Urgent appeal

Dear friends

At their meeting in Canada in June, the Group of Eight (G8) richest
countries will have it in their power to radically transform the lives of
millions of children and adults worldwide by taking concrete steps to end
the global crisis in education.

As a worldwide coalition of trade unions, popular educators, child rights
activists and NGOs, we are writing to ask your help in making this happen.

Here is the "yellow card" warning that the G8 must heed: 125 million
children are not enrolled in school. Unless urgent action is taken, they
will join the ranks of nearly 1 billion illiterate adults in the world.
Low-income countries still pay more in debt servicing than they can afford
to spend on schools. As a result of ill-conceived and unjust cost recovery
policies, families have to pay to access public education in most developing
countries - in some cases, kids even have to buy their own desks.
Educational attainment in developing countries has now dropped to less than
half the level of industrialised countries. In today's knowledge-based
economy, the crisis in education is further marginalising the people and
nations of the South, and driving an ever greater wedge between rich and
poor.

Many promises have already been made to achieve the fundamental right to
education. They failed because rich countries and international financial
institutions refused to provide the necessary resources. This year can and
must be different. For the first time a concrete solution for the global
education crisis is on the G8's agenda - in the form of an EFA Action Plan.
This Plan will channel immediate increases in aid and debt relief to
countries that are strongly committed to getting kids into school. The G8
leaders must back this Action Plan by putting new money on the table at
their summit in Kananaskis.

We are asking the G8 and World Bank to put up at least 5 billion US dollars
to get the EFA Action Plan underway. That is about 2 minutes of global
military spending, and less than what Americans will spend on ice cream this
summer. And, we are asking Southern leaders to make Education for All a
clear priority in their own plans, including the NEPAD plan for Africa.

Please help to make sure that the G8 leaders don't shortchange children and
youth. Here are three things you can do:

a.. Forward this message to mailing lists, discussion groups, members,
supporters, etc.
b.. Send an e-card (online postcard) directly to the G8 and your own head
of state from the Global Campaign for Education site,
www.campaignforeducation.org
3.. Or, write your own letter to one of the G8 leaders or to the NEPAD
secretariat. Here are some useful addresses:
Jean Chretien, Prime Minister of Canada and Chair of the 2002 G8 summit:
[email protected]
George Bush, President of the US: [email protected]
Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan: Fax +81 3 3581 3883
Jacques Chirac, President of France: Fax +33 1 42 92 82 99 or +33 1 47 41
24 65
Prof Wiseman Nkhulu, NEPAD secretariat: [email protected]
Thanks for your help. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you want more
information or have questions about our movement.

Anne Jellema
Global Campaign for Education Advocacy Coordinator
Cape Town, South Africa
+27 21 788 6783

"Millions of parents, teachers and children across the globe are calling on
their governments to provide free, good quality, basic education for all the
world's children. They are part of the Global Campaign for Education; we add
our voices to theirs." - Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel, April 26, 2002.

"The need for a new kind of partnership - a global alliance - on schooling
is hard to exaggerate. The time to live by positive goals has certainly
come - not least for the leaders of G-8 countries." - Amartya Sen, writing
in the New York Times last week.