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 GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE

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Question: The Millennium Development Goals, How can we make them a reality, especially in Africa? CPNN article: Conference on the 15th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of
CPNN Administrator
Posted: Dec. 04 2004,13:46
This discussion question applies to the following CPNN articles:


Conference on the 15th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Gambian Youth Engage in the Promotion of Peace, Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship
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Joe
Posted: Dec. 04 2004,14:12
Great article!

It's crimal that, at the present rate, Africa will not have full primary education until the year 3055. What!? I say put a mandatory tax on all the world's billioniares or something to fund this effort...sheesh!

But, do you think it's right to just set quanitative goals for education? Learning is more than a statistic. We have a good deal of educational coverage here in the U.S., but a lot of people are exlcuded and a lot of people are not getting the quality of education that they deserve.

Are these trade schools that are being planned, or are they for general education? Will they include exposure to the arts, music, philosophy, etc? Will there be an emphasis on critical thinking or rote memorization?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for more schools....but unfortunately that doesn't always translate into the quality education that we so desperately need among the word's population. Even in countries that are still "developing," we should place an emphasis on training engineers and doctors who are also socially aware and able to think critically. I think that would really form the basis for a strong society....
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Megan1183
Posted: Dec. 04 2004,14:13
The information about Gambia's incredible improvement in nationwide education is very encouraging towards the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals.  It is commendable that such strides were taken to make education a reality for so many children who were deprived of it.  I hope that more countries will follow Gambia's example.  Universal education in 3055 is simply not acceptable!  
    It's also interesting to look at what countries where child labor has been prevalent are doing to get their children back in school.  To see how the number of children in India, Pakistan and Nepal has increased, see www.rugmark.org.  Also, the number of child laborors in Brazil has dropped from 3.3 million in 1996 to 2.5 million in 2000, following a government anti-child labor initiative to end child labor and put children back in school (see http://www.commondreams.org/views/031600-102.htm for more information).  This initiative includes paying parents to send their children to school, an interesting initiative as it attempts to fix the root of the problem-parents needing the income their children earn and thus not being able to afford to send them to school.
    It is encouraging to see countries attempting to fix the roots of the problem of low school attendance instead of trying to provide "quick fixes", which never work.  Hopefully, the goal of universal child education can be achieved much closer to the goal of 2015 than 3055!
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VickiJ21
Posted: Dec. 04 2004,14:26
Check out this website, it will shock you!  Especially about education spending needed to educate the world's children versus money spent on defense.  
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Indepen....te.html
This one shows how much money Europeans and Americans spend on luxuries compared to the money needed to help the world eat, have clean water, etc.  It will shock you and show where people's priorities are!!
http://stutzfamily.com/mrstutz....ing.htm
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Joe
Posted: Dec. 04 2004,14:36
I think, if 'people' were made aware of this stuff, most would be willing to give up a few items of make-up or a few pairs of shoes, if they knew the money would go directly towards building quality education and fighting world hunger. You can even tell them that it will help fight the roots of terrorism (which is true!!). Educated, well-fed people tend to be less inclined to violent action, wouldn't you say?

Edited by Joe on Dec. 04 2004,17:29
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Guest
Posted: Dec. 29 2004,15:41
It seems appropriate to me that the best critique of the UN's approach to the Millennium Development Goals comes from the first woman from East or Central Africa to earn a Ph.D. who is now the first specialist in development to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Wangari Maathai.  In her speech at the UN she insists that development must be based on peace and democracy with human rights.  This issue of peace is completely missing from the UN's Millennium Development Goals, as described in the CPNN report I made on this year's NGO Conference at the UN.

Several years ago, when still working at the UN I had a long conversation with a man who had been the UN Resident Representative in about a dozen different African countries.  I asked him point blank, "In your experience has development aid increased or decreased the amount of war and violent conflict in Africa."  He did not hesitate to respond, "On balance it has increased violence."

Nor does development aid usually help bring democracy.  Instead, development aid, especially by the most powerful countries such as the US and France, tends to go to the "haves" rather than the "have-nots."  For example, when I was working for a culture of peace programme in Mozambique, I went to the US ambassador to ask for funding.  He replied that all their funding (tens of millions of dollars!) was already committed.  The money associated with the Republican Party was going to the Renamo Party and the money associated with the Democratic Party was going to the Frelimo Party.  And you could see it.  The top politicians of both parties were corrupted by the money and drove around Maputo in armored limousines, protected from coming into contact with the poor.  The US was reproducing its own corrupt 2-party system in Mozambique and in a position to influence whichever party came to power.

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Wangari Maathai this year can open many doors - and one of the most important is to shed light on the nature of development aid, including that of the United Nations.
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