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	Mandela demands action from the G8 leaders this July   Young GCE activists with Nelson Mandela at Trafalgar Square   Kids show their "Friends" to the crowd - symbolising over 100 million girls and boys who don't go to school
	Past Issues - March 2005 Note: Most hyperlinks will open in a new window. Please close the new window in order to be automatically returned to the GCE site. DOWN PAYMENT NEEDED NOW ON AFRICA COMMISSION EDUCATION PLEDGE Leading charities and campaigners in Africa and the UK have praised the Africa Commission's $8bn a year proposal to provide free education. However, they challenged the UK to prove it is serious about delivery by making an immediate down payment to support African countries that are 'ready to go' with strong education plans – including Ethiopia, where the Commission's report is launched today. More than five million Ethiopian children are out of school right now because Tony Blair and the other G7 leaders have not kept the last set of promises they made to fund education for all. Africa's children cannot wait another decade for rich countries to act,' said Gorgui Sow, coordinator of the African Networks Campaign on Education for All. 'The UK and other donors need to put money on the table now to show that this time they are serious.' Annual bilateral aid to primary education and adult literacy in Africa has averaged only $419 million in recent years (2000- 2003), about one-third the cost of a single Stealth bomber. More than 20 African countries have already developed good plans for giving every child a quality education, said the Global Campaign for Education, a worldwide civil society coalition. But, the lobby group charged, these countries cannot build the schools or hire the teachers they need because donors including the UK are failing to deliver promised funds. The key G8 initiative to achieve universal primary education, the Fast Track Initiative (FTI), is foundering for lack of donor funds, said the GCE. Ethiopia, where the Africa Commission launches its report today, recently won FTI endorsement for its plan to bring 5.5 million out of school children into the classroom. To implement this plan, however, the Ministry of Education has calculated it needs an extra $117m in donor support this year, rising to $213m in 2007. Another 13 FTI endorsed countries have received only about half the donor support they were promised when their plans were approved. The UK government hosts a donor meeting on the FTI in London next week. The GCE is calling on the UK to prove its seriousness by making an immediate pledge of US $289m (GBP £150m) to close the education financing gap facing the first 13 countries to gain FTI approval. 'With 40 million children out of school and 45% of women illiterate, Africa faces a devastating human capital crisis that is crippling its development,' said Gorgui Sow, coordinator of the African Networks Campaign on Education for All. 'A major G7 investment in free basic education across the continent is crucial to boost growth and end conflict.' At the G8 summit, Tony Blair should mobilise fellow leaders to commit a further $3bn a year so that the FTI partnership can expand to underwrite education for all in all countries that meet FTI requirements, the GCE said. An additional 25 countries, 16 of them in Africa, already have strong education plans waiting for FTI approval, while a further 13 are expected to meet the requirements by 2006, according to the World Bank. 11 March 2005 Back to Top FAILURE ON GIRLS' EDUCATION TARGET SHAMES THE WORLD On International Women's Day, the Global Campaign for Education releases a new report slamming world leaders for their failure to achieve the first and most critical of alll the Millennium Development Goals - getting equal numbers of girls as boys into school by 2005. A majority of developing countries are set to miss the target, and new research cited in the report shows that an extra 1 million child deaths will occur this year alone because of failure to close the education gap facing girls. The campaign group warned that slow progress on girls' education is perpetuating hunger, poverty and ill health. 'This is the first of the Millennium goals to be missed,' said GCE coordinator Anne Jellema, 'and it is being swept under the carpet. The credibility and the attainability of all the other Millennium goals will be seriously undermined unless the international community agrees fresh action and new resources to guarantee a basic education to every girl.' Read the GCE report in full 8 March 2005 Back to Top DAWN ANNOUNCES A NEW FEMINIST ADVOCACY TRAINING INSTITUTE Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) will hold its second feminist advocacy training programme in Montevideo, Uruguay, from November 7-29 2005. DAWN is a network of feminist scholars and activists working for economic justice, gender justice and sustainable and democratic development. The DAWN Training Institute is designed for young feminist activists (aged over 25) from the economic South who are already engaged, or have a strong interest, in global advocacy work for gender justice. Applications close on March 31 2005. Download application form 7 March 2005 Back to Top ©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. IN THIS SECTION News Headlines News in Full Past Issues Sign up to receive News Upcoming Events
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