UNICEF, Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Hamburg Society sign MOU
Consolidates partnership to promote Schools for Africa in 6 southern African countries The campaign aims to raise funds that will see over 4 million children in Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe enjoy improved learning environments that are safe, protective, healthy and accessible, with newly built or rehabilitated classrooms, furniture (blackboards, desks and chairs), teaching and learning materials, safe drinking water and separate sanitation facilities for girls and boys. Children will also benefit from better teaching and learning processes with trained teachers and community members, who will work together to make schools child-friendly. “No other investment has such a lasting effect as the education of children,” said Per Engebak, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa. Children who go to school are healthier, more self-assured and can more easily assume a profession. And, education is the only effective “vaccine” against HIV and AIDS.” “Furthermore, the Schools for Africa initiative is an ideal vehicle to help achieve Millennium Development Goals 2 and 3 which set specific targets for universal primary education, gender equality, and the empowerment of women. We also see the initiative as a way to mainstream Child Friendly Schools (CFS) standards to ensure a quality education for all children,” he added. Child Friendly Schools (CFS) is an established strategic framework developed and successfully implemented by UNICEF and its education partners worldwide since the 1990s to create better learning environments for children. Among other things, it advocates a rights-based approach to learning with strong community involvement, provision of clean water and sanitation and sensitivity to the needs of girls in schools. However, despite the acknowledged importance of education for all children, achieving universal primary education (MDG 2) has proven difficult the world over, UNICEF says. According to a 2005 report produced jointly by UNICEF and UNESCO, some 121 million children were reportedly out of school. Forty-five million of them were from sub-Saharan Africa. Sixty five million of those out of school globally are girls. And, twenty one million children were out of school in the Eastern and Southern Africa region alone. Additionally, a majority of the 31 countries which are at high risk of not achieving universal primary education by 2015 are located in sub-Saharan Africa. An opportunity to transform lives through education The signing of the MOU strengthens the existing partnership between UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Hamburg Society in an ongoing collaboration to support positive progress towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDG 2 and 3) and the targets for universal primary education and empowering women that are similarly reflected in the goals of the Africa Union’s Second Decade of Education for Africa (2006-2015). According to Nelson Mandela Foundation CEO Achmat Dangor, one of the principal signatories to the MOU, “it is to intensify efforts to ensure that all children in Africa have access to the kind of education that will transform their lives and the future of our continent”. Intensive global fund raising by UNICEF National Committees Programmatic interventions at the country level through UNICEF country offices’ support to Governments will provide the foundation of the campaign. In addition, major individual and corporate partners such as Peter Kramer, Chairperson of the Hamburg Society as well as Gucci, currently the largest single donor for Schools for Africa, Siemens, ING, Payback, Cadbury, Bobcat, Orbis and T-Mobile who support UNICEF’s global education initiatives, are continuing to contribute to the campaign. Download the press release [word] [pdf] Also read: UNICEF, Mandela Foundation and Hamburg Society consolidate ‘Schools for Africa’ Fields of dreams take shape at Mountview High School
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