Education and the G8

G8 leaders have repeatedly made promises to ensure the realization of the EFA goals. As world leaders turn their attention to the 2010 G8 meetings being held in Muskoka this June, the CGCE has been working hard to demand that past commitments to education be met.

The Canadian Global Campaign for Education urges the Canadian government to seize the leadership opportunity created by hosting the G8/20 nations in 2010 by mandating the establishment of a high-level task force to plan for the rejuvenation of international Education for All efforts.  The task force must address, in particular:

1. The urgent need for innovative and sustainable forms of financing to lock in recent EFA gains and ensure that these are extended to all children by 2015.

2.  The creation of a larger partnership within the G20 towards the fulfillment of the Education for All and education related Millennium Development Goals.

3.  Reform of the international aid architecture for education to better address the following issues:

• The need for greater donor coordination and stronger partnership between governments and civil society at the country level.
• A focus on accountability for results, especially in the form of positive learning outcomes for all children.
• Ensuring that no country is left behind:  in particular, those affected by conflict and those that receive small shares of current aid to the sector.

Resources

Check out the CGCE policy brief on the G8.

Read some fantastic Op Eds done by Queen Rania Al Abdullah in the Globe and Mail (March 24, 2010) and Stephen Lewis and Kevin Watkins in the Toronto Star (March 25, 2010).

Canada has selected child and maternal health as the flagship issue for the 2010 G8. Read our issue brief about the links between education and child and maternal health.

Campaigns

CGCE is also proud to support two great campaigns to raise awareness about the important issues up for discussion at the G8.

The Girls and Women campaign is an exciting initiative that seeks to raise awareness within G20 countries about the role that girls and women play in social change. In partnership with Google, the website invites girls, women, boys and men to engage in creating ideas and solutions that are tangible and will help to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), specifically improving child and maternal health, providing universal education and eradicating poverty.

The viral campaign will culminate in the first ever G(irls) 20 Summit from June 16-18^th, 2010  when 20 girls from 20 different countries will come together in Canada to debate the top 10 suggestions from the viral campaign and provide concrete, scalable and implementable  solutions/ideas to the G20 leaders.

At the Table  is an umbrella campaign mobilizing citizens around the world to "take their place" at this year's G8 and G20 summit tables. At The Table's campaign goal is to increase awareness and support for bold action on poverty, climate change and the global economy at the major global summits in 2010, including the G8 and G20 summits in Canada, the G20 in South Korea and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit.