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Press ReleaseUNICEF HIV/AIDS campaign calls for abolishment of school fees and charges6 December 2000: In a bold initiative to put education at the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy today called on African leaders to join a global campaign to abolish all education fees and other costs for primary school-age children. "We live in a world where children whose families cannot pay for tuition, uniforms, desks, pencils, books and building repairs are shut out of classrooms," Bellamy said. "And yet we also live in a world that ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child a decade ago, a world that recognized free and compulsory education as the right of every child. Governments have both a legal and a moral responsibility to fulfill that obligation." Noting the theme of the African Development Forum 2000, "HIV/AIDS: The Greatest Leadership Challenge," Bellamy said that educating all children requires strong leadership from African nations and the international community. She stressed that if just one child in a resource-poor country is deprived of schooling, everyone -- the state, donor nations and the family -- must be held accountable. "Placing every child in a classroom has never been more urgent than it is today," Bellamy stressed. "Under threat from the pandemic, children must be able to turn to schools as places of learning, inclusion, stability and life-saving information about HIV/AIDS. No child should be barred entry," she said. Children left parentless or impoverished by HIV/AIDS are least likely to attend school, according to UNICEF. Surveys conducted by UNICEF in 15 African countries show an average gap in enrollment rates of 19 per cent between children orphaned by AIDS and those with at least one living parent. The UNICEF chief acknowledged that funding for public education across Africa is inadequate, and that local schools are forced to turn to families for financial support. She said that the campaign to abolish school fees and related charges would lift that burden from children and their families and place it where it belongs. "There is no shortage of money to ensure every child's right to a free basic education," Bellamy stressed. "National governments can and should reallocate budgets to strengthen the education sector. The international community must relieve the debt that siphons resources from schools. And donors must make good on their commitment to increase official development assistance to 0.7 percent of GDP." The campaign to abolish all fees and other costs for primary school-age children is part of a broader UNICEF effort to place education at the top of the world's HIV/AIDS-fighting agenda. ****** For further information or interviews contact the following UNICEF Communication Staff: In New York: Ruchira Gupta (212) 326-7670 In Addis Ababa: Madeline Eisner (251-9) 20 26 95 Margherita Amodeo (251-9) 21 33 08 Vera Oloo (251-9) 21 00 38 Indrias Getachew (251-9) 22 13 51 Afefa Nyuiadzi (251-1) 17 17 17 |
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