Wednesday, March 22, 2023
News and Views from the Global South
Education
Keep Moving …
Only forty-five days into our new Strategic Plan 2023-2026, Education Cannot Wait secured 55 percent of its total requirement for the coming four years, reaching $826 million at #HLFC2023. This is a significant milestone for education in emergencies and protracted crises, and ECW will continue to pursue fund-raising year-round in the coming four years. The goal is to reach the target of 20 million children and adolescents affected by armed conflicts, climate-induced disasters and forced displacement.
Breaking Barriers: Why Free & Public Education Should be Every Woman’s Right
This month, government and civil society organization representatives gathered in New York for the United Nations’ 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to discuss technology as a tool to facilitate access to education for women and girls.
Excluded Afghan Girls Forced to Seek Education in Pakistan
Hundreds of young women and girls are moving to Pakistan to continue their studies after the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s education in Afghanistan.
International Women’s Day, 2023
Empower Her
On International Women’s Day, let us remind ourselves of the power of education. We have all benefited from an education that less than a century ago was not a given for a girl and which still remains a distant utopia for millions of young girls.
International Women’s Day, 2023
Five Sharp Questions on Female Empowerment
International Women's Day is right around the corner and it presents an obvious opportunity to dig into what female and empowerment means for different people.
Forget ChatGPT: The Greatest Tech Breakthrough Would Be Getting Cell Phones to Rural Women
While 100 million people worldwide are using the AI chatbot ChatGPT to get ahead on homework and try out for top jobs at Google, more than 370 million women in developing countries lack the services of a simple cell phone.
The Brutal War on Ukraine Must End
Today with heavy hearts we mark 365 days of a brutal against Ukraine. Through this illegal act of aggression, over 450 children have been killed and another 900 injured. The shelling and bombing has damaged 3,000 educational institutions, and completely destroyed 420 schools and learning centers. As many as 5.7 million children have had their education disrupted, with no end in sight.
BRAC ‘Resets’ Program Aimed at Empowering Adolescent Girls in Africa
BRAC’s Empowerment and Livelihood Program (ELA) has benefitted tens of thousands of girls, and its recently released report shows an organization willing to adapt to the circumstances to continue to ensure adolescent girls and young women receive meaningful sexual and reproductive health rights support.
Climate Crisis is a Child Crisis and Climate-Resilient Children, Teachers and Schools Must Become Top International Agenda
From southern Ethiopia to northern Kenya and Somalia, the most severe drought in the last 40 years is unfolding. It is simply too hot to go to school on an empty stomach, and close to 3 million children are out of school, with an additional 4 million at risk of dropping out entirely across the Horn of Africa.
Act on the Taliban and Secure Our Right to Education, Afghan Women and Girls’ Plea
It has been more than 500 days since the Taliban regime in Afghanistan shut down schools and shattered the education dreams of girls and women like Somaya Faruqi, who has been forced to leave her homeland to continue her education.
ECW High-Level Financing Conference Raises More than 826 Million USD to Keep Crisis-Impacted Children in School
As an unparalleled, unprecedented global education crisis unfolds, an estimated 222 million crisis-impacted children are desperate to learn. As barriers to accessing education increase, darkness beckons, and education is their last hope.
Education Cannot Wait Appoints New Global Champion Somaya Faruqi on International Day of Women and Girls in Science
In celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) today named Somaya Faruqi as a new ECW Global Champion.
Bhutan’s Civil Servants are Building a Digital Government System — Here’s How
New UNCTAD software does to digital government what IKEA did to furniture, allowing Bhutan’s government employees to create their own user-friendly services for citizens online.
Global Leaders Urge Participation in High-Level Financing Conference to Fund Education for 222 Million Crisis-Impacted Children
The world is in the throng of a monumental, damaging, and unprecedented global education crisis. Wars, protracted conflict, extreme climate changes, hunger, COVID-19, and economic uncertainties are pushing children out of the education system.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres Urges World Leaders to Support Education Cannot Wait at Upcoming ECW High-Level Financing Conference
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is calling on world leaders to support the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), at the upcoming ECW High-Level Financing Conference in Geneva Switzerland, 16 and 17 February 2023.
Senior UN Leaders Show Their Support to Afghan Women and Girls, Urge Taliban to Reverse Their Bans
Recent visits to Afghanistan by senior-led UN delegations underscore the urgency to protect the rights of women and girls, including their access to humanitarian aid and their right to work.
Digital Politics: “Disconnected Citizens Are Kept Away from Opportunities”
In 2022, Saudi Arabia “quietly” sentenced Salma al-Shehab to 34 years in prison over her Twitter activity, marking the longest Saudi sentence ever for a peaceful activist. Fast forward and award-winning Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was charged with two counts of "offensive communication" after making unflattering remarks about the president and his son on Twitter. The message is clear: your well-crafted 280 characters can land you in jail.
On International Day of Education, We Must Prioritize Girls in Humanitarian Crisis
“Is it a sin to be a girl? We don’t want to be at home and illiterate. We want to go to school, study and be intelligent.” In just a few words, this plea for education from a young Afghan girl has captured the world’s attention. Her heartbreaking question shows how the Taliban’s recent ban on girls attending secondary school and university – effectively ending education opportunities for all Afghan girls and women – is not only violating their fundamental human right to education but shattering countless hopes and dreams in an instant. [related_articles]
Delivering On Our Promise of Universal Education
As we mark the International Day of Education, world leaders must make good on their promise of providing quality education for all by 2030. Education is our investment in peace where there is war, our investment in equality where there is injustice, our investment in prosperity where there is poverty.
Malaysia’s TVET Ecosystem in Need of All-of-Society Engagement
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Malaysia originated from the colonial and early post-colonial governments’ need for trained and skilled manpower to run state agencies and projects.
Indian PhD Students Say Long Australian Visa Delays Have Put Their Lives On Hold
When Megha Jacob, who had been applying for a doctoral degree at various overseas universities, received an offer from the Australian National University’s Department of Chemistry to do a fully funded PhD, she was thrilled and immediately accepted the position.Next Page »
While more than 1 billion children worldwide go to school, the statistic belies the stark reality that many of the world’s children learn – untrained teachers, makeshift facilities and substandard sanitation. Those ‘lucky’ enough to be enrolled in schools are often hungry – and in these circumstances, this most basic human right to education is flawed.
Then there are the estimated 75 million children living protracted crises – war, famine, disasters. Many other social and cultural interfaces impact children: gender inequities, child and early marriages, child labour, and disability.
All these circumstances were present before the COVID-19 pandemic – where protocols to prevent the spread of the disease, including lockdowns in many countries, further exacerbated the situation. UNICEF says the pandemic caused such widespread disruptions that digital learning should become an essential service – which means connecting every child and young person – some 3.5 billion – to world-class digital solutions by 2030.
Through compelling storytelling and hard-hitting opinion writing, IPS tell the story of education – highlighting the issues and successes of the many organizations like UNICEF and Education Cannot Wait that specialize in this field.
The Week with IPS
NEXT STOP - SDGs
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
