UNICEF focuses on education as “fundamental right”

UNICEF today launched its annual ‘State of the World’s Children’ report focusing on the urgent need to secure the “fundamental human right” of quality education for every child. UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy noted that more than 130 million children of primary school age in developing countries, including 73 million girls, were growing up without access to basic education. Nearly a billion people, two-thirds of them women, will enter the 21st century unable to read, the report warned. “The world can no longer afford such an enormous waste of human potential,” it said. UNICEF called for the political will to expand the education revolution - in danger of stalling due to a dearth of resources in the developing world - to encompass high-quality learning and a child rights approach. The goal is ‘Education For All’, in which accessible, gender-sensitive schooling, where the State is a key partner, provides the foundation for “learning for life”. The report stresses that: “Education is one of the best investments a country can make in order to prosper.