(Picture: Burundi National Students Union’s mobilisation demanding Justice for Africa on 20th February 2023)
71 youth- and student-led organisations from over 30 countries have issued an urgent letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ahead of the Bank-IMF Development Committee meeting taking place in Washington DC on 12th April 2023.
The Development Committee, made up of Ministers of Finance or Development from 25 countries, has a mandate to advise the IMF on development issues and young people around the world are calling for them to urgently address the shocking discrimination Africa faces within the fund and introduce policies that supports, not undermines, education financing on the continent.
Since 2015 international injustices have cost Africa $3.8 trillion dollars despite global wealth growing by over $11 trillion in the same time period. The IMF has played a large role in facilitating this staggering global inequality which has been catastrophic for the rights of the most marginalised children and young people. Over 10,000 African children have been forced into child labour every day since 2016, and the number of children out of school has increased by over 10 million in Africa.
Instead of promoting public spending on education, the IMF’s continued imposition of extreme austerity measures in developing African countries, which their own research has repeatedly proved does not work, and unequal allocation of global financial resources at their disposal, has significantly undermined efforts to achieve education for all.
These discriminatory policies mandated by the IMF are unsurprising when their own power structures are unjust against Africa. Currently, the United States alone has three times more votes than all African countries, and the UK and Belgium have more IMF votes than all countries in sub-Saharan Africa put together. This unjust representation of Africa is replicated in many other global decision-making fora such as the G7, G20 and OECD and allows the richest countries to continue making the rules the poorest must live by.
Youth activists, student leaders and child labour survivor-advocates from across the world strongly believe that the IMF must take immediate action to address this devastating inequality and use their global power to support education financing in Africa.
Read their joint letter below and help amplify the demands of the following youth- and student-led organisations (in alphabetical order):
- 100 MILLION CAMPAIGN LIBERIA INC
- 100 Million Namibia
- Action for Change
- African Students and Alumni Forum (ASAF)
- All-Africa Students Union
- ANOSR – The National Alliance of Student Organizations in Romania
- Association des Jeunes pour le Développement Communautaire,
- Build A Youth Build-Africa
- Burundi National Students’ Union
- Commonwealth Students’ Association
- CONFECH
- Coordinadora de Representantes de Estudiantes de Universidades Públicas
- Council of Students and Youth Movement of Mauritius
- Danske Studerendes Fællesråd
- Diretório Central dos Estudantes “Gonçalo de Freitas” da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais
- DO Grassroot Forum and Citizen Empowerment foundation
- Elimination of Child Labour in Agriculture
- Equal Rights Organization Tanzania
- Ethiopian Higher Education Institution Students Union
- European Students’ Union (ESU)
- Finlands Svenska Skolungdomsförbund
- Future Resilience and Development Foundation
- Future Team Rwanda Initiative
- Gender Youth for Change and Peace Building Network
- Global Student Forum
- Guinean Students Empowerment Association
- Ifix Iniative
- Iniative for Domestic Workers Tanzania
- Insaf Student Federation Pakistan
- Institute for Development – Ghana
- Jumuiya ya Maendeleo ya Elimu kwa Watoto Pemba
- KADIPLEM ORG
- Kenson Children Development Foundation
- Kenya Universities Student’s Organisation
- Liberia National Students’ Union
- Mares FoundationNamibia
- National Students Organization
- National Association of Nigerian Students
- National Union of Ghana Students
- National Union of Ghana Students
- New Hope New Winners Foundation
- New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations
- Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU)
- Organización Continental Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Estudiantes (OCLAE)
- Pemba Child Rights Environmental and Malaria Control Organizatio (PECREMACO)
- PEMBA PARALEGALS ORGANIZATION (JUMUIYA YA WASAIDIZI WA SHERIA PEMBA (JUWASPE)
- Prime Goals Initiative
- Princess Sylvia Foundation for the Less Privilege
- Restore Lake Victoria Now
- Right to Education Initiative
- Rwanda National students Association -Intagamburuzwa
- SAHRiNGON Tanzania Chapter
- Sauti ya Mtoto Foundation
- Southern African Students Union
- Street Beats Foundation
- Studomatrix
- Survivors’ Network (SN) Cameroon/ Africa
- Tanzania Coalition Against Child labour
- Tanzania Youth Biodiversity Network
- TEAL Climate
- The Indian Vidyarthi
- The National Union of Students in Norway
- The Women Wakeup Foundation
- UDU – Unione degli Universitari
- Union Nationale des Étudiants du Gabon (UNEG)
- Union Scolaire et Estudiantine de Guinée USEG
- United Lesotho Student Association
- United Youth Initiative for Africa
- UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ASSOCIATION OF GHANA
- Verband der Schweizer Studierendenschaften VSS
- Zimbabwe National Students Union
(Click and slide to expand the images to read the letter in full)
Amplify The Demands Of Over 70 Youth- And Student-Led Organisations
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“Ahead of @IMFNews & @WorldBank Spring Meetings 70+ youth & student-led organisations across the world demand action on delivering right to #education in #Africa. #JusticeForAfrica #ReshapingDevelopment“
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