From 2019, every 24th of January would be World Education Day, observed by the United Nations.
This is in commemoration and recognition of the strides the International Community has made in the area of education, and to draw attention to the challenges the sector is facing.
The right to education is enshrined in article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The declaration calls for free and compulsory elementary education.
In 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted and it continues to stipulate that countries shall make higher education accessible to all.
The international community after adopting the Agenda 2030 in September 2015 for Sustainable Development recognized that education is essential for the success of all 17 of its goals.
Sustainable Development Goal 4, aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, by 2030”.
The theme for the commemoration of the International Education Day 2019 is “Education: A key driver for inclusion and empowerment”.
We at WUZDA Ghana believe that education is the foundation for every individual’s growth and wellbeing, hence the need for society to adopt strategies to ensure children of school going age in our communities are not deprived of their right to especially basic education.
WUZDA Ghana operates in four thematic areas; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Credit for Local Groups in rural communities, Governance and Accountability and Livelihood Initiatives.
Our Livelihood Initiatives focus on empowering community members, especially women,to be able to contribute to developing children at the household level.
The support the woman offers in our local community in the upbringing of the child cannot be overemphasized, including support for the child’s education, for which reason we consider that building a woman’s capacity goes a long way to trickle down to each and every member of the household.
WUZDA Ghana has so far through its Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) empowered over 169 women in six communities who are engaged in one trade or another.
These women also have access to soft credit support from time to time from WUZDA Ghana, to expand their trade to enable them support the child through school.
This support could also be accessed from their own savings through the VSLA Initiative, where they are being encouraged to save tokens from their trade each week for future needs.
Apart from the livelihood initiatives support we have given directly to community members over the past years, we have also constructed a number of latrines and water facilities for schools in the Tamale metropolis.
This is aimed at enhancing the sanitary conditions in schools and making the environments conducive enough for effective teaching and learning.
This is but just a few of the support the organization has provided to society which is aimed at raising the economic conditions of the household to enable it provide good quality education to the child.
On the occasion of the International Day of Education, WUZDA Ghana congratulates all stakeholders from Global Partners, to partners within Ghana, especially the Ghana Education service which is leading the education fight, CSOs, and all parents in the communities who are breaking their backs to ensure their children get good education.
We implore all stakeholders to keep their shoulders to the wheel, for together we can achieve the SDG 4 and “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, by 2030”.
Happy International Education Day!!!
Signed
Shaibu Awudu
(Media and Communications)
WUZDA Ghana 