Dear [[First_Name]]
What an amazing week! For the first time ever the Global Campaign for Education’s Action Week has focused on Adult Literacy and Lifelong Learning. And we’ve seen millions of people from all ages and walks of life take part in “The Big Read” this week and we’re proud to be a part of it, and we thank everyone for being involved.
Read on in this special edition of the April e-newsletter and you’ll read just some of the highlights of what’s happened around the world. We’ve been amazed with the enthusiasm and participation of campaigners who have taken the Big Read, read it, written in it, owned it and passed it on. And we look forward to the letting you know about the effects that we are having on governments and decision-makers that will now need to listen to our call and help everyone get an education.
We were delighted that so many of the authors were able to join in on campaigning efforts throughout the week. Queen Rania of Jordan continued her lead role with GCE and presented the Big Read with Devli Kumari in Washington DC. Natalie Portman’s funny and touching Big Read story was featured on her website. Angelique Kidjo and Ishmael Beah joined an international media call on education for all. And in Argentina and In Bangladesh millions joined in the Action Week.
During the week GCE has also been influencing a number of important meetings this week. We attended the FTI steering committee in Denmark and released a new paper proposing for a Global Fund for Education. GCE was present at the Durban Review Conference, presenting case studies on discrimination from education. In the US we met with Congress representatives to encourage US President Obama to act on his education promises. Finally we are attending the IMF & World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington DC and launching a new report calling for urgent reforms of the current funding structure. The papers are available on the website, and a full report on these meetings will be shared in the next newsletter.
For the first time ever the campaign has been more interactive, via The Big Read website enabling anyone to join in, read or download the stories from the website, add their names, and the numbers of others to the Big Read and stay up to date with what’s happening on twitter, YouTube, flickr and facebook.
The stories in the Big Read are continuing to inspire and change the lives of many. Please remember to keep passing it on, adding your name, and letting us know how it goes. We look forward to seeing your photos and reading your stories.
Kailash Satyarthi & Assibi Napoe
President of GCE Chair of GCE
Global Action Week around the world:
Argentina: Argentina is hosting the 35th International Book Fair in Buenos Aires, from April 20 to May 11 and expects over 1,200,000 people to attend.
Armenia: The Big Read has been translated into Armenian and sent to local schools and libraries.
Austria: The Big Read was read at the Department of Education on the 22nd of April, with an opening statement from the head of the Department of Education, Dr. Claudia Schmied and others including the actress Chris Lohner joining in.
Bangladesh: The Big Read was held in schools and open places with the expected millions of teachers, students, community, local leaders. There will also be an Education Fair featuring teaching and learning materials. There will be a special supplement in two national dailies in both Bengali and English in addition to a host of other nationwide activities.
Benin: During the next seven days, many adult learners, children, parents and teachers will be very busy in Benin. They have turned the Big Read into the Big Play and will be performing to raise awareness for Education For All.
Brazil: The Brazilian Campaign for the Right to Education will hold a Big Public Class in the National Parliament on April 28th with the theme ‘Read and write the World’.
Burundi - Activities and story collection is taking place in 17 provinces. The Minister for Ed ucation, dubbed the Godfather of the Education for All, is attending the event in Bujumbura.
Cambodia: Two hundred Students will be given training on the Big Read and are expected to disseminate it in their schools and local communities. There will be a national Big Read event in the national Olympic Stadium.
Cameroon: Action Week was launched with a big ceremony of hundreds of officials and civil society representatives on the 21st April, to which the Minister of Basic Education attended. There was also a big ‘Big Read’ concert on the 22nd April in Yaoundé, with over 2000 participants and the football star ambassador Roger Milla.
Canada: The Canadian Teachers’ Federation held a Parliamentary Breakfast where they watched a multi-media presentation of Frank Edwards’ BIG READ story, in French, English, Cree and Inuktitut, and got a chance to meet the author himself.
Djibouti: This is the first year the country is carrying out the campaign and it will take place in ten national centres involving national libraries. There will be a national Big Read event in the Djibouti’s National Stadium.
Denmark: The Danish campaign will distribute the Reading Rocket, to 185,000 students. They have encouraged students to write a speech on behalf of the prime minister helping him to ensure education for all children in the world to be read in front of the Parliament building on the 22nd of April.
DRC: Over 1000 schools are participating in the Big Read, in 11 provinces. In Kinshasa, The Big Read will take place in the conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the presence of Ministers. On 26 April, more than five hundred learners will present a file in support of the Big Read.
Ethiopia: The campaign is focusing on adult education – working with the Adult and Live lihood Education Thematic Group (Forum).
France: Solidarite Laeque organized the Big Read event for the 22nd of April at Cafe Signes, a restaurant in Paris run by deaf and dumb persons. Many high profile personalities attended this event : Laure Adler, an author and journalist, Bjorn Larsson, author of the French Big Read short story and Nicholas Burnett from UNESCO.
The Gambia: The national highlight event will take place at Gambia College where stories and testimonies from Gambia’s celebrities and learners are being presented against a backdrop of songs on the theme of adult literacy that have been written by trainee teachers.
Georgia: ESFTUG has started a competition to recognize journalists who write about literacy and quality education. On April 22nd, the Big Read was held in front of the first Gymnasium of Georgia. All invited guests made notes on what needs to be done regarding education and delivered the notes to the President of Georgia.
Germany: In Hamburg there was a public reading of the giant book (3m x3m) with pupils and celebrities. In Berlin they held a reading in a special board for development of the German parliament. A class of pupils read from the giant book then handed over the messages and requirements to the attendant members of parliament.
Greece: The Greek Coalition prepared a Petition card which they have sent to schools together with the Story from Greece. Over 14 000 signatures are expected for the petition.
Guinea: The coalition will hold Big Read events in 5 centres around the country. So far, they are in the process of identifying the schools that will be involved in the event. Invitations have already been sent to politicians and celebrities to be part of the Big Read.
Ghana: Ghana is organising a host of activities during Action Week. A national durbar is being held at the Teachers Hall, at the end of the week, with a presentation to the Minister of Education.
Haiti: Tuesday April 21 was the official launch of Global Week of Action for EFA in Port-au-Prince in the presence of students, teachers and parents. On 22 April, teachers from more than 50 schools accomplished the Big Read in 5 geographical departments and signed documents to ask the leaders for a chance to Education for all.
India: India will reproduce 3,000 copies of the Big Read to be shared in 13 states. The coalition will also translate the book into Hindi and make it available on land. More than 1 000 organisations will be part of this year’s action week.
Indonesia: The Big Read will be conducted in the Capital Jakarta and various cities in Indonesia. There will be public meetings with Parliamentarians in 10 cities.
Israel: Campaigners in Israel will be promoting the issue of improving the status of education in East Jerusalem. They have initiated meetings with the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) members to garner support for improved education conditions and there are further plans to engage the media for a massive media campaign.
Jordan: Workshops targeting adolescents will train them in advocacy and prepare them to play an active role in their societies in order to raise awareness of the bad impact illiteracy and dropping out of school has.
Kenya: The Big Read is taking place in Kibera – in solidarity with the people in the urban slum. Adult learners are sharing and reading their stories, at the Kibera District Commissioner's ground.
Laos: The national coalition has invited the Deputy Prime Minister to be part of the national Event. This will be the first time that Laos will be taking part in action week in a major way.
Latvia: More than 10 000 participants took part in the largest street demonstration since Independence. The crowd consisted of schools, teachers, researchers, parents’ organizations, and other NGOs.
Lebanon: In Lebanon, children as young as five years old have been submitting stories to national campaigners for the National Big Read event. Some of the stories will be read at the national Big Read Event.
Lesotho: The Big Read has got off to a flying start with a press conference. The Big Read has been passed around civil society organisations and government departments collecting signatories in the book.
Macedonia: Over 100 children from schools from 6 different cities in Macedonia, teachers, parents and local public figures took part in the Global Action Week march as a sign of solidarity with every child in the world that does not go to school. 
Malawi: The President of Malawi is participating in the Big Read. The campaign is presenting the government with a new national education manifesto, spelling out what needs to happen in Malawi. Adult learners in rural areas have been compiling a dossier with evidence of how they can benefit from literacy, and how everyone having the chance of learning will contribute to the other ‘Education for All’ goals.
Mali: The Minister of Basic Education, Literacy and National Languages of Mali will participate in the official launch of Global Action Week activities aimed at promoting reading and writing and raising awareness to education professionals and the general public of the importance of youth and adult literacy.
Malaysia: In Malysia, UNESCO is working with schools to host the Big Read. It began begin with a speech by a committee member regarding the project, followed by a story from the Big Read, and a call to action.
Mexico: In Mexico campaigners are making a compilation of testimonies of people whose lives have been affected by not knowing how to read and write. These stories will be integrated into the local Big Read stories and form part of the activities during action week.
Montenegro: Montenegro announced the literary competition for the selection of three best stories. The stories will then be published in a special publication devoted to Action Week.
The Netherlands: A storybook is travelling throughout the country, giving well-known Dutch men and women the opportunity to share their thoughts on the importance of reading and writing.
Nigeria: The national coalition is conducting a media campaign across the country on raising awareness on the education of Internally Displaced People in five states.
Norway: An event was held in the House of Literature on the International Day of the Book, the 23rd April in Oslo. Various officials participated and the SOS Children’s Village presented their work on adult learning. The Big Read Book was given out as gifts to participants.
Pakistan: Banners highlighting the role of education for a developed and peaceful nation have been placed all over Islamabad.
Palestine: Over 1 million students and 40,000 members of the Palestinian educational cadre including directors, supervisors, counselors and teachers participated in the launching of the national campaign for education.
Peru: Lobby activities start at the end of March and will be the first step ahead of The Big Read in the different regions and the capital, Lima on April 22nd. Renowned writer Jorge Eslava will read his story. Famous Peruvian artist, Magaly Solier, winner of the last Golden Bear at the Berliner Film Festival will also grace the occasion.
Philippines: Teachers, students, parents and the youth kicked off the month-long campaign on "Youth and Adult Literacy and Lifelong Learning" in schools located at different parts of the country on March 24, 2009. Thousands simultaneously read stories written by Nelson Mandela, Paulo Coelho, Dakota Richards and other celebrities and later discussed the importance of literacy and lifelong learning
Portugal: The Big event will take place on the 28th and 29th April in Lisbon. At which the special guests will be the government officials, contributing authors to the Big Read, teachers, students from participating schools, and a blind girl that will read the Big Book in a special version in Braille.
Romania: Schools all over Romania have been invited to join the Big Read! 300 have confirmed so far. The participating schools are circulating the Story Book all over their communities, attracting more and more local campaigners. Celebrities and political representatives are expected to join the Big Read nationwide.
Senegal: A Big Bead session took place on 22 April and a round table on literacy and non-formal education convening representatives from national establishments, technical and financial partners, civil society networks and organizations and members of the media. Recommendations arising from these discussions will form a memorandum that will be sent to the Government of Senegal.
Sierra Leone: New ‘Education Watch’ research is being launched. The President and Members of Parliament have been invited to a highlight event in Freetown.
Somalia: The Big Read started with a media campaign on schools becoming ‘violence free zones’ and a call to “aan ku biirno inta aqrida” [let’s join readers]. Hundreds of universities and primary schools have been mobilised to take part.
Somaliland: Schools and centers are focused on drama related youth and adult awareness, collecting literacy success stories and data collection of the number people who cannot write and read.
South Africa: A brand new education movement has been started called ‘Public Participation in Education Network’. PPEN is taking the Big Read to libraries and schools across the nation, with a highlight event taking place on the 16th June.
Spain: Spain just returned from an exciting national Big Read event where students, women who are learning to read and write, writers, politicians, and other big names were in attendance. They collected footage and audio clips of different people reading some Big Read stories. 
Sri Lanka : Edcuation Minister Susil Premajayantha was invited among other government officials to be part of the Big Read activities in order to draw attention to literacy among the youth and adults.
Suriname: In Suriname the Big Read was launched on February 6, 2009, with a discussion between children. The topic of the discussion was: “What would you do if you could not read or write”. Eighteen children in the age of 10-14 years participated in the discussion presented by the U.N. MDG ambassadors.
Swaziland: Activities include story telling where the Big Read will be read and copies distributed. These activities will take place in 15 centres in Swaziland with one big national Highlight event where the Minister of Information Technology and other key guests are expected.
Switzerland: A Swiss Book has been produced and it will be distributed to public and private institutions as well as other civil society partners of the Swiss Education Network. The Book contains testimonies from 13 people who received education through non-formal channels. In Geneva the School of Europe will have an activity featuring children presenting poems, plays and songs.
Taiwan: The Global Action Week in Taiwan promises to be exciting. This year students in Taiwan will create and act out their own story under the slogan ‘Open Books, Open Doors.’ An English story writing competition will be held, then officials will be invited back to school to see the performance of the story during Action Week.
Tanzania: The highlight event will be commemorated in a famous government conference hall; the Prime Minister has been invited to open the event. Government officials from the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, politicians, and other education stakeholders will participate in the national highlight which will include the distribution of the Big Read.
Thailand: To celebrate Global Action Week, civil organisations are sponsoring a "Big Read" road show with the starting gate in Chiang Rai. A mobile unit will reach out to communities with the collection of learning experiences, stories and suggestions that is presented to governments annually.
Togo: The UNESCO Office in Lome is organizing a campaign throughout the rural district of Cinkasse aimed at raising awareness of the benefits of education and literacy to the rural populations.
Uganda: A Regional Sharing Meeting for stakeholders on Training and Support of Adult Literacy Educators was held on the 24th April, 2009 in Nebbi District. Adult Literacy Educators and Learners read selected stories from the Big Read.
UK: The UK has over 6500 schools signed up for the Big Read and still counting! There are at least 50 schools joining everyday. The Big Read is being downloaded at least 40 times daily off the Send My friend to School website.
Ukraine: Action Week in Ukraine began with the participation of about 1000 students. They wrote their opinions, drew pictures, read the stories and signed their names in support.
Venezuela: The days of the Global Action Week 2009 is presented as an opportunity to read and struggle for literacy. The central theme of the fight is the right to read. Organizations from different Venezuelan unions have joined this year for the implementation of a campaign combining word and action.
Vietnam: Vietnam received more than 50,000 entries to their essay writing competition from all over the country with the youngest coming from 1st grade students and the oldest from an 86-year old man.
Zambia: The Big Read Action Week ambassador is a female international boxing star, who has now decided to go back to school. Esther Phiri is also the literacy ambassador in Zed, where she encourages young people to go back to school as well as older people.
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