next war with your pens.

Stay tuned here on the ONE blog for other things going on around the Global Action Week and how you can get involved.

-Nora Coghlan

Zimbabwean Children Flee to South Africa

Jan 28th, 2009 1:49 PM EST
By Virginia Simmons

I read this story in Sunday’s New York Times on children fleeing Zimbabwe “for lives just as desolate” in South Africa, and wanted to share it here on the ONE Blog.

Below are some excerpts but you can read the full piece on their site.

With their nation in a prolonged sequence of crises, more unaccompanied children and women than ever are joining the rush of desperate Zimbabweans illegally crossing the frontier at the Limpopo River, according to the police, local officials and aid workers.

What they are escaping is a broken country where half the people are going hungry, most schools and hospitals are closed or dysfunctional and a cholera epidemic has taken a toll in the thousands. Yet they are arriving in a place where they are unwelcome and are resented as rivals for jobs. Last year, Zimbabweans were part of the quarry in a spate of mob attacks against foreigners….

South Africa’s national police force is exasperated by the crimes… most victims do not file complaints. After all, they are here illegally, unless remaining in the Showgrounds. “Last week, I had 1,500 ready for deportation,” he said.

The captain stood up, walking over to a computer screen. “We keep photos of the refugees killed near the border.”…

Mention of the children seemed to feed his exasperation. “Street kids, more all the time,” he said. “They come in as if they are playing in a game.”

He asked, “What do we do about these kids?”

-Virginia Simmons

School doors still closed in Zimbabwe

Jan 16th, 2009 1:52 PM EST
By Nora Coghlan

Over three weeks have passed since Zimbabwe’s schools were scheduled to reopen after the Christmas break, raising fears that 2009 will be another lost year for education in Zimbabwe. While the government is saying the extra time is needed for teachers to mark last year’s exams, many teachers are refusing to return to work until the government agrees to pay them in foreign currency, as the Zimbabwean currency has become completely worthless. Teachers are demanding US$2,200 a month before they resume work, a demand that was rejected by the government after being put forward earlier this week by a coalition of NGOs and teachers unions.

From the Zimbabwe Standard:

Prospects that the situation would improve next term have been dampened by the prolonged delays in the formation of a new government, analysts said. “The outlook is gloomy,” said ZIMTA(Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association) acting chief executive officer, Sifiso Ndlovu, who confirmed the latest demands by teachers.

“If the political environment does not change in the few coming days, schools are unlikely to reopen next term.” Teacher organisations estimate that up to 30 000 teachers resigned from government to seek employment in neighbouring countries while others turned to the informal sector as the authorities continued to ignore pleas for better pay.

Meanwhile, private schools have been threatened with arrest by the government if they open their doors as scheduled on Tuesday.

The delay follows a tumultuous 2008 school year that was cut short in October, when schools had only been opened for a total of 23 uninterrupted days. This is compared to relatively high attendance rates only a year ago- a recent UNICEF report found that school attendance in Zimbabwe had dropped from 85% in 2007 to 20% by the third term of 2008. The drop was largely a result of the teacher shortages, which began last March after teachers started striking against poor pay and political intimidation around the elections. Attendance rates are also low because children are needed to help parents look for food or work amidst the ongoing economic turmoil.

After years of surviving despite a crumbling economy and autocratic rule, the most recent political upheaval may have struck a final blow to Zimbabwe’s education system, which was once the envy of its neighbors. Although high level talks are scheduled to resume again on Monday, analysts are doubtful that Mugabe will agree to the opposition’s demand that the government release all detained political prisoners.

-Nora Coghlan

Eight years after Dakar: Reviving the global compact on education

Dec 19th, 2008 1:54 PM EST
By Nora Coghlan

Another big item on the agenda at this week’s High Level Group meeting in Oslo is financing for basic education. Education for all by 2015 is only possible if developing countries and donor governments dedicate the financial resources and political will required to make it happen. It was this spirit of mutual commitments that led to a deal between donors and developing countries at the 2000 World Education Forum in Dakar: If developing countries committed the political will and domestic resources to achieve universal primary education by 2015, donors would provide the technical know-how and extra funding to support them.

The Dakar agreement gave rise to the first ever global compact on education, the Education for All-Fast Track Initiative (FTI), The goal of FTI is to “fast track” countries seriously committed to achieving universal primary education by providing coordinated and increased donor support. Under the FTI framework, developing countries produce national education plans and mobilize domestic funding to finance them. Once their plans have been technically vetted and endorsed, donors step in to provide coordinated and increased financial and technical assistance to help implement them.

Where developing countries and donors have delivered on their promises, remarkable progress has been made. UNESCO points to Ethiopia as an example- international aid helped Ethiopia increase its education spending from 3.6% of GNP in 1999 to 6% in 2006. Over the same period, the number of Ethiopian children out-of-school was cut nearly in half, dropping from 7 million to 3.7 million. Statistics also suggest that the FTI model is working on a broader scale- in its annual report released this past Monday, FTI announced that African FTI countries alone had seen 15 million more children go to school for the first time between 2000 and 2006, a 52 percent increase. This is compared to a 23 percent increase for non-FTI African countries.

To date, 36 countries have answered the call from Dakar by developing FTI-endorsed education plans and mobilizing over 70% of the financing to implement them. Donors, however, have not kept up their end of the bargain, and as a result many countries are struggling to fully implement their education plans. Aid to basic education has stagnated at $4 billion per year, less than half of what is needed to achieve universal primary education and only one-quarter of the $16 billion required annually to realize all the Education for All goals. Estimates are that FTI countries will face a resource gap of $1 billion in 2009. This gap will grow as more countries are endorsed- by 2010, if all thirteen expected countries receive endorsement the gap could grow $2.2 billion.

Participants here in Oslo are hopeful that the discussions this week will inject new momentum into financing education for all. There have been some signs in recent months that some donors are committed to doing this: at the launch of the Class of 2015 partnership in September, $4.5 billion in new commitments were announced by different donors. Here in the U.S., President-elect Obama has committed not only to capitalizing a $2 billion Global Education Fund, but also to endorsing the Education for All Bill (championed in the Senate by Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton) which would put $10 billion into basic education over 5 years.

The need to revive the global education compact is more critical than ever in the current financial climate. As poor countries begin to feel the effects of the global economic crisis, the temptation to cut spending on education will be high and some of the recent progress made in getting children in school could be threatened. If the world stands a real chance at education for all by 2015, donors need to renew faith in the global education compact by keeping up their end of the deal and standing by their commitments to basic education.

-Nora Coglan

Live From Oslo

Dec 17th, 2008 1:56 PM EST
By Nora Coghlan

Greetings from snowy Oslo, Norway, where government ministers, campaigners and education experts are currently gathered for the High Level Group meeting on Education for All. The conference is the eighth annual since the historic World Education Forum in 2000, which set forth the Dakar Framework for Action, a roadmap to achieve quality education for all by 2015.

Participants here in Oslo are acutely aware that halfway towards the target date set for achieving the goals set out in Dakar and the MDG targets on education, the world remains seriously off track: according to new statistics published a couple weeks ago in UNESCO’s annual Global Monitoring Report (GMR), there are still 75 million primary-school aged children out-of-school around the world, 35 million of whom are living in sub-Saharan Africa. 55% of these children are girls, and over one-third live in fragile states. If current trends continue, 29 million children will still be out of primary school in 2015.

Another common thread in many of the discussions here is (more…)

Class Dismissed

Oct 9th, 2008 1:57 PM EST
By Chris Scott

News out of Zimbabwe today reveals that the full impact of failed governance and gross economic mismanagement in Zimbabwe is still emerging. An article featured on the Times Online reported that due to a rapidly crumbling education system and continuing conflict between teaching unions and Robert Mugabe’s government, Zimbabwe has decided to cancel the 2008 academic year. In the midst of a prolonged teaching union strike, violence erupted around June’s presidential election leaving 6 teachers dead and thousands assaulted by Zanu (PF) militia.

The deteriorating state of education is the latest update to a long list of development gains that have been thwarted by years of failed leadership under Mugabe. This news is particularly disheartening given that Zimbabwe once boasted one of Africa’s highest literacy rates.

Excerpts below, full piece here

Now the coup de grace to the education system is being delivered by hyperinflation. Teachers had their salaries doubled last week to the equivalent of £5.70 a month — barely enough for bus fares and bread for four days.

The handful of private and state schools where parents can pay large supplements to teachers’ salaries are the only ones operating. In most schools where teachers do turn up pupil attendance is dwindling.

Providing school food at a time of comprehensive agricultural failure is a struggle. Mr Majongwe said hundreds of rural schools had sent their boarders home because they could no longer feed them.

Mr Musoni, from Sengwe, is pathetically thin. “There is no food,” he said. “People are starving.” Students at Harare Polytechnic rioted last week after they were served sadza, the stiff maize porridge that is the national staple, without salt or cabbage.

-Chris Scott

Education Week Wrapping Up

Apr 25th, 2008 2:02 PM EST
By ONE.Partners

So afters weeks of anticipation the Global Campaign for Education Action Week is drawing to a close. I want to salute the thousands of educators and students who have already participated in the World’s Biggest Lesson in 48 of the 50 states.

During my time in the US for GCE Action Week I also had the privilege to meet and spend time with some of the smartest and dedicated young people in the United States. More than 50 high school and college students came from around the country to learn about why education saves lives and about the Education For All Act of 2007. I was so impressed by watching these articulate youngsters come together for this cause and asking the “older people” some really smart questions about the sort of arguments they hear about why the US should not give financing for education overseas.

The big Congress day arrived and the buzz was infectious. The youngsters took the bull by the horns and met with 75 representatives and senators in a frenzy of 100 meetings running between the Senate and the House and back again. In the middle of it all, they participated in a press conference with the impressive Honorary Chairperson for GCE Action Week Shakira and Congresswoman Nita Lowey. However, it was the youngsters coming from 12 different organizations including a large delegation from the ONE Campaign who really made me proud. They were sharp and passionate. I felt for the first time in a few years the US might just take the leadership on Education for All in the coming years with activists such as these.

-Anne-Marie Mujica, GCE international secretariat