This Thanksgiving Day, as you celebrate and give thanks - please remember that there are more girls out of school today than in 2007. According to UNESCO, there are 65 million (school-aged) girls not in school today. Many of those girls are work 12+ hours a day, in slavery, are married at age 10-15, forced labor, and sold in human trafficking. We can send men to the moon, land on Mars, have antibiotics, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, cloning, hydrogen power, solar energy, 128GB iphone 6, NSA can capture all billions of emails and cellphone conversations, make nuclear bombs, and the Tsar Bomb of 1961, which was 1,400 times the power of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, and much more. But what about getting every child into school? So far, not good. Instead of making education a top priority, it seems that war trumps all for mankind, and not literacy and education. Since the eve of recorded history (literacy) around 3,600 BC to 2,014 AD, (5,600 years) there has only been an estimated 300 years of peace in the world. Thats about 0.5 % (half of one percent) of time, humans have lived in harmony, the rest is fighting. It would not be difficult to create a world where it is possible for every child on this planet to go to school. It cost about $ 54 billion annually to provide education for all. Currently, governments and aid provide about $ 28 billion for education, which leaves about $ 26 billion shortfall (global). As of Sept. 2014, the USA had spent $ 816 billion for war in Iraq and $ 753 billion for war in Afghanistan since 9/11. And what was the result of our military investment in those two countries? Do the math. nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/notes-sources brookings.edu/blogs/education-plus-development/posts/2014/02/20-global-education-financing-steer The Millennium Development Goals un.org/millenniumgoals of 2000 included a mandate to provide education for every single child on the planet. Fourteen years later the reality is that there are now 131 million children out of school. The Greatest Generation (1910-1925 birth year), The Silent Generation (1925 - 1945 birth year), Baby Boomers (1945-1965 birth years), Millennials or Gen X (1965-1980 birth years), have all failed in achieving universal education, but I do have hope that the next generation can do it! Lots of talk + hype + awareness but apathy at the funding level, with poor results Please spread awareness of this global tragedy to provide education for all. Lets encourage the Millennials (1980-2000 birth years), and Generation Z (post 9/11) to get it done in their time. There still is reason to be optimistic, and we owe it to the next generations to empower them through education. Girls start school in Saw village, Kunar province, Afghanistan circa 2007. Now some of these girls are first generation literates in 7th grade. Photo: Wakil Karimi
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 01:22:34 +0000
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