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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: | |
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George Ingram |
Kate Conradt | |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: | |
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George Ingram |
Kate Conradt | |
Basic Education Coalition Calls for
U.S. Leadership in
Education for the World’s Poorest Children
Coalition proposes a global security initiative on education for all
WASHINGTON, DC (April 15, 2002) - U.S. Representatives Mark Green (R-Wis.) and Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) will join the Brookings Institution’s Gene Sperling and the Basic Education Coalition this week to encourage greater U.S. support for expanding access to education for the world’s children. They, along with Coalition Chair Stephen F. Moseley (president and CEO, Academy for Educational Development), Vice Chair Charles MacCormack (president and CEO, Save the Children), and member Ritu Sharma (Executive Director, Women’s EDGE) will call on the United States to launch a global initiative on education for all. The conference begins at noon Wednesday, April 17, in the First Amendment Room at the National Press Club.
The Basic Education Coalition, a group of 16 development organizations that advocates for greater priority to early childhood and primary education in foreign assistance programs, is urging the United States to assert its leadership in education and move toward a global strategy that will “leave no child behind.” It calls for a phased increase in U.S. funding for basic education—to at least $1 billion by 2006 with an initial increase of $100 million in fiscal year 2003—and for the Administration to encourage other donors to make proportional increases in assistance for basic education.
Some 125 million of the world’s primary-school–age children do not attend school. The Coalition initiative is based on the Education for All goal (get all children into school by 2015), which was adopted by 180 nations at the 2000 World Education Forum. It is grounded in practical, tested experience that leads to results and improves children’s lives.
The initiative has four main goals: build long-term stability and peace through education in the poorest countries; assist countries to help themselves to improve education for the poorest children; apply U.S. expertise to make bilateral and multilateral aid highly effective in education; and employ U.S. leadership as the catalyst to a global commitment to finance the attainment of Education of All by 2015.
“Education is widely recognized as a critical element in preparing a country and its population to participate effectively in the global economy,” said Moseley. “This initiative provides a framework that plays to inherent U.S. strengths and to President Bush’s interest and leadership in education. The time is right for the United States to address the human development side of the equation in the campaign against terrorism.”
About the Coalition
The Basic Education Coalition’s mission is to enhance awareness of the fundamental importance of basic education and to advocate for increased resources and commitment to quality education. Its members, who operate programs in more than 100 countries, are: Academy for Education Development, Africare, American Institutes for Research, Bread for the World, CARE, Christian Children’s Fund, Creative Associates International, Educational Development Center, International Youth Foundation, Plan, Results, Inc., Save the Children, Women’s EDGE, World Education, World Learning and World Vision.
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