Education for All in 2000 was included in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Ten years later, rapid progress has been made, but the way to school is full of pitfalls for 67 million children worldwide, including 38 million in Africa.
7 and 8 November 2011, in Copenhagen, Denmark will host the conference replenishment of the Global Partnership for Education; former Initiative accelerated implementation of the Education for All.
It is through this fund, the number of children not attending school increased from 106 to 67 million worldwide since 2002. The number of children in countries supported by the Partnership has increased by 48% between 2002 and 2009, against only 28% for other countries. Twenty-nine of forty-four countries supported by the Partnership have completed or are close to equal girls / boys in primary schools, and girls represent 62% of new students in countries supported by the Partnership.
Welcome the progress which is a significant step forward for the development of our country. A few weeks before the Copenhagen conference, we want to make our voices heard, and we raise funds for the replenishment of the Global Partnership for Education for an accelerated implementation of the Education for All (EFA).
Today, 538 million children are still attending school and achieving the Millennium Development Goals in 2015 is approaching fast. Access to primary education for all African children is fundamental because it is the key for the development of sectors as diverse as peace, democracy, health, gender equality, the economy or the agriculture.
The continent of the future showing a high growth rate, possessing huge reserves of natural resources, and a young and dynamic population constitutes its greatest asset.
Enable these children and these young people to go to school is our priority and we, Ministers of Education, supported by civil-society actors such as the Association for the Development of Education (ADE) and ONE, urge heads of state and government contributors to our priorities, one of them. The Global Partnership for Education needs $ 2.5 billion by 2014 to continue his mission. We hope that the G20 heads of state, countries engaged in the development, will mobilize and respond to the call of the Partnership.
