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Donors pledge more than US$1.5 billion to Global Partnership for Education; Executive Director Lake urges focus on most disadvantaged

Njinga Elisabeth — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:45:03 +0000

By Joan Howe

Copenhagen, 9 November 2011 – Leading donors at the first-ever Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Pledging Conference promised an initial US$1.5 billion over the next three years to put millions more children in school.

The multi-partner global partnership met on 7-8 November in Copenhagen, Denmark, where donors also pledged to increase bilateral funding to support education investment and achieve concrete results in access and quality of education. The pooled education fund aims to secure predictable funding to put 25 million more children in school over the next three years. Developing countries pledged to increase domestic funding for education by more than US$2 billion.

“Millions of children depend on your pledges today. And we know who most of them are,” UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake told ministers from donor and partner countries, high-level officials, heads of UN agencies, CEOs, and leaders from Civil Society Organisations (CSO), teachers’ unions and development bankers. “They are the poorest children living in the most isolated places, suffering from exclusion and discrimination, often struggling to grow in the midst of conflict or humanitarian catastrophe.”

Mr. Lake gave examples of how education has helped to restore a sense of normalcy for children growing up in countries like Haiti, Liberia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, proving that progress is possible even in the most difficult situations. He highlighted Afghanistan, which has made significant strides in education in recent years, increasing the number of children in primary school from 1 million ten years ago to nearly 5 million today, with a total of approximately 7.3 million children enrolled in all grades.

The Executive Director also emphasized that in Afghanistan today, more than 4 million children are still out of school, the majority of whom are girls. “Afghanistan’s future depends on investing in the potential of all its citizens,” said Mr. Lake. “Indeed, no country has ever become strong and remained so, without such investments.”

UNICEF has been working in partnership with the Government of Afghanistan to achieve national education objectives. Afghanistan’s Minister of Education, Mr. Farooq Wardak, described the government’s efforts to put communities at the heart of a strategy to open schools and keep them open by protecting students and teachers. In provinces with the lowest enrolment, there is a special emphasis on girls going to school.

Mr. Peter Crowley, UNICEF representative in Afghanistan, emphasized that education is essential to achieving peace and stability. Recognizing the long journey that the country has already made since the Taliban banned girls from school, Crowley observed that “Afghanistan has begun to achieve real momentum in education; by continuing to support these gains, they can become self-sustaining.”

High-level UNICEF participation at the Global Partnership for Education Replenishment Conference

Njinga Elisabeth — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:05:02 +0000

The Global Partnership for Education will hold a pledging event in Copenhagen on 7-8 November.

Media Advisory

What:

Global Partnership for Education Replenishment Conference.

Who:

Global leaders and innovators from the United Nations, academia, the development community and the private sector including:

Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director
Geeta Rao Singh, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director
Carol Bellamy, chair of the Global Partnership for Education and former executive director of UNICEF
More than 30 Ministers from developing and donor countries, key civil society organisations and private sector foundations.

When:

7-8 November 2011.

Where:

Kulturkajen Docken, Copenhagen, Denmark

Why:

Education is one of the best investments donor countries can make in the fight to end poverty and promote democracy and peace. The Global Partnership for Education will call for $2.5 billion dollars over three years to put 25 million more children in school. The pledging conference aims at re-energizing support for basic education for children worldwide and to highlight the critical impact of education on health, economic development, gender equality and peace in poor countries.

For please visit the conference website:

www.globalpartnership.org

To listen to a podcast on challenges in financing the education sector:

Discussing the importance of achieving universal quality education for all children
Related links:
A new government program aims to provide a free education for all Haiti’s children
UNICEF education initiative provides support to thousands of Zimbabwean children

For further information, please contact:

Shimali Senanayake, UNICEF New York, + 917 236 4516, ssenanayake@unicef.org
Kate Donovan, UNICEF New York, +1-212-326-7452, kdonovan@unicef.org

Discussing the importance of achieving universal quality education for all children

Njinga Elisabeth — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 01:57:39 +0000

© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-1762/Leonie Marinovitch
A girl attends Koulweogo Primary School in Zorgho Village in rural Ganzourgou Province in Plateau-Central Region. Burkina Faso was among the first 18 countries invited to join the Fast Track Initiative (now Global Partnership for Education) as early as June 2002.

By Rudina Vojvoda

The Global Partnership for Education has helped more than 19 million children go to school for the first time. A campaign to renew support for these efforts will culminate in a pledging event in Copenhagen on 7-8 November. This series of stories seeks to highlight the Partnership’s work in the lead-up to this event.

NEW YORK, 4 November, 2011 – Next week in Copenhagen, Denmark, representatives from governments, United Nations agencies, the private sector and civil society will gather to take part in a conference in support of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

Listen to the Podcast in Streaming MP3 format

Since its creation in 2003, the GPE has helped 19 million children enrol in school. Seeking an education investment of US$2.5 billion over three years, the GPE is aiming to provide an additional 25 million children with the opportunity to attend school.

According to UNESCO, there are currently 67 million children around the world who are out of school and robbed of their right to an education. If all students in low-income countries could read, global poverty could be reduced by 12 per cent.

In the lead-up to the event, UNICEF discussed the challenges in financing the education sector in a podcast moderated by Femi Oke.

The importance of education

Charles Tapp, Senior Advisor for Fundraising at the GPE, commented on current funding trends, and stressed the need for a greater focus on education. “One of the things that has been concerning is that education has been somewhat falling off the international development agenda,” he said. “We have decided that we have to really crank up our efforts and try to galvanize great global attention to the importance of education.”

The Global Partnership for Education will hold a pledging event in Copenhagen on 7-8 November.

One of the first recipients of GPE funding is Burkina Faso, a West African nation of more than 15 million people. The country’s Minister of Education and Literacy, Ms. Koumba Boly Barry, expressed her enthusiasm to take part in the upcoming GPE and pointed out the increased rates of child literacy in her country since the partnership with GPE began. “This fund will help this country move forward,” she said.

Jennifer Maurer, Senior Policy Associate at RESULTS, a grassroots organization which fights global poverty, added to the discussion by highlighting education as the single most important intervention that can have a wide and long-lasting impact in people’s lives. “I don’t want to sound alarmist but we never think of the fact that people die because of lack of education,” she said.

Youth Day events energize debate at UN Climate Change Conference

mkamimura@unicef.org — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:35:41 +0000

UNICEF Climate Ambassador Toriqul Momen, 15, from Bangladesh delivered a presentation on the effects of climate change in his home country during Youth Day at COP15 in Copenhagen." title="climatechange050" width="300" height="200" class="size-medium wp-image-2191" />

© UNICEF/2009/Becker-Jostes
UNICEF Climate Ambassador Toriqul Momen, 15, from Bangladesh delivered a presentation on the effects of climate change in his home country during Youth Day at COP15 in Copenhagen.

By Joan Howe

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, 10 December 2009 – Hundreds of children, including eight UNICEF ‘Climate Ambassadors’, wore vibrant orange-and-green t-shirts celebrating ‘Youth Day’ at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) here today.

Watch the video in RealMedia

Youth Day activities at the UN Climate Change Conference

Youth-focused side-events took place outside the closed-door negotiations of government parties, turning the spotlight on the concerns of young people from around the world. The message of the young delegates was clear: “It is late, but not too late.”

Youth Day sessions covered topics from education as a catalyst for action to agriculture and intergenerational dialogues on disasters.

Climate Ambassadors from Bolivia, Haiti, Zambia and Bangladesh spoke passionately about the impact of climate change on the lives of people in their countries. The young people agreed that decisions made over the next week will have a lasting impact on future generations.

“The earth is not a gift but something borrowed, and we have to give it back to future generations,” said Darwin Peña, 17, from Bolivia.

Youth taking action

Marie Moïse Louissaint, 16, from Haiti and Kondwani Banda, 17, from Zambia are part of a youth movement that has helped raise awareness and involved affected communities in taking concrete steps – such as tree-planting – to mitigate the devastating effects of deforestation and over-farming.

“I believe that we, the children, can do a lot for our respective communities,” said Kondwani. “Let’s get out there and spread environmental information. It may just be turning off a light bulb or telling one friend about climate change but it is a step – a step towards a beautiful, sustainable and renewed future. Thus I urge you to start now. Let’s not wait for the leaders because it begins with us!”

Government representatives at the conference confirmed that the voices of young people are making a difference in the fight against climate change.

Maldives Environment Minister Mohamad Aslam praised the public demand for leadership expressed by the “voters of tomorrow.” He credited young people for inspiring COP15 to focus on agreements that highlighted positive targets and what can be done.

‘The defining issue of our time’

To a standing ovation, Ruchi Jain, 23, a member of the Indian Youth Climate Network, described the strength of people coming together to raise their voices and bring a message to governments around the world. She spoke about the “fragile and honest” trust she had in the leaders gathered in Copenhagen.

Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Yvo de Boer pondered quietly before replying that trust needed to be earned.

The Director of the UN Climate Change Support Team, Janos Pasztor, confirmed that for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, climate change is “the defining issue of our time.” Because future generations will be the most affected, he said, young people need to be heard by leaders at COP15.

In the deeply felt push to galvanize efforts against climate change, Thomas Spencer, a youth delegate from Germany, told the panel of leaders “the first ever global generation” recognized the gravity of the challenge. He added that they also know positive change is possible.