"School enrolment rate in Côte d'Ivoire was 75% before the crisis began in 2002, and now stand at approximately 50%," announced Elie Jouen, EI Deputy General Secretary at the official opening of the Global Action Week held in Abidjan on 22 April.
Bleu Lainé Gilbert, Education Minister, Adé Mensah, General Secretary of the Union Générale des Travailleurs de Côte d'Ivoire (UGTCI) and Salimata Doumbia, EI Exectuive Board member and General Secretary of the Syndicat National de l’Enseignement Primaire Public de Côte d’Ivoire, were also present.
The launch of the Global Action Week provided an opportunity to drive home the fact that Côte d’Ivoire’s National Action Plan in support of Education for All (EFA), which has been ready for several years now, still needs to be ratified by its government.
Because of that, it has not been possible to discuss any external financial assistance for Côte-d’Ivoire within the framework of the Fast Track Initiative co-ordinated by the World Bank.
The EI Deputy General Secretary strongly urged the Minister of Education to take control of the national action plan, and to use his influence to ensure that the plan is ratified at a forthcoming meeting of the Council of Ministers called by the head of state.