Global Action Week : 24-30 April 2005
Educate To end Poverty

This year’s Global action Week has been designed linking the issues of education and poverty, making it inclusive of the many dimensions that education has a critical link with, such as child labour, HIV/ AIDS, empowerment of women etc. The 2005 target for achieving gender parity in education will be missed, and the 2015 goal for universal completion of primary school is at serious risk of being missed. These are not only Education For All goals, they are also among the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for ending world poverty.

In human terms, this means millions will remain trapped in poverty, and even die unnecessarily because their right to education has been denied. The Global March, through this year’s Global Action Week, will draw world attention to the linkages between the three issues of Child labour, education and poverty alleviation, keeping in mind the specific concerns with regards to girl children. During the 2005 Action Week, we will demand that politicians keep their promises to achieve gender equity in education by 2005 and universal primary education by 2015.

To build pressure on politicians to provide more money and political leadership to achieve the education MDGs this year’s Global Action Week has the “Send my Friend to School” global action. Children and adult learners around the world will be making life-size cut-outs from card and paper. These cut-out “friends” symbolize the 103.5 million out-of-school children and 800 million illiterate adults - the majority of whom are girls and women.

The aim is to confront politicians and leaders with as many of these "Friends" as possible and ask them to sign a personal pledge to take a specific action(s) during 2005 to work towards the achievement of the education MDGs.