The Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC) is calling on Canada to step up investment to ensure an effective global COVID-19 response.
“The pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing gaps in access to resources, health, and food and has disproportionately impacted already marginalized groups. These disparities are only becoming more lethal as the world waits to act. It is estimated that COVID-19 will push 71 million people into extreme poverty and 265 million into acute food insecurity and result in 117 million missed child vaccinations and 31 million additional cases of gender-based violence. The world must act now to protect the lives of the most vulnerable and ensure no one is left behind.”
Continue reading the full article here.
“As the world faces unsustainable levels of inequality, we need education – the great equalizer – more than ever. We must take bold steps now, to create inclusive, resilient, quality education systems fit for the future.” -- UN Secretary General António Guterres
We are at a defining moment for the world’s children and young people. The COVID-19 pandemic has created the most severe disruption in the world’s education systems in history and is threatening a loss of learning that may stretch beyond one generation of students. In response, the United Nations has published a Policy Brief on actions needed during COVID-19 and beyond, and is launching a new campaign with education partners, “Save our Future”.
Click here for UN Secretary General António Guterres’ statement outlining the UN's four key recommendations for action.
You can access the full text of the Policy Brief, "Education during COVID-19 and beyond", by clicking here.
Graça Machel, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr. Vera Songwe, and Maria Ramos have written an open letter outlining the multiple impacts the COVID-19 pandemic is having on African women. They call for bold action in response, with women and women's leadership placed at the centre of recovery efforts.
"COVID-19 presents us with unprecedented opportunities for the regeneration of the African socio-economic landscape and the movement towards a just, equitable and sustainably prosperous continent. Let us dare not squander this opportunity for a rebirth."
You can read the full letter by clicking here.
Save the Date: September 25th, 2020 Fridays For Future has begun planning for the next Global Day of Climate Action scheduled for Friday September 25. GRANs are encouraged to join millions of others around the world in solidarity, to demonstrate a strong voice expressing our concern about the climate crisis and the future of the planet that we are leaving to our grandchildren and future generations. There are solutions. The time to act is now. Click here for more information. Specifc details will follow closer to the date.
The Global Partnership for Education’s (GPE’s) latest annual report is showing that great strides are being made to bring quality education to the world’s most marginalized children. Although many challenges remain, especially for girls, and the pace must pick up, progress is being made in such areas as gender parity, gender responsive education, primary school completion rates and more robust domestic financing in partner countries. Click here to read more about GPE’s accomplishments where you can also download the report to learn more.
The GPE is in the process of developing its new strategic plan for the years 2021-2025. Much work still needs to be done and progress will need to accelerate to achieve Sustainable Development Goal Four (SDG4) by 2030.
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“My message to girls around the world facing education challenges would be this: “You are worth it. I know it is hard and there are a lot of challenges you are facing. But your hopes and dreams are worth fighting for. You have so much to offer the world. You and your voice and your experience matter. The world needs you to keep studying, to keep dreaming, to keep pushing for what you want to see in the world.” -- Karina Gould, Minister of International Development
Canada recently committed $5.5 million to Education Cannot Wait (ECW) to support their response to the COVID-19 pandemic in meeting the educational needs of children and youth caught in emergencies.
In ECW's informative interview with Karina Gould, we hear from Canada’s Minister of International Development who is a strong advocate for girls’ education. Click here to read the full interview and get to know more about Karina Gould and why she believes that education is fundamental to achieving gender equality.
June 20th marks World Refugee Day. For millions of women and girls among the world’s ever-growing refugee population, education remains an aspiration, not a reality. In Africa, COVID-19 is, in fact, amplifying the struggle that children are already facing to reach a quality education. Malala Fund research is showing that, globally, up to 10 million secondary school aged girls may never return to the classroom due to harmful gender norms, early child marriage, child labour and strains on household and government spending.
Click here to read more about the UNHCR’s (UN Refugee Agency) commitment to making education for refugee girls a priority.
In this 25-minute podcast, Africa’s and Ireland’s first female heads of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Mary Robinson, discuss a wide range of topics, from feminist leadership to the COVID-19 response, and progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and development in Africa.
Click here to listen.
"The pandemic is a reminder of the intimate and delicate relationship between people and planet. Any efforts to make our world safer are doomed to fail unless they address the critical interface between people and pathogens, and the existential threat of climate change, that is making our Earth less habitable.”
-- WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in address to the 73rd World Health Assembly. May 18th 2020
The World Health Organization offers six prescriptions for a Healthy and Green Recovery from COVID-19. Read them here.
Read about this unique MA in Education program at York University in Toronto that is celebrating the first cohort of Dadaab students to earn a York University graduate degree in Education. We only have one question, “Where are the women?”. to find out more.
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