Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • +44 (0)20 7454 5110
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
Return to PR Newswire homepage
  • News
  • Products
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All Public Company News
      • All Multimedia News
      • View All News Releases

      • Regulatory News

      • D/A/CH Regulatory News
      • UK Regulatory News
      • View All Regulatory News

  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads & Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking & Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film & Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers & Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalisation
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls & Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil & Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defence
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking & Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers & Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines & Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics & Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture & Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewellery
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film & Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks & Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels & Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Animal Welfare
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Economic News, Trends & Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • Labour & Union
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Public Safety
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Overview
  • Distribution
  • Paid Placement
  • Multichannel Amplification
  • Disclosure Services
  • SocialBoost
  • Rooms
    • MediaRoom
    • ESG Rooms
  • AI Tools
  • General Enquiries
  • Media Enquiries
  • Partnerships
  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PR Newswire UK provides press release distribution, targeting, monitoring, and marketing services
  • Send a Release
    • Phone

    • +44 (0)20 7454 5110 from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT

    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us

      +44 (0)20 7454 5110
      from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT

  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • News in Focus
    • Browse News Releases
    • Regulatory News
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
    • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • Overview
  • Distribution
  • Paid Placement
  • Multichannel Amplification
  • Disclosure Services
  • Cision Communications Cloud®
  • AI Tools
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • General Enquiries
  • Media Enquiries
  • Partnerships
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists

We Must Respond to the Call by the African Union: Educate an Africa Fit for the 21st Century

This image opens in the lightbox

News provided by

Education Cannot Wait

25 May, 2024, 04:15 GMT

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX

Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on Africa Day 2024

NEW YORK, May 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Africa is an amazingly beautiful continent with a powerful young generation who have the inherent right to an inclusive and continued quality education. Yet – and especially in Sub-Saharan Africa – they have been left furthest behind for far too long. Now is the time to right the wrongs.

This image opens in the lightbox
As we celebrate Africa Day, we call on all leaders in Africa - and all world leaders globally - to support the African Union’s Call to Educate an Africa Fit for the 21st century and make good on the global promises of universal education as outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

As we celebrate Africa Day, we call on all leaders in Africa – and all world leaders globally – to support the African Union's Call to Educate an Africa Fit for the 21st century and make good on the global promises of universal education as outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

More than 60 years ago, African leaders gathered in Ghana for the First Congress of African States. Five years later, on 25 May 1963 – with nearly two-thirds of the continent achieving their longed-for independence – leaders met again in Ethiopia to form the Organization of African Unity. From these early days, the African Union was born in 2002 with the noble vision to create "an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena."

While progress has been made over the past two decades in delivering on these goals, Africa continues to fall behind in meeting many of the targets outlined in the 2030 Agenda. Think about this: "In 1990, 14% of the world's poor lived in Africa; by 2019, this number jumped to 57%," according to the World Bank.

Economic interests and a sense of scarcity – in spite of a continent rich in resources – these diametrically opposed positions tend to lead to conflict and human rights abuses. The brunt of this is born by children, families, teachers and communities in countries like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, South Sudan and Sudan.

Schools, children and teachers are being increasingly targeted. "The number of violent incidents affecting education in Africa Union countries rose by 20% in 2023 with 411 reports of violent incidents," according to Save the Children.

Furthermore, climate change is compounding these painful realities putting even more girls and boys in harm's way. According to Education Cannot Wait's recent analysis on the impacts of climate change on education: "Over the last decade, more than 91 million school-aged children impacted by crises have faced climate shocks amplified by climate change worldwide. The effects have been particularly pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa, affecting 42 million children. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where climate-related crises are prevalent, internally displaced children are 1.7 times more likely to be out of primary school compared to their non-displaced peers. Girls are disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change, with a higher likelihood of dropping out of school and being forced into early marriages."

While the challenges before us are enormous, there is hope if we take collective, responsible and global action to right the wrongs now.

It starts with embracing the values and commitments outlined in the UN Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights. The people of Africa deserve no less. Their rights must be guaranteed with an emphasis on their right to an inclusive, equitable, quality education, as the very foundation for all other rights.

Together with our strategic donor partners, and through ECW's investments in partnerships and joint programming (ECW Multi-Year Resilience Programmes) in Africa, we work closely with Ministries of Education and connect a wide array of local and international partners, governments, non-profits and the private sector to deliver unified programming that breaks down silos and delivers quality with impact.

These programmes provide holistic education – the kind of education that the Global North enjoys, such as mental health and psychosocial support, academic learning, school feeding programmes, teacher training and incentives, back-to-school programmes and catch-up classes, vocational training, early childhood education and more – to ensure that African children and adolescents can access true, quality education.

However, we must urgently increase funding for education. Nowhere is this more true than in Africa's forgotten crises in places like the Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, South Sudan and Sudan. According to ECW's strategic partner Educo: "In Mali, all regions of the country have been affected by attacks on schools by armed groups throughout 2023 forcing their closure. In all, 1,170 schools have closed, affecting more than half a million children and 10,260 teachers. Despite this growing and deteriorating context, the education sector has received the least amount of funding, so that only 16% of the identified students have been reached. In 2023, only 7.4% of the US$96 million appeal has been covered."

If Africa is to deliver on the promises envisaged 60 years ago for "an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa," it must enjoy the rights and resources to focus on educating every girl and boy. A continent that has produced global personalities like Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel and Desmond Tutu among so many other profoundly educated leaders is a continent with great promises for all of us. With a quality education, many more young people will step out of the shadows in Africa and bring the kind of humanity we so desperately need in the world today.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2418679/Education_Cannot_Wait_celebrate_Africa_Day.jpg 
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1656121/Education_Cannot_Wait_Logo.jpg

Modal title

Also from this source

Education Cannot Wait for the Children of Africa

Education Cannot Wait for the Children of Africa

As we commemorate International Day of the African Child, we honor the courage, resilience and dreams of millions of children and youth across Africa....

The World Must Respond to Africa's Forgotten Crises

The World Must Respond to Africa's Forgotten Crises

he challenges facing many parts of the African continent today are vast and immense. From the surge in violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the ...

More Releases From This Source

Explore

Education

Education

Publishing & Information Services

Publishing & Information Services

Computer & Electronics

Computer & Electronics

Children

Children

News Releases in Similar Topics

Contact PR Newswire

  • +44 (0)20 7454 5110
    from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT
  • General Enquiries
  • Media Enquiries
  • Partnerships

Products

  • Content Distribution
  • Multimedia Services
  • Disclosure Services
  • Cision Communications Cloud®

About

  • About PR Newswire
  • About Cision
  • Partnering Opportunities
  • Careers
  • Accessibility Statement
  • APAC
  • APAC - Simplified Chinese
  • APAC - Traditional Chinese
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Czech
  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Israel
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • Mexico
  • Middle East
  • Middle East - Arabic
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Russia
  • Slovakia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • United States
  • Vietnam

My Services

  • All News Releases
  • Customer Portal
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • Data Privacy

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via Privacy@cision.com 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact PR Newswire

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Customer Portal
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
+44 (0)20 7454 5110
from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Information Security Policy
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 PR Newswire Europe Limited. All Rights Reserved. A Cision company.