Monday, March 31, 2014

REASON #1 to invest in the Global Partnership for Education now: WE CANNOT END POVERTY WITHOUT INVESTING IN EDUCATION



by Camilla Ryberg, RESULTS Australia's Online Communications and Education Manager

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” ― Nelson Mandela

Today we look a bit more closely into Reason #1 of the eight reasons from our joint RESULTS brief Greater Impact through Partnership: 8 reasons to invest in the Global Partnership for Education now more than ever.

The reason; ‘We cannot end poverty without investing in education’, is really one on which there is little or no disagreement.  Indeed, it is often stated that investing in education is the single most effective way of reducing poverty.

This is recognised by citizens all over the world as evidenced in the United Nations’ MY World global survey  - with responses from nearly 1.5 million people in 194 countries at the time of writing - where “A good education” is ranked as the world’s #1 priority for the post-2015 development agenda.

It is estimated that if all students in low income countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty and global poverty would decline by 12 percent. Education is critical to reducing poverty and inequality, and one of the most important investments a country can make in its people and its future.

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) provides low-income country partners the incentives, resources, and technical support to build and implement robust education plans and meet targets to help more children receive a good quality education.

Sometimes education challenges require innovative approaches that reach beyond the education sector. The school meals program in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) supported by the Global Partnership for Education is such an example. With the Government of Lao PDR having identified the importance of education, food security, and health in breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty, a GPE grant of US$30 million went towards the program that combined local food production, community trainings, and school interventions in health, sanitation, and hygiene. The program was piloted by the Ministry of Education and Sports in 66 schools in 2012, with plans to expand it to nine districts in five provinces.

Education is intrinsically related to other poverty alleviation aspects, such as maternal and child health, gender equality, economic development, national security, and democracy. In Greater Impact through Partnership we outline five areas where education has significant impact.

The multiplier effect of education - Education is a human right and is absolutely fundamental to ending poverty. A good education empowers individuals, contributes to greater economic growth, produces healthier populations, and builds more stable, equitable societies. Education is widely recognized as one of the most effective development interventions. If the world does not invest in education, development and progress will be impossible.

Maternal and child health - A child born to an educated mother is more than twice as likely to survive to the age of five. As women’s education levels increase, immunization rates go up, preventable child deaths go down, and nutrition improves.

Gender equality - Education increases self-confidence and decision-making power for girls, as well as their economic potential. On average, for a girl in poor country, each additional year of education beyond third or fourth grade will lead to 20 percent higher wages.

Economic development - Education is a prerequisite for economic growth: no country has achieved continuous and rapid growth without at least 40 percent of adults being able to read and write. Every US$1 invested in a person’s education yields US$10-15 in economic benefit over that person’s working lifetime.

Security and democracy - People of voting age with a primary education are 1.5 times more likely to support democracy than people with no education. Countries with higher primary schooling rates and a smaller gap between rates of boys’ and girls’ schooling tend to enjoy greater democracy and stability.

Without investing in education, the poorest countries and the poorest people will be left far behind. Conversely, as outlined above, the impact of investment in education is profound.  We cannot end poverty without investing in education and a successful replenishment which sees a fully-funded Global Partnership for Education is critical to achieving this.

RESULTS affiliates in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and here in Australia are calling on our respective governments to play their fullest part in ensuring that the Global Partnership for Education’s 2015-2018 replenishment target of US$3.5 billion is met.

Click here to read the full RESULTS’ brief Greater Impact through Partnership:  8 reasons to invest in the Global Partnership for Education now more than ever.

This post is part of a series over eight weeks where  RESULTS affiliates in Canada, the UK, the U.S. and  Australia will delve deeper into each of the 8 reasons to invest in the Global Partnership for Education now more than ever. Don’t forget to check back here next week for REASON #2.

Further Reading:

RESULTS Publication Launch: 8 Reasons to Invest in the Global Partnership for Education Now

Greater Impact Through Partnership

250 Million Reasons to Invest in Education: The Case for Investment


Wednesday, March 26, 2014

RESULTS Publication Launch: 8 Reasons to Invest in the Global Partnership for Education Now

 http://www.results.org/uploads/files/Greater_Impact_Through_Partnership_-_8_Reasons_to_Invest_in_the_Global_Partnership_for_Education_Now_More_Than_Ever.pdf

  by Camilla Ryberg, RESULTS Australia's Online Communications and Education Manager

There is a global education crisis. 57 million children still remain out of primary school worldwide and nearly 40 percent of the world's primary school-aged children still don't know how to read, write, or count.

If all students in low-income countries acquired basic reading skills, global poverty could decline by 12 percent, meaning 171 million people would be lifted out of poverty.  Despite this, funding to education is declining.

Though the solution to the global education crisis is of course multifaceted, complex and nuanced, one thing is clear - if we are to address the education challenge successfully, we need to work in partnership.

With this in mind, RESULTS Australia together with our RESULTS affiliates in Canada, the UK and the US, are thrilled to announce the launch of our joint publication 'Greater Impact through Partnership: 8 reasons to invest in the Global Partnership for Education now more than ever'.

Our brief outlines why achieving an 'Education for All' is more important than ever in our current global landscape and how the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is uniquely positioned to contribute to this goal.

On June 26th, 2014, leaders from around the world will convene at GPE’s Pledging Conference to decide the future of education for children in the most poverty-stricken and conflict-affected countries on the planet. The GPE is asking donor countries for contributions of US$3.5 billion for the period 2015 to 2018.

Achieving this target, the Global Partnership will be able to support education for 29 million of the poorest and most marginalised children, including girls, and increase the number of children completing primary school with literacy and numeracy skills by 25 percent in 66 developing country partners by 2018.

For a more comprehensive account of what the GPE will be able to achieve if the replenishment target is met, have a look at the Global Partnership for Education's  'Case for Investment'

Moreover, due to the Global Partnership’s unique funding model, donor contributions of $3.5 billion have the power to leverage an additional $16 billion in domestic financing from the Partnership's low-income country partners. This will go a long way towards filling the education financing gap, thus contributing significantly towards addressing the global education crisis.

At this juncture, success relies on ambitious investments from donors. Joining our international affiliates, it is now the time for RESULTS Australia to intensify our advocacy calling on the Australian Government to make a pledge of AUD$500 million to the Global Partnership for Education for the period 2015-2018.

'Greater Impact through Partnership: 8 reasons to invest in the Global Partnership for Education now more than ever' provides the outline we need to tell the story to the media, members of Parliament, and our communities of not only the importance of education but the critical opportunity the Global Partnership for Education's June pledging conference provides to successfully address the global education crisis.

This is an unprecedented opportunity to in partnership make  a  real impact on the lives and futures of not only the poorest and most vulnerable children around the world, but in all of our lives by building a more just, healthy and prosperous world.

Download the full report here, and catch a glimpse of the 8 reasons below.

8 reasons to invest in the Global Partnership for Education now more than ever:
  1. We cannot end poverty without investing in education. Education is intrinsically related to our other efforts to reduce poverty.
  2. The Global Partnership for Education reaches those in the greatest need - especially those in fragile contexts and humanitarian emergencies. Nearly three-quarters of the world's 57 million primary school-aged children who are out of school live in GPE developing country partners.
  3. The Global Partnership for Education complements bilateral efforts in global education. Support for the Global Partnership helps donors reach their own development objectives, including the goals of U.S. bilateral education and development programs.
  4. The Global Partnership for Education mobilizes developing country resources towards their own education systems. Developing countries that are part of the Global Partnership increase their own domestic financing for education at a faster rate than developing countries not a part of the Partnership.
  5. The Global Partnership for Education gets results. GPE's developing country partners are demonstrating greater educational gains, including in enrolment, completion rates, and gender parity.
  6. The Global Partnership for Education is taking innovate steps to further enhance performance. Having already been cited as an effective model to replicate, the Global Partnership is still working to improve its model by focusing on outcomes, incentivizing results, and closing the data gap in education.
  7. Global support to basic education is drastically declining. Overall donor aid to basic education has dropped three years in a row, with aid for basic education to GPE developing country partners dropping even more - a 23 percent cut from 2009 to 2012.
  8. Demand for GPE support is on the rise. Demand from developing countries for support from the Global Partnership is only increasing, and donors must equally match the ambition of developing country partners.
Over the next eight weeks, RESULTS affiliates in Canada, the UK, the US and here in Australia will delve deeper into each of the eight reasons through a series of blog posts. Don’t forget to check back here each week to learn more of why we need to invest in the Global Partnership for Education now more than ever.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Like Garrawarra Cemetery, TB also needs to be consigned to the history books




by Maree Nutt, CEO of RESULTS  Australia

I’m proud to call myself a South Coast girl who grew up in Bulli. I live in Sydney now and have taken many trips back visiting family over the years.  Until I read an article from The Illawarra Mercury in January, I never realised that with every trip I had been passing the final resting place of over 2000 sufferers of tuberculosis who are buried at Garrawarra Cemetery - they had spent their last days in isolation at a nearby sanatorium. The graves of Garrawarra are significant to me today because I’m trying to help end the scourge of tuberculosis once and for all.

I was gripped as I recounted with great imagery, a forgotten and overgrown graveyard, dating back to the turn of the last century. Buried there are the men, women, teenagers and children who died of a highly contagious, and at that time, virtually untreatable disease. With the advent of antibiotics to treat tuberculosis, the sanatorium and its cemetery thankfully became obsolete.

Today, the cemetery is a piece of local history worth preserving.  And tuberculosis? Surely, that too, is a disease of the past. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Until I became an advocate for ending poverty with RESULTS, I had no idea that tuberculosis still remains such a huge killer, with more than half of the global burden of TB found in the Asia-Pacific region.

The 100-year-old graves of Garrawarra reflect the fact that back then, tuberculosis was the leading killer of women. Today, it remains the third-biggest cause of death for women worldwide and also kills 74,000 children every year. In total, 9 million people are infected with TB annually and it kills 1.3 million. Most victims   are amongst the poorest people in the world. 

Monday, March 24 is World TB Day. It marks the day back in 1882 when German Doctor Robert Koch announced to the world his discovery to the world that tuberculosis was caused by the bacterium, mycobacterium tuberculosis. His discovery was very important given that TB was raging through Europe, the Americas and to some extent Australia. 

The incidence of TB in the industrialised world fell dramatically with the development of antibiotics. However, there have been no new TB drugs developed in the last 50 years meaning that whilst TB is totally curable, these old-fashioned antibiotics need to be taken every day for at least six months.  The test used to diagnose TB in most of the world is over 120-years-old as well as being slow and unreliable. There is also no effective vaccine for TB.

Fortunately, the last 12 years has seen a dramatic increase in the number of people receiving TB treatment thanks to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis. I am proud that Australia, along with other wealthy aid donors, is supporting the Global Fund which now provides more than two-thirds of international funding to combat TB.

However, more could be done including supporting the medical researchers both here and globally working to develop a long overdue vaccine, more effective drugs (that you would only take for a few weeks rather than six months) and more reliable and efficient diagnostics.

The graves of Garrawarra are a part of history now. It’s time that tuberculosis also became a relic of the past.

Monday, March 17, 2014

First steps


The launch of the Sydney City group


By Gina Olivieri, RESULTS Grassroots Engagement Manager

Recently I had two experiences that showed me just how long, but rewarding, the journey is to become an advocate and build champions.

The first was in Canberra, meeting with an MP. We were hoping our meeting would result in him taking some sort of action, and were confident as he has a reputation for being ‘on board’ with various social justice issues. But we were pretty shocked when he said he could make a ten minute speech. That afternoon! Luckily we were prepared and could provide information and answer questions to help the speech get prepared in time.

The second was launching our new Sydney City group. A crowd of people gathered to hear how they could make a difference by building relationships with their MPs and talking to them about issues that matter to them. At one point, we asked “who knows the name of their MP?” About half of the room did. For the other half, learning the name of their MP represented the first step on the journey to being an advocate.

It’s that same first step we have all taken - leading to writing letters, meeting MPs, helping hone parliamentary speeches, or even appearing in the media to talk about an issue. An MP giving a ten minute speech on an issue that’s important to us – that wasn’t pure luck. Somewhere along the line, an advocate took the first step of finding out his name.

What step will you take today to become an advocate?

Sam, Alan Griffin MP and Gina

Monday, March 10, 2014

Sarah's first visit to Canberra with RESULTS



Maree, Sarah, Andrew Wilkie MP, Gina and Camilla.

by Sarah Kirk, RESULTS Australia's Global Health Campaigns Manager (Tuberculosis)

As a new RESULTS staff member, I was excited to head down to Canberra last week with the RESULTS team and watch advocacy in action. Wow, was I in for a lesson in how being prepared sure does pay off!

Armed with our extensive briefs, trusty folders and personal stories of some of the beneficiaries of the Global Fund’s projects in PNG and South Africa, I headed to my meetings.  One of my highlights was meeting with Sharman Stone, the Federal Member for Murray, Victoria. Dr. Stone was a straight talker who was extremely knowledgeable about the issues, in particular education and GAVI. I am excited to work with her on TB/HIV issues, especially where they affect women and girls.

Another highlight was meeting Andrew Wilkie. Andrew has been a long standing supporter of ours and I was unprepared for his generosity and interest in the issues of aid and development.

It was really exciting to hear Andrew Wilkie tell us that RESULTS was the best advocacy organisation that he had ever dealt with! Far better than professional lobbyists!

Friday, March 7, 2014

International Women's Day 2014

This year's theme is INSPIRING CHANGE

We can't think of anything that inspires change more than education. 

If you agree (or not), why don't you join our global webinar with the Global Partnership for Education's CEO Alice Albright to learn more and ask questions on the global education crisis.

Click here for more details on how to join

Thursday, March 6, 2014

The Power of One - Samantha's story




Baulkham Hills resident Samantha Chivers realised from two recent eye-opening trips to Thailand that one individual has the power to make a real difference when it comes to fighting global poverty locally.

The social justice worker spent two years working on the frontline on the war on poverty in the small town of Sangkhlaburi, six hours north-west of Bangkok.

She remembers vividly the poverty-stricken conditions the town’s people endured and the aid efforts that occurred. “The people living there had some serious nutritional issues” Samantha remembers.
“Part of my job was to deliver the necessary drugs to them, but because of all the red tape and impractical policies, it made it unnecessarily difficult.

“In what should be taken as one small pill to combat Vitamin A deficiency, children had to take up to 8 different pills. It was then that I realised that change had to happen and it had to happen at the top,” Samantha added.

Upon returning home, Samantha joined us here at RESULTS International (Australia). For you who don't know we are a small but extremely effective anti-poverty grassroots organisation, who influence and inform Australia’s most powerful politicians and key policy decision-makers on the best practices of poverty alleviation.

“When you grow up in Australia and you think of global poverty you have a certain vision of poverty, of small children sitting in a hut with flies on their faces,” Samantha continued.

“While that vision is sometimes true, poverty is more often about having limited choices and opportunities. In Asia it’s more about inequalities within societies. There are a million ways to help, but if you want to make a real lasting change, it’s more effective to meet with your local Member of Parliament and talk about proven lifesaving practices and policies.”

Samantha, and a group of dedicated anti-poverty volunteers, visited the halls of power in Canberra in October last year and met with several representatives of RESULTS electorates to discuss the value of the GAVI Alliance, an effective public-private global health partnership committed to increasing access to immunisation in poor countries.

“The GAVI Alliance improves health systems, and helps cut through all that red tape and deliver the lifesaving vaccines to where they’re needed,” Samantha said.

Due in large part to the tireless advocacy work of RESULTS, Australia invested over $260 million to the GAVI Alliance between 2009 and 2013. With our pledge completed in January, RESULTS is upping its campaign for Australia to show regional leadership and invest in a proven mechanism for delivering vaccines.

“You can make a huge amount of difference with just a small contribution; meeting your MP to go into bat for lifesaving organisations that need our funding, for example,” Samantha added.

RESULTS is creating a new band of poverty-fighting volunteers in Sydney on March 5 at Level 27, Aurora Place 88 Phillip Street, from 5:30pm. The group, who meet once a month, learn about proven anti-poverty practices, write letters-to-the-editor and set up face-to-face meetings with their parliamentarians.

“A lot of people don’t realise that as a constituent you actually have a lot of power to create real change,” Samantha said.

To find out more about RESULTS and the new group please visit www.results.org.au or call 1300 713 037.

Adapted from RESULTS media release March 5 2014.