Global Action Week: Calling on the Canadian Government to Do Its Fair Share for Education for All

In 2000, the world’s leaders, including Canada, committed themselves at a UNESCO conference in Dakar to ensure that everyone realizes the human right to education by 2015. They agreed to meet 6 Education for All Goals to provide quality, universal primary education, to reduce illiteracy and to ensure that girls and boys would have equal access to the benefits of learning.

Since 2000, 40 million kids have been able to go to school due to changes in policies in both the North and South. But since 2005, aid levels have plateaued, and the donors are showing signs of faltering in their commitment. Canada, for example, currently provides less than half of its “fair share” (based on its GNI) of the global requirements to meet these goals.

Today, 75 million children and 774 million adults cannot currently access their right to a quality education, and without renewed political will and increased resources, they will never realize their right to learn and reach their full potential.

The Canadian Global Campaign for Education (CGCE), its 22 member organizations and citizens from across the country are calling upon the Canadian government to keep its commitments to the Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All Goals by doing its part to ensure that everyone has the right to a quality education.

Specifically, Canada should:

1. Contribute Canada’s fair share ($550 million annually until 2015) to meet it’s commitment to achieving the Education for All goals, within a ten-year timetable to increase Canadian foreign aid to 0.7% of Gross National Income.

2. Increase Canadian funding to the full Education for All agenda, particularly in countries where quality education is the lowest and including those affected by conflict and emergencies.

3. Develop an education sector aid policy which includes leading innovative efforts to support the participation of civil society organizations (in the North and South) in the development, monitoring and implementation of education sector policy and plans.