HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : New Fund to give Commonwealth children the best start in life [February 2002]

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 5 February 2002.

A new Government pledge of £10m to kick-start a Commonwealth Education Fund was announced by Chancellor Gordon Brown and International Development Secretary Clare Short today, as a new pamphlet on globalisation was published.

Speaking at a seminar in Downing Street attended by key NGO’s, the Chancellor and Ms Short gave details of the Commonwealth Education Fund, launched this year to mark the Golden Jubilee year, which will highlight the need to achieve universal primary education in the Commonwealth.

Alongside the £10 million, the Government will match contributions by business, pound for pound including tax relief. Money raised by this year’s Comic Relief ‘Sports Day’ earmarked for education in Commonwealth countries will also be matched pound for pound, including tax relief, by the Government.

Chancellor Gordon Brown said:

“It is a tragedy that 75 million children in the Commonwealth don’t complete their basic schooling. The Fund can help us support work with the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children – getting street children into schooling, or helping child soldiers start a new life with counselling and education, or supporting mobile schools for nomadic children. It can also help promote public participation in education planning and delivery in the Commonwealth.

“The Fund will ensure that more children in the Commonwealth get a decent start in life as we approach our target of primary education for all.”

Ms Short said:

“Clearly the education needs of developing countries are enormous, and that is why we and the international community have invested so heavily in this in recent years. This Fund will further stimulate this work and strengthen the voice of the poor to demand their right to a decent education.”

Save the Children said:

“Save the Children welcomes an innovative way of increasing resources to ensure that more girls and boys can enjoy their basic right to a decent education. We believe children in this country would support action that allows their contemporaries in Commonwealth countries to attend school.”

Kevin Cahill, CEO of Comic Relief, said:

“Sport Relief is a new fundraising campaign organised by Comic Relief and the BBC to help give vulnerable and disadvantaged children at home and across the world the chance of a brighter future. We are delighted that the Government is matching the international efforts of Sport Relief to give an education to some of the world’s poorest children who would otherwise simply be forgotten and missed out.”

The Chancellor also set out the four key proposals for action needed to ensure that all countries benefit from the new global economy. The pamphlet ‘Tackling Poverty: A Global New Deal’ launched today proposes:

Reform of economic government in developing countries, with agreed codes and standards for fiscal and monetary policy;

New corporate standards for business;

Opening of markets; and

Up to $50 billion a year in additional aid.

The Chancellor will put his proposals for a global new deal to tackle poverty to this weekend’s meeting of G7 finance ministers in Ottawa.