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2004 CTAUN Conference Poverty-Partnerships-Peace: The Role of Educators in the 21st Century Friday, January 30, 2004

UN Partnerships—First Afternoon Session

Pera Wells, Deputy Secretary General, World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA), Moderator. Ms. Wells opened the panel with a brief overview of the goals of education during different periods in modern times. Up to the 1960s, the primary goal of education was to qualify students to enter a profession. In the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s there was more emphasis on education to solve societal problems, although during the Clinton administration academics were viewed as perhaps the most important goal of education. In the 21st century a primary purpose of education is to equip students to be responsible for the administration of justice, in line with the UN Millennium Development Goals. Yvette Stevens, Director, UN Office of the Special Advisor on Africa. Ms. Stevens said that she was born in Sierra Leone "a few years ago." She has taught engineering. She has been for the past twenty years with the UN as Special Officer and Advisor on Africa, with emphasis on the impact of peace and security on development. As a child she fetched and carried water, washed clothes, and went barefoot to school. Stevens thanks her parents and teachers for giving her an education when schooling, especially for females, was unusual. Ms. Stevens thanked CTAUN for looking at sub-Saharan Africa-the poorest region in the world. She stated that she believes the world as a whole cannot move forward when one region remains so disadvantaged. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region with no chance of reaching the UN Millennium Goal for education on schedule. A review of the progress during the 1990s showed little or no improvement due largely to conflicts, lack of democratic political structures, and poverty. The 2001 African leaders' initiative "New Partnerships for African Development" (NEPAD) must take ownership and responsibility for this region, but this will not be possible without genuine partnerships. The enormous problems of this region cannot be solved simply through "relief," although this may be important right now. They can only be met through empowerment and partnerships. Teachers will play a big role, both in and out of Africa, directly and through partnerships. Education must be geared to meet today's needs, and outmoded educational models radically revised. Teachers need to be educated themselves and to inform and educate their students regarding societal problems and the roles to be played in solving or resolving these. Ms. Stevens sees a tremendous potential for linking African schools and US schools and individual classrooms. The impact of such contacts in huge and is becoming technically easier, at least in some areas. Where computer communication is not possible, there is always mail-slow but effective. Ms. Stevens would be most interested in working on school linkages with CTAUN and individual schools and teachers. Mr. Johann Olav Koss, President and CEO, Right to Play; UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador; Four time Olympic Gold Medalist in Speed Skating. Mr. Koss's Olympic medals have made him a remarkable and effective ambassador for UNICEF. He believes that incorporating "Right to Play" into educational curricula worldwide is essential and effective. He stated that play is a natural tool that can be used to educate children, many of whom have limited access to play because of work, poor health, political issues, etc. Sports for children, especially in orphanages, are valuable and inexpensive. By teaching adults to become coaches and instructors, a new information and delivery system is created. Coaches have a different, sometimes closer, relationship with children and can be influential in teaching healthy lifestyles, for example in combating malaria and protecting against AIDS. Teaching about protecting against HIV/AIDS proved to be more difficult but effective, as demonstrated in a Nairobi soccer club where less than 2 percent of the children involved were infected as compared to 16-20 percent in a non-sports-involved group. Sports programs in refugee camps, where most youngsters and teens are inactive, have increased school attendance and helped to prevent the recruitment of children as soldiers. Mr. Koss regards sports as a unique way to build democracy and to connect schools. As physical education programs in the United States and the west decline, participation in "links" to schools in other countries increase sports participation at home. Linked programs create two advantages: improvements for our own children and improvements for children in disadvantaged parts of the world. In Canada, several schools have launched fundraising activities to support school sports programs in another country. A particular goal for UNICEF this year is to improve access for females in sports and athletic activities. In one instance this has meant creating a private space for girls to play where they cannot be observed by men and boys. The success of this program has been acknowledged even by those who initially opposed it. Children are our most valuable assets and they will find a way to play together. In Africa, one lad's arrival was cheered. He had a shirt with long sleeves that could be knotted into a ball. Sometimes all it takes is a soccer ball-even a homemade one-to make a difference.

Partnerships Panel—Second Afternoon Session

Ms. Narin Stassis, First Vice-Chair of CTAUN, and ESL teacher and coordinator for the West Paterson School District in New Jersey, Moderator. Dr. Donna Katzin, Founder and CEO of Shared Interest. Dr. Katzin said that Shared Interest had been founded in 1994 to make sure that South Africans obtained economic freedom as well as political freedom. Shared Interest encourages South African banks to give loans to hundreds of people who formerly would have been outside the banking system. Under Apartheid the wealth of the country went to 20 percent of the people at the expense of the other 80 percent. Even now, at the Tenth Anniversary of the end of Apartheid, 25 percent of the population are still officially waiting for homes and there is 40 percent unemployment. Shared Interest provides collateral to South African banks, and now, due to this project 62,000 families have been housed and the lives of 350,000 people have been affected. Dr. Katzin explained the principles of partnership that have guided Shared Interest's work: 1. Partnerships to eliminate poverty must also address power relationships. 2. The local community has to be a key partner in a proper partnership. 3. Women are key to a successful partnership and must be included from the start. 4. In this era of increasing globalization, the right kind of partnership can diminish the effects of new inequalities. Shared Interest is operating in rural as well as urban areas. One project is now employing 7500 rural workers. This started when one woman was helped to take up a beekeeping business. Not only was this enterprise successful, it has also created beneficial partnerships. Mining companies have let the beekeepers enter their fenced-off land. White farmers are cooperating and using the bees to pollinate their crops. The University of Pretoria is doing research on new medicines that utilize bee by-products to tackle drug-resistant tuberculosis. Finally, rural communities are, for the first time, being gradually linked to the mainstream economy. Mr. Jonah Gensler, Director of Trickle Up. Trickle Up is a program designed to help the lowest-income people globally by providing conditional seed capital and business training for the launching of microenterprises in the effort to counteract the "trickle down" economic effects of the 1970s and 1980s. Each person or group completes a business plan, pledging 250 hours of work per person in a three-month period and savings or reinvestment of at least 20 percent of the profit. These people have no credit, so the Trickle Up seed capital is the first formal financing they have ever received. Usually Trickle Up provides a small grant as the first step up a ladder of programs that include education and targeted training. The organization educates and empowers the world's most impoverished people to be self-sufficient, realize their potential, and strengthen their communities. Although this program operates globally, Mr. Gensler announced that his focus in this talk would be from the perspective of the thirteen states that participate in the program in the United States. New York City, for example, has had great success in establishing childcare centers in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The model is to renovate someone's home, usually a woman's, to accommodate up to fourteen children. The person has a space fixed up to meet safety, staffing, and licensing standards and learns how to manage cash flow and marketing skills, creating new minimum-wage jobs in the process. Mr. Gensler emphasized the necessary connection between health care, education, and the economy. Newer programs further build viable businesses to provide schools. The aim of Trickle Up is to assist people to work out of poverty by stressing the creation of better families and safer communities worth living in. Ms. Lenore Cola, International Movement ATD Fourth World Representative accompanied by Ms. Raneisha Williams, student and member of Tapori. The International Movement ATD Fourth World is a partnership of families living in persistent poverty and other citizens worldwide, working for human rights and the eradication of extreme poverty. Tapori is the children's branch of this movement. Ms. Cola and Ms. Williams took part in a dialogue about the work of Tapori, which is a worldwide network of children whose motto is: "We want all children to have the same chances." Through its newsletter, Tapori reaches thousands of children ages 6 to 13 in schools and communities throughout the United States and in 60 countries. The newsletter is published six times a year in English, French and Spanish and recounts the true stories, efforts and projects of children and their families-both poor and non poor—and is the struggle against poverty and social exclusion around the world. The Fourth World Volunteer Corps members help parents and young people living in very poor areas. They facilitate groups that meet regularly in schools, community and faith-based centers, and in homes. The groups use the Tapori newsletter, minibooks and campaigns as resources to help them devise their own local projects. Children not in poverty are helped to clarify their understanding of what poverty entails, and children in poverty come to see themselves, their projects, and their families' struggles in a new and positive light. Tapori is a partnership of learning. Ms. Sue Bertrand, Vice President for Global Services, Heifer International. Ms. Bertrand began by describing the evolution of Heifer International from its origin as a United States Department of Agriculture program restocking farms in post-World War II Europe. At present, Heifer International is a global program through which 45 countries are provided with locally trained staff and 27 species of animals in order to bring about community development through livestock. The Heifer project recognizes that in many parts of the world education is a luxury. Its task, therefore, is to bring families out of poverty so that they have choices. In the United States, racism is often at the root of hunger because people are reduced to a state of poverty in which they are not able to be productive. In 1996, therefore, Heifer started pilot projects in urban agriculture in areas where there is the greatest concentration of youth at risk. The aim is to engage the people who live in the community to be part of the solution. Partnerships consist of people receiving resources from Heifer for three to five years. The resulting projects may have an educational component. For example, projects such as green markets and poultry raising teach mathematical skills. A hallmark of a contract with Heifer is the promise to "pass on the gift." Thus, the recipient in turn becomes a donor. Ms. Bertrand related how she herself was a Heifer recipient. In time she had a large sheep farm, and now she works in the international division of Heifer. Other programs are "Read to Feed" and a peace project with Rotary International in Kosovo in which weapons are exchanged for livestock.

Closing Keynote Address—Kul C. Gautam

Mr. Kul C. Gautam is the Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Mr. Gautam opened his talk by sharing memories of his own childhood in a remote village in Nepal where there was no school at that time and 95 percent of the villagers were illiterate. He was taught in the house of a village priest who gave lessons to a few of the village boys. Mr. Gautam saluted the teachers present, saying that from that humble beginning on to the grants and scholarships which supported his attendance at fine Ivy League colleges, he has always been inspired by his teachers. UNICEF believes that there is no more essential foundation for human development than the education of all children. Yet quality education, even at the elementary level, remains a distant dream for millions of children around the world. There are countries and communities where there are more children out of school than in school. Today there are 121 million children who never see the inside of a classroom. And the vast majority of these out of school children are girls, which is why UNICEF chose to focus on girls' education as the theme of its State of the World's Children Report this year. Mr. Gautam went on to enumerate reasons for this focus on girls. Although UNICEF is dedicated to educating all children, girls face much greater obstacles and discrimination in getting educated than boys. Thus, girls from poor families face a double jeopardy-the deprivation caused by poverty and the disadvantage of being treated as a less valued child. Advantages to societies from a basic quality education for girls are many. Educated girls tend to marry later. They are more likely to space pregnancies, to seek medical help for themselves and their children, to give better childcare and nutrition, and to ensure that their children will attend school. Basic education also enhances a woman's income-generating capacity and emboldens her to claim her rights and those of her children; it gives her a sense of personal empowerment and self-confidence in making decisions that affect her life. One of the major obstacles to education is poverty. Mr. Gautam pointed out that we live in a $30 trillion world economy, where someone new becomes a billionaire every two weeks. We live in a world where global military expenditures are rising towards a $1 trillion mark. On the other hand, even in the United States one in five children live in poverty. More than half the children in developing countries suffer from a severe deprivation of basic human needs. Among the figures that he cited were the following: over half a billion children (31 %) have no toilet facilities whatsoever; 20% are using unsafe water sources or have to walk more than 15 minutes to get water; 15% of the children in the developing world are malnourished; and almost half a billion children (25%) lack access to radio, television, telephone or newspapers at home. We cannot and should not accept the persistence of absolute poverty as the fate of humanity. Surely in this world of great affluence and profligate spending on arms and luxuries, it must be possible to find the modest resources needed to ensure the human right of every child to basic education. Mr. Gautam concluded by pointing to a challenge of a different sort facing the children of the well to do. He said that he worried especially about the children in rich countries today, and the wealthy children in poor countries, who are growing up so mesmerized by the make-believe world of video games and gadgets that alienate them from the real world. Young people's ready access and immersion into the fantastic world of entertainment and special effects makes it increasingly difficult for them to distinguish between reality and virtual reality. Will they have empathy for the poor and down-trodden? Will they understand how the other half of the poor world lives? As teachers and educators, we have a major responsibility, he pointed out, to protect our children from the temptations created by today's tantalizing technology. On the other hand, increasingly we also have at our disposal the blessings of science and technology, which if properly harnessed could be used in ways that our ancestors could not even imagine. Mr. Gautam pointed out that all in UNICEF are reminded of this responsibility every day by the inscription on the walls in the lobby of UNICEF House, "The world was not left to us by our parents. . .it was lent to us by our children."

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