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Past Issues - September 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. VICTORY FOR GCE-USA AS CLINTON INTRODUCES $2.5bn EFA ACT Following many months work by the GCE's US chapter headed by Gene Sperling, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) introduced the Education for All (EFA) Act of 2004 in both the Senate (S. 2862) and House (HR. 5177) on Wednesday, September 29. The bill would make universal primary education in developing countries a priority of U.S. foreign assistance efforts, authorising substantial increases in resources for basic education over 5 years, from $500 million in 2005 to $2.5 billion in 2009. It references the 9/11 Commission's recommendation on education and education's role in combating extremism. It is the first EFA bill ever to be introduced in Congress. The bill would:
30 September 2004 WOMEN'S HEALTH, RIGHTS AT RISK AS PRO-LIFE IDEOLOGY SPREADS, ACTIVISTS SAY by Sally Mlidi smlidi@yahoo.com Falling incomes and living standards mean that fewer women can access reproductive health services or meet their reproductive health needs, warned civil society activists from 109 countries at a conference in London earlier this month. The spread of pro-life activities to more and more African countries also poses a growing threat to women's rights and health, said delegates. In Kenya for example, pro-life activities have intensified with what some see as a “crackdown” on doctors suspected of performing abortions - a phenomenon that Kenyan activists link to USAID funding for conservative religious groups in their country. The roundtable in early September, marking the 10th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development, brought together over 500 youth leaders, service providers, feminist activists, community organizers, women health advocates, policy makers, academics, religious leaders, physicians, researchers, artists and parliamentarians representing a broad spectrum of civil society. The occasion was to provide a time for reflection for those engaged with women’s health and rights in what has been achieved since Cairo and take stock of what remains to be done towards the countdown to 2015, the climax of the global commitments in implementing the Cairo Programme of Action. This dialogue comes at a crucial time, at the mid point of the Cairo Programme of Action. True to activist style, the forum, termed a roundtable, was organized to facilitate dialogue among stakeholders in women’s health and development. Powerful speakers provided the backdrop to discussions that revolved around the changing political and social landscapes and their significance to the Cairo Agenda. Remarkably, the atmosphere in the different plenary and workshops was surprisingly positive considering the heavy political attack the movement has faced since Cairo from right wing and religious groups bent on hijacking or subverting the Cairo Agenda. Such efforts were evident from the stories shared from the different regions where political pressure was brought to bear on poor governments to support efforts aimed at curtailing the reach of Cairo. Such efforts have, however, failed in most regions indicating a desire by governments and activists to resist political domination using women’s bodies. Indeed, women’s bodies remain the site of struggle between powers that be. The Gag Rule imposed by the current US administration to deny funding to reproductive health programmes is at the heart of activists’ struggles to keep Cairo alive. Prior to 2000 the US was one of the biggest funders to reproductive health programmes worldwide, making a real difference to the lives of women. Since the current administration took power, however, such funds have been withdrawn on claims that they were used to fund abortions something the right wing lobby that helped put the current US administration in power does not approve. Thus one of the first acts of President Bush upon assuming power was to stop all US contributions to the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). Instead, a new fund was initiated by the President to give money to US religious organizations working on promoting amongst other things abstinence. Some activists studying the effect of the Gag Rule, view this move as an extension of the right wing agenda vis á vis women which they see as regressive and aimed at undoing the gains achieved on the rights front at the global level in the last two decades since the Nairobi Women’s Meeting. A notable gain for women in this period was the recognition and articulation of women’s rights as human rights. In particular, it saw the inclusion of gender-based concerns in the human rights framework to accommodate women-specific concerns. For example, rape was recognized as a war crime in light of the unique vulnerability women face in emerging conflicts. Also, many countries, building on the Convention on the Elimination on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) have criminalized sexual offences and gender based violence including Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Activists point put that the attack on sexual and reproductive health is, in fact, a violation of women’s human rights. Such attacks are launched at policy levels as well as on pulpits. Many decried the increased use of UN and global forums to push this “anti-women” view where unlikely alliances were often formed between factions that appear ideological opposites on most front but on the issue of controlling women’s sexuality, most notably the church and Muslim governments. Interestingly, while their difference with the world superpower on a number of fronts including the war in Iraq and the policies in the Middle East is a diplomatic quagmire, they see eye-to-eye with regards reigning in women! This alliance, termed by some as an “unholy alliance” is but one of the many challenges identified by the women’s health and rights movements. In effect, it underscores the urgency to respond in new and creative ways to challenge the varied onslaught to women’s rights. One of the ways women’s reproductive rights have been attacked is via the abortion debate initially confined to the US but now exported to other parts of the world thanks in part to the Gag Rule. Thus, abortion now plays a central issue in most countries, at least at the policy level in contrast to other reproductive health concerns. In Kenya for example, pro-life activities have intensified with what some see as a “crack down” on doctors suspected of performing abortions. To date a physician and nurses known to be pro-choice have been incarcerated in what appears to be a “cook up” involving still born babies presented to the public as aborted fetuses. Kenyan women health activist relate this incident to the messy ideological war going on in the US over abortion that is increasingly exported to poor countries. This is in spite of the fact that abortion is criminalized or limited in most African countries. Equally, it is despite the fact that over 56% of all maternal deaths is due to unsafe abortion. Either way, the politicization of the abortion question is diverting attention from the real issues around the sexual and reproductive health issues of women. Foremost, funding for reproductive health programmes is wanting. To demonstrate the severity of insufficient funds the head of the UNFPA, Dr. Thoraya Obeid, pointed out that the daily amount spent to finance the war could fund the whole global reproductive health agenda. Four days in golf fees will have the same effect. In a way, the question of funding for the reproductive health agenda brings to the fore global economic inequalities which have reached obscene proportions sentencing the majority of world women to a death sentence should they fall pregnant. Consequently, most African countries have the highest maternal mortality rates in the world with about two women out of ten likely to die from childbirth. Stringent economic conditionalities have meant that governments are unable to invest in their health sector. The reproductive health care has suffered disproportionately particularly due to the global trend in withdrawing financial support to local initiatives, with most programmes being donor funded. Instead most of the money is now being channeled to HIV/AIDS initiatives without making a connection between reproductive and sexual health. Certainly, HIV/AIDS emerges as a major problem beyond what was envisaged in Cairo but instead of treating it, as a separate intervention, it needs to be integrated in reproductive health programmes more so when one considers reproductive health programmes remain the primary contact for women to the health system. Faced with insurmountable odds the Cairo Agenda nonetheless records a number of achievements, all significant in themselves. Foremost is the increased awareness of human rights in sexual and reproductive issues, which in turn has seen a general improvement in the quality of reproductive health services particularly maternal and child health, the availability of contraceptive commodities, and the advance in reproductive technologies giving couples unlimited options to control or facilitate fertility. As a result this has led to the increase enrolment of girls in schools and the increase presence of women in public life. However, huge gaps persist between poor and rich countries with regards to the achievements made and the experience of their benefits making the link between poverty and women’s health critical. Falling incomes and living standards means that fewer women can access reproductive health services or meet their reproductive health needs plunging them further into an abyss of poverty. More importantly, a general lack of political will in internalizing and implementing the Cairo Programme of Action at local levels has diluted its potency to safeguard women’s health and to increase the possibilities for women beyond maternity in opposition to their full and complete enjoyment of their human rights. Article reproduced with minor edits from Voices Rising no 104, e-newsletter of GEO/ICAE www.icae.org.uy. 17 September 2004 ZIMBABWE: WATER SHORTAGES FORCE SCHOOLS TO CLOSE http://allafrica.com/stories/200409100819.html In Harare, Zimbabwe, severe water shortages and water contamination have caused many schools to cut short their hours of class or not reopen at all. Without clean water water supplies in Harare, serious health concerns could arise. 16 September 2004 ETHIOPIA: FORCED MARRIAGES RUINING LIVES OF RURAL GIRLS IN ARSI http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43160 Chaltu Jeylu will never forget the day she was 'married'. As the 13-year-old made her way to school, her would-be suitor and 14 of his friends dragged her off the road. Forcibly married for two months, she suffered repeated rape. Chaltu is from Arsi, some 250 km from the capital, Addis Ababa, in eastern Ethiopia. Abduction of girls for marriage is widespread in this corner of Ethiopia. More than half of 'marriages' that take place in Arsi region are through abduction, sources said. 16 September 2004 FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: CHILD LABOUR AND EDUCATION Winrock International, a nonprofit organization, is seeking applications from interested parties for two different Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for the Community-based Innovations to Reduce Child Labor through Education (CIRCLE) project under a cooperative agreement with the United States Department of Labor. The CIRCLE project will award contracts on a competitive basis to local non-profit organizations in selected countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe with high rates of child labor to implement initiatives that design, build on, and promote innovative, locally developed, and community-based pilot projects. For full details including a list of eligible countries, see the CIRCLE project website at www.winrock.org/circle. 13 September 2004 WORLD BANK RELEASES STUDY CALLING FOR RETHINK OF FEES POLICY The World Bank has released a study on school fees that it commissioned for internal use two years ago. The study reviews overwhelming evidence that the cost of books, uniforms and tuition is keeping poor children and girls out of school, and reports that 77 of 79 countries surveyed imposed fees of some kind for public primary education. It recommends that the World Bank should develop a clearer policy that explicitly states its active opposition to fees, and commits the bank to “work actively with governments to find alternatives to existing user fee programs.” It further recommends that initiatives to provide free textbooks, eliminate compulsory uniform requirements and remove PTA fees should be expanded. World Bank Education Director Ruth Kagia says that discussions on overall WB policy on fees and charges are ongoing and “we expect to substantially modify [WB policy] along the broad lines that the paper suggests.” The report can be downloaded from http://www1.worldbank.org/education/pdf/EFAcase_userfees.pdf 9 September 2004 US LAWMAKERS PROPOSE INCREASE IN AID TO BASIC EDUCATION Washington, DC: A small victory in the battle to get the US to contribute its fair share to EFA was scored recently, reports Kate Conradt of the Basic Education Coalition. The Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the House of Representatives has called for an appropriation of $400 million (from all accounts) for basic education. The House proposals now go the Senate; if approved, they would mean a substantial increase on the 2004 appropriation of $326.5 million, says Conradt. However, for the future BEC members have set their sights even higher. They are backing the initiative announced by Sen. Hillary Clinton during the GCE Global Action Week, which would see US aid to basic education increase to $1 bn a year. Thanks to a lot of hard lobby work by NGOs, momentum is growing. Contact: kconradt@aed.org 9 September 2004 WE ARE THE CREDITORS: Declaration of the Assembly of the Peoples of America on the External Debt, the IMF, World Bank and IDB Quito, Ecuador – July 29, 2004 As part of the I Social Forum of the Americas, representatives of a broad diversity of social movements and organizations from throughout the hemisphere met in an open Assembly convoked by Jubilee South. The aim of the Assembly was to exchange and debate together our different experiences and proposals, with a view to articulating a common agenda of actions on the External Debt and the policies of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Interamerican Development Bank. Numerous women and men, indigenous peoples, workers and trade unionists, human rights defenders and environmentalists, small businessmen, peasants, students, educators, religious, retired persons, economists, and jurists, among others, offered their testimonies and contributions, making manifest an enormous consensus with regard to the nature and consequences of the financial debt claimed of our countries as well as the policies of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs). The Assembly expressed its agreement with the following affirmations in particular:
The Assembly endorsed the Tribunal’s resolutions and Sentence, which was handed down by a unanimous panel of Judges who resolved, in one of their most salient points, to “Declare the WB and the IDB responsible for the social and environmental crimes produced by their programs and policies as demonstrated in the accusation, order the WB and the IDB to compensate with justice the victims of these programs and credits, oblige them to carry out the immediate restoration of affected ecosystems…”. The peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean are STANDING UP, United in the struggle against the debt. WE SAY ENOUGH !! Convinced that WE ARE THE CREDITORS, victims of the massive and systematic violation of our human rights -a true genocide-, ready to struggle for life, for our sovereignty, for our future. The WB, the IDB, and the IMF want to impose their policies, BUT WE ARE HERE !! To sustain and reinforce our common spaces and build our own agenda of joint actions, struggle, and mutual commitment. DON’T OWE – WON’T PAY WE ARE THE CREDITORS IMF, WORLD BANK, IDB, OUT !! Further information: Jubileo Sur/Américas - jubileosur@wamani.apc.org - www.jubileesouth.org/sp Piedras 730, (1070) Buenos Aires, Argentina – T/F (5411) 43071867 8 September 2004 CIVIL SOCIETY MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN KENYA In Kenya, civil society groups united under the banner of a national coalition have scored some significant impacts on policy, reports Wambua Nzioka. Over the past five years, the Elimu Yetu Coalition (EYC) has achieved three major breakthroughs, says EYC coordinator Nzioka: the drafting of a national action plan to achieve EFA, the introduction of free primary education and now, combating corruption at local level. To find out more about how they did it, click here to read more Why has EYC succeeded when many civil society groups in other countries have experienced nothing but frustration in their attempts to influence education policy? Mr Nzioka stresses that the coalition has set itself very clear goals and targets. For the past few years EYC has honed in on abolishing school fees and making primary education free and compulsory. Second, EYC has been able to change tactics in response to the changing political context. In the run-up to Kenya’s fiercely contested elections, EYC targeted political parties to make sure that free primary education (FPE) would feature in their manifestos and campaign strategies. The coalition worked closely with the politicians who showed most sympathy to the issue, providing them with reliable facts and figures on the viability of FPE and how it could be financed. Now that FPE has been introduced the coalition has shifted gears once again, focusing down on involving communities in holding the authorities accountable for the use of FPE funds. Third, EYC has really taken advantage of its strengths as a broad-based network and found ways to activate members at grassroots level. For example when EYC was involved in the national EFA plan, it organised consultative forums in six provinces and actively mobilised all members to participate in these. Twelve EYC members from around the country then took part in a national workshop to consolidate the outputs of the provincial consultations. More recently, EYC developed simple “budget literacy” tools to track how school funds are utilised, and has involved members in training PTAs, school inspectors, teachers’ union structures and local NGOs in using these tools. The result, says Mr Nzioka, is that communities themselves are now forcing the resignation of those who misappropriate school funds, and schools are displaying their accounts on notice boards for public scrutiny. 2 September 2004 COMMONWEALTH DEAL ON TEACHER POACHING Commonwealth Education Ministers have adopted a protocol on teacher recruitment, to reduce the problems that arise when rich countries hire large numbers of teachers from developing countries. Measures could include bilateral compensation deals. The protocol, put forward by Jamaica and seconded by Britain, also requires recruitment agencies to comply with a code of good practice if they want to retain a government quality mark. Last year, for example, 5,564 teachers from elsewhere in the Commonwealth were given permits to work in England, while Canada, Australia and New Zealand also recruited substantial numbers. The agreement was welcomed by UK teachers’ union NUT, which helped to mastermind the meeting. "This protocol should overcome the exploitation that teachers coming to UK experience and help move towards the 2015 target of getting every child into primary education," said an NUT spokesperson. To read the full text of the agreement click here. http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/uploadedfiles/{90CCBAE1-D475-47EC-BD52-02BE05EA0D27}_PROTOCOL.pdf 7 September 2004 EL SALVADOR: PARTICIPATION IS NOT ENOUGH El Salvador’s Ministry of Education has inaugurated another series of consultations leading to the formulation of “Plan 2021” for the education sector, writes Felipe Rivas of CIDEP. But calls to participation are not enough without a serious commitment to implement the resulting proposals. In the past, including during the Education for All planning process after Dakar, civil society contributions have been filed away and forgotten once the consultation period ends. A mechanism is needed to ensure that civil society proposals will be incorporated into the actual plan, and there should also be a participatory budget for implementing these proposals. Finally, there must be a serious evaluation of previous plans that examines structural reasons for policy failure, such as the institutional weaknesses of the Ministry, the misuse of public resources, and the conditions imposed by external lenders such as the World Bank. Read more (in Spanish) 6 September 2004 SCHOOLING A LUXURY IN FREE SOUTH AFRICA? More than half of the 922 children enrolled in Silwanetshe Primary School in Willowfontein, SA were forced to drop out earlier this year due to their parents’ inability to pay their school fees and buy uniforms, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times. Although the fees amount to only $10 a year, the children attending this school are so poor that they often go two or three days in a row without eating, and teachers donate money from their own pay so that students can have something to eat at school. The article says that school fees are partly responsible for the fact that third of South African children don’t complete grade 5. The government has refused civil society pressure to abolish school fees across the board, but has promised to institute waivers for the poor. http://www.latimes.com/news/specials/world/la-fg-school20jul20.story 6 September 2004 ©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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