OVER 70 YOUTH-LED ORGANISATIONS DEMAND THE IMF ACTS TO DELIVER RIGHT TO EDUCATION IN AFRICA

(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):

1. 100 MILLION CAMPAIGN LIBERIA INC

2. 100 Million Namibia

3. Action for Change

4. African Students and Alumni Forum (ASAF)

5. All-Africa Students Union

6. ANOSR - The National Alliance of Student Organizations in Romania

7. Association des Jeunes pour le Développement Communautaire,

8. Build A Youth Build-Africa

9. Burundi National Students' Union

10. Commonwealth Students' Association

11. CONFECH

12. Coordinadora de Representantes de Estudiantes de Universidades Públicas

13. Council of Students and Youth Movement of Mauritius

14. Danske Studerendes Fællesråd

15. Diretório Central dos Estudantes "Gonçalo de Freitas" da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais

16. DO Grassroot Forum and Citizen Empowerment foundation

17. Elimination of Child Labour in Agriculture

18. Equal Rights Organization Tanzania

19. Ethiopian Higher Education Institution Students Union

20. European Students' Union (ESU)

21. Finlands Svenska Skolungdomsförbund

22. Future Resilience and Development Foundation

23. Future Team Rwanda Initiative

24. Gender Youth for Change and Peace Building Network

25. Global Student Forum

26. Guinean Students Empowerment Association

27. Ifix Iniative

28. Iniative for Domestic Workers Tanzania

29. Insaf Student Federation Pakistan

30. Institute for Development - Ghana

31. Jumuiya ya Maendeleo ya Elimu kwa Watoto Pemba

32. KADIPLEM ORG

33. Kenson Children Development Foundation

34. Kenya Universities Student's Organisation

35. Liberia National Students' Union

36. Mares FoundationNamibia

37. National Students Organization

38. National Association of Nigerian Students

39. National Union of Ghana Students

40. National Union of Ghana Students

41. New Hope New Winners Foundation

42. New Zealand Union of Students' Associations

43. Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU)

44. Organización Continental Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Estudiantes (OCLAE)

45. Pemba Child Rights Environmental and Malaria Control Organizatio (PECREMACO)

46. PEMBA PARALEGALS ORGANIZATION (JUMUIYA YA WASAIDIZI WA SHERIA PEMBA (JUWASPE)

47. Prime Goals Initiative

48. Princess Sylvia Foundation for the Less Privilege

49. Restore Lake Victoria Now

50. Right to Education Initiative

51. Rwanda National students Association -Intagamburuzwa

52. SAHRiNGON Tanzania Chapter

53. Sauti ya Mtoto Foundation

54. Southern African Students Union

55. Street Beats Foundation

56. Studomatrix

57. Survivors' Network (SN) Cameroon/ Africa

58. Tanzania Coalition Against Child labour

59. Tanzania Youth Biodiversity Network

60. TEAL Climate

61. The Indian Vidyarthi

62. The National Union of Students in Norway

63. The Women Wakeup Foundation

64. UDU - Unione degli Universitari

65. Union Nationale des Étudiants du Gabon (UNEG)

66. Union Scolaire et Estudiantine de Guinée USEG

67. United Lesotho Student Association

68. United Youth Initiative for Africa

69. UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ASSOCIATION OF GHANA

70. Verband der Schweizer Studierendenschaften VSS

71. 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

Click the (green) image or here to share this message directly to Twitter:

"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"

Download the (red) image to share on Instagram or Facebook. Make sure to use the hashtag #JusticeForAfrica so we can amplify your posts and the hashtag #ReshapingDevelopment so your message is seen by those following the IMF-Bank Spring Meetings online.