The African Union, in collaboration with UNICEF, will be hosting a conference that aims to spread awareness about the importance of inclusive education for children with disabilities and other marginalised groups in foundational learning across the continent under the theme: “Inclusive Education: Ensuring No Child is Left Behind,”. The conference will explore innovative approaches and practical solutions to develop and implement inclusive education practices, ensuring no child is left behind.

Despite progress in education access, a staggering 89% of African children cannot read basic texts with understanding, and struggle to do basic maths by the age of 10. This alarming statistic serves as a wake-up call, highlighting the critical crossroads our continent faces in education. We must make a crucial choice: prioritise foundational learning to unlock our youth’s potential or risk stunting our economic growth and human capital development. Urgent action is needed to improve the quality of foundational learning across Africa.

In response, the African Union is launching the “End Learning Poverty for All in Africa” (ELPAf) campaign, with the motto “Can Read, Can Write, Can Count: Foundation4Life.” This initiative calls on African governments and communities to prioritise Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) and reduce learning poverty, setting the stage for a brighter future for our continent.

The conference is mobilising representatives from Ministries of Education, educational leaders, policymakers, experts, civil society organisations and stakeholders from across Africa to confront the deepening learning crisis that threatens the future of millions of children. The conference will emphasise the need for inclusive education practices that ensure all children, including those with disabilities and from marginalised groups, gain access to quality foundational learning.

Core Objectives of the Conference and Campaign are to:

Address the current state of FLN in Africa, identifying key challenges and opportunities for improvement.
Increase awareness and understanding among policymakers and educators of the critical importance of inclusive education for marginalised groups.
Formulate concrete policies and strategies to improve FLN and ensure that all children, regardless of their background or abilities, can thrive.
Strengthen partnerships and cooperation among AU Member States, educational institutions, and international organisations to achieve the shared goal of ending learning poverty.

The conference is expected to result in a comprehensive roadmap to improve FLN across Africa, with a strong focus on inclusive education. This will include recommendations for integrating inclusive practices into national education plans, aligning with the African Union’s 2024 theme of year “Educate an African fit for the 21st Century: Building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality, and relevant learning in Africa”. The conference will particularly focus in on outcome 2, which is emphasising the investments in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and Foundational Learning through, among others, integration of technology and curricular activities.

This conference represents a significant milestone in ensuring that every child on the continent receives the quality education they deserve.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Union (AU).

On September 4, Ambassador Zhao Weiping was invited to speak at the Namibia-China High-Level Business Forum hosted by the Namibian Embassy in China at the Westin Beijing Chaoyang Hotel. The event was attended by His Excellency Namibian President Mbumba, relevant Namibian cabinet ministers, and more than 300 representatives from the business communities of both China and Namibia.

Ambassador Zhao said in his remarks that President Mbumba’s attendance at the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing is another milestone in the development of China-Namibia relations. The economies of China and Namibia are highly complementary, China-Namibia economic cooperation is mutually beneficial and the potential of this cooperation is enormous. We are definitely going to witness a big jump in our bilateral trade and investment in the next 5 to 10 years, with Chinese companies increasing their investments in Namibia in a wide range of sectors, including mining, energy, and agriculture.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Namibia.

Yesterday, Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation, engaged in a dialogue with young leaders, nutrition experts, advocates, and Grammy Award winning musician Jon Batiste. In this dynamic conversation, the participants exchanged transformative ideas that can address malnutrition through health, agriculture, and financing solutions. These include smartphones that can tell farmers which seeds to plant depending on the weather, multiple micronutrient supplements that reduce maternal anemia and save newborn lives, and cooking oil fortified with vitamin A to strengthen immune systems.  

Throughout his opening remarks, Mr. Gates underscored the importance of reducing malnutrition especially in pregnant mothers and young children. He said: “vaccines saved millions of lives and improved the health of those children so they can achieve their whole potential. But now malnutrition is holding back their potential, because it can have lifelong effects. If not addressed it affects your brain, and it affects your body.” 

He mentioned that solving malnutrition would not be simple, stressing that it “affects the most rural and low-income communities.” To really solve it, he said: “you’ve got to work with the health sector, agricultural sector, and educate people.” 

Commenting on his upcoming meetings with philanthropists and government leaders in Nigeria, Mr. Gates outlined the important role that they can play in driving down the cost of nutrition interventions, designing education programs and making nutritious food more accessible. 

Co-hosted by local partners TechnoServe and Nile University, and live streamed across Africa by Africa.com and Channels Television, Mr. Gates’ remarks were followed by an interactive Q&A session with the audience and reflections from Jon Batiste’s recent visit to Nigeria. The event brought together nutrition experts and young people committed to addressing malnutrition and food insecurity across the continent and was designed to inspire transformative solutions to shape Africa’s future. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa.com.

The boat “capsized repeatedly, leaving people clinging to the side of the boat as their family members drowned around them,” Nicola Dell’Arciprete, the UN Children Agency (UNICEF) country coordinator for Italy, said in a statement posted online.

The survivors, all male Syrian nationals, told rescuers they had embarked from Libya and that 21 of the 28 people aboard, including three children, had fallen into the sea during rough weather.

Several Sudanese were also on the boat according to the Italian office of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

The deadly Mediterranean crossing

The central Mediterranean is among the deadliest migration routes in the world, according to the recent Missing Migrants Project from UN migration agency IOM.

The IOM found that more than 2,500 migrants died or went missing attempting the crossing last year alone, and over 1,000 more so far this year.  

Generally, one in three migrants die while fleeing conflict, according to IOM’s analysis of migrant deaths from 2014-2023.

Last year was the deadliest on record, with 8,541 migrant victims. Nearly 60 per cent of these deaths were linked to drowning.

English Channel tragedy

Reports of six children and a pregnant mother among the 12 who drowned in the English Channel on Tuesday is yet another “unacceptable tragedy”, the UNICEF office that covers Europe said on Wednesday.

“We cannot stand by and watch another of Europe’s shores become a burial ground for children,” they emphasised, adding that one in five people arriving irregularly in the UK are children.

“More safe and regular pathways, as well as solutions to the root issues driving people to leave their home, are urgently needed,” IOM chief Amy Pope stated on X in response to the needless deaths. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN News.