In 2004, children spoke directly to politicians in face-to-face meetings,
parliamentary debates and letters as part of the as part of the 'World's
Biggest Ever Lobby'. More than 2 million people took part and 14 Heads
of State and dozens of Ministers joined in. In some countries, children
took over the national legislature or parliament for the day, engaging
lawmakers in hard-hitting discussions about what governments must
do to ensure that no one misses out on an education. Related activities
took place in state capitals, village halls and even individual schools
as thousands of parliamentarians, went 'Back to School'.
Children in the South backed their demands with concrete evidence,
presenting politicians with 'Missing out Maps' - diagrams pinpointing
who in their community is out of school, and why.
By working together nationally and globally, we made a difference.
In Cambodia the government pledged to send more teachers to remote
rural areas and to conduct an official census of all out-of-school
children; in Kenya the Minister of Education issued a new directive
stating that children could not be excluded from schools for want
of a uniform; in the UK the government pledged US$20 million in support
of the Education for All Fast Track Initiative; in Nigeria the World's
Biggest Lobby gave a major boost to getting a watershed child rights
bill through the legislature in Nigeria; and in Bangladesh MPs from
all parties promised to cooperate to stamp out violence against female
pupils.
BIG BOOK OF THE WORLD'S BIGGEST LOBBY
The excitement and impact of the World's Biggest Lobby is captured
in photos and stories from over 100 countries in the GCE's "Big Book."
The file has been divided into two parts for easier downloading.
View
video footage from Global Action Week 2004 |
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