International
Global Campaign for Education
Good news: global education success in Copenhagen
Earlier this week, representatives from 52 countries met in Copenhagen, Denmark for the first-ever replenishment of The Global Partnership for Education. You may have read our coverage leading up to the Partnership’s big event.
In total, 57 pledges were made, constituting an initial commitment totaling $1.5 billion. It’s crucial to maintain this spotlight on education in advance of the 2015 MDG deadline, as the Partnership will continue their efforts during this replenishment period, raising an addition $1 billion before 2014 in order to send 25 million children to school (along with some other important goals). In addition to pledges from new donors, a dozen donors committed to predictable, multi-year contributions, ensuring the Global Partnership will provide stable assistance to partner developing countries. This pledging conference was about increasing funds for education across bilateral, multilateral and private channels. Five leading donors –France, European Commission, Germany, Australia and United Kingdom – committed to significant increases in bilateral support to education, ensuring their leadership in education assistance.
The United Kingdom continued its leadership within the Global Partnership, pledging $352 million for the period 2011-2014, more than any other donor.
Australia also made a robust pledge, of $278 million.
France pledged $65 million, and made commitments to divert a portion of the profits from a forthcoming Financial Transaction Tax to education assistance for developing countries.
Canada pledged $57 million,
the European Union $53 million
and Germany $21 million, all for the pledging period (2011-2014).
True to the Partnership’s name, this pledging conference was not just about traditional developed country donors. Developing countries, civil society organizations, and private sector companies were also represented. Twenty-eight Education Ministers from developing countries attended the event, coming with pledges of their own. Thirty developing country partners pledged to increase domestic expenditure for basic education by at least $2.2 billion during the pledging period (2011-2014). In addition to increasing domestic spending, developing country partners have committed to tackling barriers that prevent children from accessing a quality basic education, increasing school infrastructure, and increasing interventions that specifically target barriers to girls. Finally, developing country partners have pledged to recruit, train, and deploy hundreds of thousands of teachers.
Civil society, the teaching profession, the private sector and foundations also pledged to invest almost $2 billion of their own organizational resources to expand activities in universal quality basic education programs over the replenishment period. Just one of these pledges, from Education International, commits to provide technical and financial support for the development and implementation of competence profiles to ensure teachers are meeting quality guidelines, as well as to recruit and train 1.8 million teachers in Global Partnership for Education countries.
Congratulations to The Global Partnership for Education on a successful first replenishment event. These initial pledges will provide millions of children with a quality primary education. We look forward to donor and partner efforts to leverage this momentum around education into more ambitious commitments in the pursuit of quality primary education for all.
Advocacy is spelled GCE
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
Education Week Wrapping Up
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
[Top Photo: Western Kentucky University and Campbellsville Students Join Shakira and Congressional Leaders in Washington, DC on April 22 for Global Campaign for Education Action Week. Pictured from L to R: Jamie Lokey, Matt Vaughan and Charlie Harris. Photo Credit: Paul Morigi]
Take Action: Put 77 Million Kids in School
It’s Global Education week – and ONE is partnering with the Global Campaign for Education to push for action on the Education for All Act – legislation that would extend access to education to the 72 million children with no access to even basic education around the world.
Right now, the legislation has 66 co-sponsors in the House, but we need many more if we want to ensure that it’ll pass when it comes up for a vote later this year.
Please take a moment to urge your member of Congress to co-sponsor this critical bill.
Shakira Has Class
I am pleased to announce that this year Grammy award-winning artist Shakira will be the Honorary Chairperson of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) “Action Week†from April 21-27, 2008. Shakira will appear in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, April 22, with members of Congress as well as students who are coming from across the United States to raise awareness for the bipartisan Education for All Act of 2007 (EFA). You can help raise awareness by telling your senators or representatives to support the EFA Act by going here.
We are thrilled that Shakira, who has a long background of supporting education for poor children, has agreed to be Honorary Chairperson of Education Action Week. Her participation is invaluable for raising awareness of the importance of ensuring every child around the world gets a quality education.
In addition to the activities in DC, the GCE is organizing a global event to set a new world record for World’s Biggest Lesson. The lesson focuses on the importance of receiving a quality education and we anticipate that over 5 million children and young people worldwide will participate in the record-breaking attempt. By taking part in this activity, you will be joining millions of your peers around the globe who will be learning – at the exact same time – about the barriers that young people face all over the world in accessing a quality education.
Add your voice to this record-breaking attempt! Register your participation in the World’s Biggest Lesson now – www.campaignforeducationusa.org. You can also join our Facebook and MySpace groups to keep up to date on all Action Week activities.
Together we can make a difference. Thank you for all that you do!
-Gene Sperling, US Chair, Global Campaign for Education
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The International ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with guest contributions from ONE volunteers, members and allies.
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TAGS: Education, Global Campaign for Education, Millennium Development Goals