Africa has taken a significant step towards educational equity with the launch of the 100 Million campaign, a call to action for a world where all young people are free, safe and educated.
The launch was attended by education trade unionists from all over the continent.The Education International (EI) Africa regional office (EIRAF), together with regional coordination from the Global March Against Child Labour, the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), and the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF), organised the Africa launch of the 100 Million campaign from 14-16 March, in Accra, Ghana.
The campaign aims to bring together key elements of the community around a common commitment to the cause of children. These include civil society organisations, unions, government, intergovernmental and non-governmental agencies.
Top-tier representation
The key event happened on 16 March with the campaign’s public launch which saw the active participation of trade unions, the Republic of Ghana’s Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, and representatives of the Minister of Education and the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, as well as traditional authorities, diplomatic representatives, and other key actors against child labour and child marginalisation.
A planning meeting on 14-15 March was attended by union and civil society representatives from several African countries, including Moustapha Guitteye from the Syndicat National de l'Education et de la Culture UNTM(SNEC)/Mali, Siaka Traoré, General Secretary of the Syndicat national des enseignants du second degré de Côte d'Ivoire(SYNESCI)/Ivory Coast, and Yohannes Benti, President of the Ethiopian Teachers’ Association (ETA).
Awareness raising
Participants discussed the 100 Million campaign in Africa in terms of building trust and collaboration between and among key parties. They also explored how the campaign hopes to develop, including getting decision-makers (parliamentarians, ministers, etc.) to visit public schools, to raise awareness and influence policy decisions towards a better education for all.