UNICEF LAUNCHES STATE OF THE WORLD'S CHILDREN 2004 REPORT

December 12, 2003 – (Addis Tribune - Addis Ababa) The State of the World's Children 2004 Report "Girls, Education and Development" was launched yesterday at the Sheraton Addis by the Minister of Education, Genet Zewde, and the UNICEF representative, Bjorn, Ljungqvist.

In an address at the launching ceremony, the Minister of Education said the report extensively discussed the importance of girls' education to eradicate poverty, to foster development and to advance peace, democracy and human rights. Despite the fact that girls' education benefits humanity, more girls than boys were denied their rights to basic education, a situation which should be redressed as urgently as possible, she said.

According to the report, about 65 million girls are missing out of education and most of these girls are in sub-Saharan Africa.

"The underling cause for unmet need of girls' education lies in poverty and the traditional cultural values attributed to women in the society.

Poverty, coupled with negative attitude toward women's place in society, affects girls' attendance, completion and achievement," the Minister said.
The UNICEF Representative, Bjorn Ljungqvist, said Ethiopia had been selected as one of UNICEF's "25 by 2005" campaign, a major initiative to eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education in 25 priority countries by the year 2005.

UNICEF is working with governments to mobilise new resources, to build broad national consensus on the need to get and keep girls in school and to help improve the school themselves to make them more welcoming to girls, he said.

"We are gathered here today because of our commitment to educating all of Ethiopia's children. Together, we must continue to work to increase public demand for girls' education. We must build on strategic partnerships, including women's associations, NGOs and community organisations.
We must also involve all sectors including health, water and HIV/AIDS prevention, because the educated girls of today will be Ethiopia's mothers and citizens of tomorrow," Ljungqvist said.

From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200312120414.html