G7 parliamentarians unite for education
Parliamentarians from G7 countries joined the Ministers of Educations of Ethiopa and Haiti to urge the G7 to affirm their existing committments to globe ducation.
The MPs urged the G7 to ensure an explicit commitment to protect, prioritise, and increase international education financing within the G7 leaders' communique.
Ahead of the G7 Leaders’ Summit next month, parliamentarians representing the G7 nations met to discuss how to ensure the G7 continues to prioritise education.
The high-level exchange was hosted by the Global Partnership for Education in collaboration with Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) and the International Parliamentary Network for Education (IPNEd).
The members of parliamentwere joined by Haiti’s Minister for Education Nesmy Manigat and Ethiopia’s Minister for Education Berhanu Nega.
Both Ministers set out the progress and challenges facing their respective education systems and made the case for the importance of donor governments in general and G7 countries in particular delivering their education aid commitments.
Haiti’s Minister for Education Nessmy Manigat.
“We rely on their commitments, particularly to girls’ education, so that this generation can not only recover from lost school days, but more importantly regain hope for a better future through a transformed education system that fosters the values of a more inclusive, peaceful and healthier world,” said Minister Manigat.
“I call on G7 countries to support the inclusion of global education on the agenda of the G7 and above all that they follow through on the commitments they made via the 2021 G7 Girls' Education Declaration.”
The examples we hear from Haiti and Ethiopia demonstrate how war, global economic upheaval, food, energy, and climate emergencies - are all massively affecting lower-Income countries - worsening the existing education crisis.
In response the participating MPs speaking collectively stated:
As parliamentarians from across the G7, we call on G7 countries to urgently drive progress on Sustainable Development Goal 4 by including global education on the agenda of the 2023 G7 and ensuring an explicit commitment to protect, prioritise, and increase international education financing within the G7 leaders' communique.
IPNEd Global Co-Chair Vicky Ford MP of the UK
IPNEd’s Global Co-Chair Vicky Ford a member of the UK and former Minister for Development added, “As the most powerful economies in the world, the G7 have both a legacy and responsibility to ensure commitments under the UK presidency in 2021 are implemented with urgency and backed by the necessary financing to make those promises a reality."
"I'm delighted to add my voice to the rallying cry of parliamentarians across G7 countries to ensure global education is firmly on the agenda of this years' G7 - and that existing G7 commitments to girls' education, including a fully funded GPE, are implemented with a sense of urgency that reflects the scale and depth of the education crisis."
Laura Frigenti, GPE’s CEO, noted the strong legacy generated by G7 nations dating back to 2017, welcoming the demonstration of ‘unity in action’. She called on G7 governments to put education front and center of the G7 in the long-term. “We have the momentum and promises - now we need the political will,” she concluded.