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Past Issues - March 2004 Note: Most hyperlinks will open in a new window. Please close the new window in order to be automatically returned to the GCE site. LATEST NEWS KOFI ANNAN SENDS MESSAGE OF SUPPORT FOR ACTION WEEK United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has sent a message of support to the civil society groups taking part in the World’s Biggest Lobby. “More than 100 million children are being denied a basic human right—the right to an education, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Most of those missing out are girls,” Annan said. “I fully support the Global Campaign for Education's Week of Action and call upon world leaders to support education for all the world's children.” April 8, 2003 UNITED STATES: ACTION WEEK SPREADS TO 37 STATES In the U.S., so far groups in 37 different states have registered and will be sending “Letters of Solidarity for Children Missing an Education” and taking part in other activities to speak up for every child’s right to an education. The U.S. chapter of the Global Campaign for Education is also planning lobbying activities in Washington, D.C. for April 20th. Click on the link above to get involved and help us make the US Action Week even bigger. April 8, 2004 GCE SLAMS FTI “CLIMATE OF SECRECY” Donors met behind closed doors for a “technical” discussion of Fast Track Initiative in Washington, D.C.last week, as World Bank staff warned that FTI funding “falls far short of the level required”. GCE strongly protested against the exclusion of civil society and partner governments from the meeting, and called for a Southern government to be included on the FTI Steering Committee. April 2, 2004 ACTION WEEK GLOBAL UPDATE SWAZILAND:CAMPAIGN TO HELP AIDS HIT EDUCATION SYSTEM Swaziland is establishing a local branch of the Global Campaign for Education in an effort to improve the kingdom's schools and curriculum. "Our goal is to provide free and quality education to all Swazis - to all children, of course - but also to Swazi women, to correct an historical imbalance," Evart Dlamini, acting administrator for the campaign told IRIN. The Global Campaign for Education has the backing of the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, and is comprised of teachers' unions and education-oriented NGOs in participating countries. Dlamini is an official of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers, which is spearheading the national campaign in partnership with the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA), the Swaziland Council of Churches, and the Swaziland branch of Women and Law in Southern Africa. "We are planning public marches to highlight the need for better education and the inclusion of all children in schools," said Dlamini. The campaign will be taken to parliament next month, with a special session dedicated to the subject of universal free education. School children will testify before lawmakers about the havoc caused by disruptions in their scholastic careers due to lack of funds for school fees and the deaths of parents or caregivers who had been supporting them. Children who have dropped out of school entirely because of financial problems will also plead their case to MPs. "The situation has gotten dire because of AIDS. If you look at the upward curve of school attendance in primary and secondary institutions since national independence [in 1968], you see a growth in numbers corresponding to a proliferation of schools. But then a sharp decline happened in recent years, which has to be attributable to AIDS," said an official with the Ministry of Education. "Ninety percent of children [of school-going age] were enrolled in primary school 10 years ago. Today, the number is down to 70 percent - a big step backward," Dr Derek von Wissell, chairman of the National Emergency Response Committee on HIV/AIDS told IRIN. The education ministry has a two-pronged plan to address children in danger of having their schooling cut short because financial support ends when parents die of AIDS. Last year the government allocated R18 million (US $2.7 million) to keep children already attending school in class when they became financially endangered. The programme continues this year, with an added R20 million ($3 million) to allow children who have dropped out because of AIDS in the family to re-enrol. "Once a child has left school, it is often hard to bring them back in. There is an age disparity between the child and others in his or her grade, which can be disruptive in the class. For this reason, we are onsidering special schools for children whose education has been disrupted," said an official with the education campaign. These schools, to be established in community centres, will also provide education opportunities for Swazi women, as well as adult literacy courses. The campaign is headquartered at the teachers' union building in the central commercial town of Manzini, and will play a role in holding government to its commitment to education, and expanding that commitment with additional resources. "Today we learned that the army is being given R24 million ($3.6 million) for soldiers' food, which is 25 percent more money than is being spent to put AIDS orphans and vulnerable children back in school. Swaziland has absolutely no need for an army, and we cannot afford to give up on our future, our children. Educators must insist that government establish some priorities," said a Manzini primary school teacher who asked that her name not be used. Minister of Education Constance Simelane said the government was heeding the plight of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC), and had registered 10,000 OVC in their communities for financial assistance. There are an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 OVC in Swaziland. Education comprises 25 percent of government spending in the national budget announced by finance minister Majozi Sithole last week. The largest slice, 44 percent, goes to the salaries of government workers, the police and army. Educationalists agree that Swaziland's pool of teachers is endangered because of AIDS and the lure of higher salaries across the border in South Africa, but there is no proposal to address the loss. The education campaign, spearheaded by the teachers' union, feels that better equipped and more secure schools may act as compensation for the lower salaries Swazi teachers receive, compared to their colleagues in South Africa. "Our schools are in terrible shape, literally falling apart. We need a massive influx of funding to upgrade infrastructure. The emphasis on putting all children in school obscures the reality that there must be decent schools, enough classrooms, for the children," said Dot Matsebula, a primary school teacher in the capital, Mbabane. 31 March 2004 MORE THAN 100 COUNTRIES TO TAKE PART We have more than one hundred countries participating in the Global Action Week ! We have children lobbying across the globe from the Solomon Islands in the Pacific to Sri Lanka, to the Congo, to Ecuador and the United States. We would like to congratulate you all on your efforts for the week of action and the cooperative manner in which you are working which will make it a great success. Please send your country updates to actionweek@campaignforeducation.org 25 March 2004 DENMARK: AN AMAZING 44,700 PUPILS WILL BE PARTICIPATING http://www.ibis.dk/verdeniskole/ In Denmark an amazing 44,700 pupils will be taking part. This sets the record so far for the most children involved in a single country, with 120 pupils meeting and discussing with politicians at the national legislature. The upcoming events have already been publicised by our GCE members IBIS during television and radio interviews. 25 March 2004 UK: MORE THAN 400 MPS GOING BACK TO SCHOOL http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3533339.stm In the United Kingdom as many as 1100 schools are taking part in an MPs Back to School Day in which more than 400 MPs will be visiting schools. At their national parliament, 659 children, (representing the number of parliamentarians in the UK) will participate in a 2 hour event involving the Minister of Education and the International Development Minister. The events have already been publicised on BBC News. 25 March 2004 ZAMBIA: CAPTURING THE MISSING OUT ON FILM In Zambia World Vision and UNICEF are giving children cameras to visualise the children out of school in their mapping exercise. 25 March 2004 PHILIPPINES: DEPT OF EDUCATION ENDORSES BIG LOBBY A youth workshop is going to be held during the week before the lobby so youth leaders can prepare a joint education agenda to be presented to the government during the lobby. The diverse coalition including teacher unions and E-net have already organised a press and television conference for the Biggest Lobby. 25 March 2004 SENEGAL: CHILDREN TO LINK LIVE TO SPANISH YOUTH Senegalese children missing out on school are going to address their parliamentarians and will participate in a live link with a youth lobby in Spain. 25 March 2004 MALAWI: AIDS ORPHANS TO PRESENT MAPS TO LEADERS AIDs orphans and street children in Malawi will be presenting Missing Out maps to their traditional leaders and later on to their parliamentarians. 25 March 2004 MEXICO; EVENT PLANNED IN NATIONAL SENATE The Mexican coalition has managed to get approval for an event in the senate and will also hold activities in the regional legislatures. 25 March 2004 US: CELEBRITIES BACK THE BIG LOBBY www.campaignforeducation.org/action_posters.html#celebrity Comedian George Lopez, human rights activist Mary Robinson and actors from the TV series "The West Wing" are supporting the World's Biggest Lobby organised by the GCE. They have posed for "Missing An Education" posters which are available for download on the GCE website. 2 March 2004 ACTION WEEK NEXT STEPS Now it is time to look at the next steps in making sure that your lobby activities have the greatest media and political impact. SEND A MESSAGE Coalitions should decide on a central collection point for the messages so that all the groups in your country can send them to one address- preferably by a date prior to the 19th of April. Then you can think of a creative way of delivering the collected messages to your PM/president so that the media can cover it with press photos or on the television. For example, the Brazilian GCE members delivered their action messages to their President in a giant gift box providing a great picture for the media. MISSING OUT MAPS You could use the missing out maps to make a big book at the national level to influence your politicians. Some Missing out Maps can also be presented to politicians by children for a photo opportunity on the lobby days. The GCE would also like to use some pictures of the Maps to influence international forums so we ask you to scan a clear picture of the Missing Out Map from each region, state or province in your country and send it to validation@campaignforeducation.org Maps sent to us by April 12th may be selected for presentation by GCE to world leaders during the WB-IMF Spring Meetings. Maps sent to us before the May 14th could be presented to G8 leaders of the G8 summit. It is extremely important that each map includes a paragraph on the following:
Your celebrity could perhaps assist the children in presenting the Missing Out Maps or to accompany the children participating in a discussion with the politician/ minister of education/ prime minister/president during the lobby. Also make sure the media know that they will be participating. Celebrities could also hold up photos of children in the local versions of the week of action posters, as GCE has done with Mary Robinson and some TV stars in the US. LINK TO CHILDREN'S WORLD CONGRESS http://www.globalmarch.org/worldcongress The first Children's World Congress on Child Labour will be held in Florence, Italy from 10-13 May 2004. Organised by the Global March Against Child Labour, the event will bring together 300 children, who are mainly former child labourers, who will meet and discuss the issues they face in life and will express their experience of child labour and their solutions to this complex problem that still affects more than 246 million children worldwide. The selection process has been finalised in more than 40 countries all over the world, another 15 countries will have it finalised by the end of the month. The children are currently working on national action plans which will be discussed and reinforced during the congress by their comparison and the contributions of the children from other countries. To find out what national level activities are happening for the World Congress in your country email: worldcongress@globalmarch.org VALIDATING YOUR PARTICIPATION The validation process will be the same as last year. Please fill in the validation form included in the planning pack. The validation form is also available at : http://www.campaignforeducation.org/action_downloads.html Write the names of the children who participated in the lobby/visit/Missing Maps and take a copy for your own record. Along with validation forms, please scan, fax or post photos and descriptions of the GAW events as well as the copies of Missing Out Maps and copies of original/thought provoking messages to the President. We hope to make this year's Big Book even bigger and better. Make sure we have enough material to include from your country. (It is preferable to scan images at high resolution, 300 PI, for publication.) Where to send validation forms and other materials: By post: Global Campaign for Education 5 bld. du Roi Albert II (8th floor), 1210 Brussels, Belgium By fax: +322 224 0606 By email: validation@campaignforeducation.org 25 March 2004 OTHER NEWS TO EDUCATE THE WORLD'S CHILDREN, DONORS MUST DELIVER http://www.iht.com/articles/509049.html Education Ministers of five developing countries ask when donors will deliver the funds needed to get every girl and boy into school. 8 March, 2004 ARE TEACHERS TERRORISTS? http://www.firepaige.org/petition.asp US Secretary of Education Ron Paige recently called the NEA, the largest teachers’ union in the US a ‘terrorist organisation’ because of its criticism of President Bush's education reform law, the “No Child Left Behind” Act. More than 200,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Paige’s dismissal. 5 March, 2004 UNDERSTANDING HAITI'S CRISIS (EN) documents/news/Haiti-AEA%20ANG.doc?id=131872&owner=(IHT)&date=20040301102705 (FR) documents/news/AEA_Haiti_FR.doc?id=131872&owner=(IHT)&date=20040301102705 Haiti’s troubles are rooted in the continuing denial of elementary social rights for the marginalised, including the right to education, argues Aide et Action. 2 March, 2004 ABOLISH SCHOOL FEES NOW, SAYS HARRY BELAFONTE http://www.iht.com/ihtsearch.php?id=131872&owner=(IHT)&date=20040301102705 The children of Kenya got a gift last year when their government made the farsighted move of abolishing tuition fees. But education should not be considered a gift. It is a basic human right. March 1, 2004 |
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