TICAD9 Thematic Event “Ending Learning Poverty in Africa -How can we make a difference?“

Background

• In sub-Saharan Africa, around 90% of children are experiencing learning poverty, making the achievement of SDG Goal 4 by 2030 extremely challenging.
• Education is a fundamental right that should be enjoyed equally by all people, and it lays a solid foundation for each individual to fully develop their talents and abilities and live with dignity. While it is crucial to assure foundational learning to all children from the human security perspective, it is one of the critical global issues especially in Africa, where population is rapidly increasing and is projected to represent one-quarter of the global population, approximately 2.5 billion people, by 2050.
• Meanwhile, public support towards development aid is becoming weaker and leading to sudden changes in aid policy of developing countries. Given its severe economic situation, the general perception on development aid in Japan is not favorable either.
• This event, the first TICAD event to be held in Japan in six years, aims to provide an overview of the current situation and impact of learning poverty in Africa, targeting the Japanese public, especially young people, to increase their engagement in global issues such as education in Africa. It will introduce educational projects, approaches, and initiatives that have been proven effective in improving learning outcomes based on evidence, including the “School for All” program. This session will serve as an opportunity to highlight these effective educational approaches and emphasize the importance of actively adopting and scaling-up these effective approaches to accelerate towards eradication of learning poverty.

Key Questions

• What are the roles of the government, local communities and developing partners in enhancing eradication of learning poverty in Africa?
• What actions should be taken to create and enhance collective impact?

Objective

• To offer an opportunity to deepen understanding of the current state of learning poverty in Africa, its impact, and the global efforts being made to address it. We aim to encourage young generations to consider how they can contribute to these issues.
• By showcasing various approaches that tackle learning poverty, we will highlight the diverse possibilities for resolving educational challenges, as demonstrated by JICA's “School for All” and the educational improvement through Community-Wide Collaboration.

Speaker from World Bank

Akihiko Nishio
Vice President, Development Finance, World Bank