Monday, 29 April 2013, The Peninsula
H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser during a visit to the Horseed School at Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, as part of a fact-finding mission prior to the launch of Educate A Child initiative.
DOHA: The Educate A Child (EAC) initiative of H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser has helped 600,000 children get quality schooling just six moths after its launch.
Sheikha Moza is to make an official announcement today about the achievements of her education initiative in a meeting at the Qatar National Convention Centre. Speaking ahead of the meeting at which she will welcome ministers and senior government officials from 18 states, Sheikha Moza said that while this was an outstanding start, much work remains to be done.
“Half a million more children in the classroom means half a million more people given the opportunity to fulfill their potential, to realise their ambitions and to contribute fully to their communities, their nations and yes, to humanity,” said Sheikha Moza.
“But it also highlights just how much remains to be done to give this opportunity to all the 61 million children who through no fault of their own are being deprived of one of their most basic human rights. This meeting will seek to build partnerships to get millions of more children into school,” she added.
One of EAC’s most striking successes in the past six months has been its partnership with organisations like UNHCR and Unicef in helping refugee children around the world. Right now, EAC is helping refugee children in 12 countries through these partnerships. EAC is currently targeting 34 countries that account for more than 70 percent of the world’s out-of-school children and is already working in 17 countries.
Today, 17 government ministers and representatives of target countries are in Doha for an intensive two-day programme of networking, regional seminars and troubleshooting clinics, designed to help participants find and explore affordable, local, culturally relevant solutions to this problem.
This represents a continuation, extension and development of some of the work begun last year at the UN General Assembly, where UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched his Global Education First Initiative; and at the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) held in Doha soon afterwards.
It also follows on from work undertaken earlier this month in Washington, where Sheikha Moza addressed a ministerial roundtable at the World Bank.
The Doha meeting will examine collaborative efforts to provide opportunities for all children, improve and modernise systems of education worldwide and produce generations well-prepared to contribute positively to the new world we are trying to build together — all the while preserving the cultural identities of the societies that will make it up.
As EAC rapidly becomes recognised internationally as a driver for change in the field, ministers and other high-level representatives will also have the opportunity to meet and form alliances with the private sector, programme sponsors, NGOs and development agencies of every type in a ‘Marketplace’ session designed to maximise the potential for real, positive outcomes.
Another highlight of the meeting will be the publication of A Moral Obligation, an Economic Priority, an important new research paper by Dr Nicholas Burnett of the Washington-based Results for Development Institute commissioned by EAC.
A prominent expert in the field, Dr Burnett demonstrates that over and above the overriding moral imperative to give children the education they deserve there is a crippling economic cost to developing nations of up to seven percent of their Gross Domestic Product per annum if they fail to do so.
Sheikha Moza added: “Strategically, we must link education to efforts to reducing poverty, providing meaningful employment opportunities, investing in skills development, encouraging sustainable growth, strengthening social protection mechanisms, promoting gender equality and focusing on human development and human capital. We have the momentum with us, and I am sure this meeting will give us all renewed determination and inspiration to meet this enormous challenge.”
The Peninsula
Countries represented at Doha EAC 2013
Ministerial Meeting
Countries Number of out of school children
Afghanistan 5,000,000
Bangladesh 2,294,000
Chad 506,100
Cote d’Ivoire 1,001,000
DRC 3,500,000
Ghana 791,049
Haiti 400,000
Niger 1,085,721
Nigeria 10,542,105
Pakistan 5,125,373
Philippines 1,460,431
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