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| Greece, 20 April | Nigeria, 20 April | Portugal, 20 April |
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Past Issues - May 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. NGOs PUSH US TO GIVE $1 BILLION FOR EDUCATION http://www.netaid.org/groups/news/news_item.pt?article_id=1306&group_id=848 Washington, D.C. In testimony to a key Congressional committee today, Stephen F. Moseley, chairman of the Basic Education Coalition and president of the Academy for Educational Development, called upon the United States to lead a new, reinvigorated approach to “Education For All” by committing to spend $1 billion per year by FY 2006 for basic education in the developing world. 20 May 2004 WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR (12 June): HOW STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS CAN HELP www.ilo.org/childlabour There are more than 246 million child labourers in the world today. 12 June 2004 and every year is World Day Against Child Labour. This year, Education International and the ILO has produced a brochure for teachers and educators to help them and their students to play their part in the growing worldwide movement to eliminate child labour. Entitled “The Invisible Children”, it includes basic information about this year’s theme on child domestic labour and also gives several creative ideas for activities and discussion. 22 May GCE CHAIR, KAILASH SATYARTHI IS ABC NEWS "PERSON OF THE WEEK" http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/PersonofWeek/pow_Kailash_Satyarthi_040514-1.html http://globalmarch.org/index.php Around 200 children from across the world took part in the first ever Children's World Congress on Child Labour, organised by Global March in Florence, Italy last week. Through participation and discussions, children from different parts of the world made declaration on issues and problems affecting them. The Pope sent a message of support calling for an immediate end to child labour and ABC News ran a feature on the founder of the Global March, who is also the chairperson of the GCE. 17 May 2004 WORLD'S BIGGEST LOBBY: WE MADE IT A MILLION! With reports coming in from more countries -- including India, which mobilised more than 300,000 people -- the total number of participants in the GCE World's Biggest Lobby is now estimated at well over 1 million. In other words, one person spoke out for every 100 children who are out of school. Certificates will be posted to all schools and organisations that verify their participation. To get your certificates, please click here to download validation forms, which must be returned by the end of the month. 11 May 2004 US ANNOUNCES MCA COUNTRIES Countries selected for extra US development assistance through the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) were announced last week. They are: Benin, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Senegal, Cape Verde, Lesotho, Mozambique, Mongolia, Vanuatu, Sri Lanka, Honduras, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Armenia, Georgia. Now is the time for groups in these countries to lobby their governments to make education a priority for MCA funding, says Geogre Ingram of the Basic Education Coalition in the US. MORE The US Congress has appropriated $1 billion for the MCA for this fiscal year, and President Bush has requested $2.5 billion for next year. George Ingram, executive director of the US Basic Education Coalition, said: "US NGOs fought hard for the MCA to include criteria such as civil society participation and country ownership. It will be crucial for NGOs in Washington and civil society groups in the selected countries to work together make sure those criteria are actually implemented. Also, civil society in MCA countries should lobby governments now to make sure that they prioritise education for MCA funding." The first step, said Ingram, is to meet with the Millennium Challenge teams that will be visiting selected countries and meeting governments and civil society, starting later this month. For more information contact Kate Conradt: kate@basiced.org 11 May 2004 ACTION WEEK GLOBAL UPDATE USA: G8 EVENT WILL TAKE CHILDREN'S LOBBY TO THE TOP GCE partners in the US are planning an event during the G8 Summit in Georgia this June to take the World's Biggest Lobby right to the top - asking the leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) most powerful countries to answer questions from children around the world. We are seeking Action Week materials from Africa, Asia and Latin America (such as Missing Out Maps, Letters to the President and video footage of lobby events) to be highlighted in this event. If you took part in the World's Biggest Lobby and would like materials from your country to be featured during this event, please get in touch with us urgently at actionweek@campaignforeducation.org 11 May 2004 NIGERIA: PLANS FOR FOLLOW-UP AT ALL LEVELS Following a very fruitful Action Week, Missing Out Maps made in several states will be used to assess progress towards getting more children into school between this Action Week and the next. Photos of Action Week events will be compiled from all states to assess participation and impact. Additionally, Justice Egware of CSACEFA, the national civil society coalition on education, writes: "During the big lobby, some politicians were moved to make promises such as support for some children to be in school, support for the parents of some children to sustain their livelihood, a special session of the House Committee on Education on out-of-school children which could result in policy changes, continued collaboration with civil society to positively influence education policy etc etc. All these will be articulated and brought to the reminder of the politicians for fulfilment." 11 May 2004 DRC: CHILDREN ARE PROMISED BOOKS INSTEAD OF GUNS Children extracted several promises from politicians as a result of the World's Biggest Lobby. On 20 April the President of the National Assembly promised the child lobbyists that government money would henceforth be used for books and pens, instead of weapons. On 26 April, the Minister of Education told children that starting from next term, he would abolish the system of teachers' salaries being paid by parents. 11 May 2004 GUINEA-CONAKRY: PRIME MINISTER JOINS LOBBY EVENTS The Prime Minister and First Lady as well as the Minister of Education took part in the children's lobby on the 24th of April at the People's Palace. The event attracted 1000 participants and gave center stage to youths who are excluded from education as well as to students. Many politicians went back to school in Conakry and 850 messages were collected to be sent to the President of the Republic. View Photo's... 11 May 2004 CONGO: GOVERNMENT DECLARES ITS COMMITMENT TO EFA Following a national lobby event, the Minister of basic education made a special declaration on radio and television on behalf of the government committing itself to the EFA goals and notably implementing the national action plan for Education for All by 2015. Fifteen hundred children took their seats in a lobby inside the national parliament of Congo in the presence of the Minister of Education, congress people and senators and the President of Parliament. Representatives of UNESCO,UNICEF,UNDP, and the World Bank were also present. The message to the President was read out by the President of the youth parliament Miss Ntar. View Photo's... 11 May 2004 JOBS, OPPORTUNITIES AND EVENTS CONSULTANCY OPPORTUNITY ActionAid is looking for a consultant to facilitate a 12 week online discussion and review of the reports prepared by the UN Taskforce on the education and gender Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Can you frame provocative questions and provide incisive summaries to keep the online debate on track and energised? Deadline 17th May and must be able to start immediately. Please contact David Archer - darcher@actionaid.org.uk. ©2004 GCE You are welcome to reproduce items from the GCE E-News for any non-profit use, as long as you credit GCE together with any original source mentioned in the article. |
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