Freeman, 16, and Andrews Togoe, GAWU, Ghana, Youth Conference on Education as a Human Right

80 million children worldwide are denied access to a primary education. Global Action Week reminds world leaders of their promise to support global education.

Action Week 2007 a Success: Thousands of students and educators across the country joined up to tell world leaders that education is a human right. Students met with their members of Congress. Former child laborers brought their messages to U.S. leaders.

ICCLE Hosts Students, Teachers and Former Child Laborers in Washington, D.C.
ICCLE organized one day of training on April 25 in Washington, DC, for middle and high school students and teachers from WA to KY to NY and former child laborers from Columbia, Ghana and India on how to advocate for education rights. During the training, students learned tips on public speaking, and practiced their messages, which were delivered the next day on Capitol Hill.

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Students Visit Congressional Offices in Washington, D.C.
The next day these students and former child laborers met with Congressional offices about the importance of supporting universal education.

	Ashley, Brittany and Claire, VA, with Brillith, Columbia, and Kinsu, India, at the Youth Conference

Former Child Laborers and U.S. Students Speak at Youth Conference on Education as a Human Right on Capitol Hill
ICCLE organized a Youth Conference on Education as a Human Right on April 26 in the Russell Senate Office Building featuring three former child laborers and U.S. students who spoke about the importance of education. Representatives from the Global Campaign for Education, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank also spoke at the event.

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Read Student Quotes and the Youth Declaration

Action Week 2006
Action Week 2005
Action Week 2004

The 2006 Send My Friend to School Week was a huge success!

In collaboration with the U.S. Chapter of the GCE, ICCLE hosted five child laborers turned child activists from India, Columbia and Mexico in the U.S. during 2006 Global Action Week, April 24-30. Their visit also coincided with the Spring Meetings of the IMF/World Bank, April 22-23, 2006.

Schedule of Activities and Bios of Child Laborers turned Activists, 2006 Global Action Week

Full Report of Activities of Child Laborers turned Activists, 2006 Global Action Week

Click here to view Global Action Week 2006 Photos

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5

Day 1
Holton-Arms School hosts child laborers as Ambassadors of children out of school
April 24 As a kick off to Global Action Week on Education for All, five former child laborers from India, Columbia and Mexico spent the day sharing the aspirations of children out of school from around the world with high school students at the prestigious Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, MD.

Holding hands with their guests, the MD girls pledged to jointly fight for education to make this world a better place. None of them had ever met any child laborer in their lives. The children visited the United States to take part in a series of events hosted by the International Center on Child labor and Education (ICCLE), the international advocacy office of the Global March Against Child Labor.

The children were able to talk with their counterparts and encourage them to work closely with their elected leaders to ensure that all children are able to receive free and compulsory, quality education. Leidy Johanna, 16, from Columbia expressed to the Holten girls the helplessness of girls involved in selling products on the streets. She also explained how the support she received from national coordinator of the Global March in Columbia changed her life and she attends full-time school now.

Aly Hernandez, 16, from Mexico shared her intense struggle to baby sit a two-year old boy for long hours at night and work as a messenger after school, and her inability to stay awake school. She was fortunate to be helped by a local partner organization to secure a scholarship to attend full-time school. She now aspires to be a journalist.

Luz Carime, 13, from Columbia worked as a metal scrap picker. Now she wishes to become either an architect or a construction mechanic.

Mohmad Samsur, 12, from India talked about the long years he spent collecting things like plastic, batteries and glass as rag picker from the age of six.

Former Indian child slave Puran, 14, told his story of being a stonebreaker. His father borrowed about $400 to pay for medical treatment for his grandfather and the entire family was taken as slaves for many years. He shared how he was rescued by activists from the Bal Ashram, a rehabilitation center run by Bachpan Bachao Andolan (the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude) and his father was put in prison by the employer due to the loss of labor from Puran and his younger brothers.

"What can you do to help the millions of children like me around the world and also in United States?," Puran asked the girls. He also asked them how they could fight against the crime of female feticide (destroying a fetus). This is possible only when all are able to receive education, Puran said. Only education can fight lack of knowledge and help open the minds of people who still live in the dark ages.

The students and the faculty of the Holton-Arms School expressed their desire to continue working with the children in the future and to help fight for their rights. They committed to making faces of Poverty, particularly child labor, the focus of Holten's humanitarian project next academic year. Some students want to start a CHEER Action Group. They presented gifts to all the children.

The President of the Global Campaign for Education Mr. Kailash Satyarthi also accompanied the children. He called for the globalization of human compassion in order to counter increasing global terror. This must be expressed through a collective endeavor to ensure good quality education for all children. The youth remain the only hope to exercise their moral power to pressure the politicians to fulfill their promises to children.

Day 2
Child laborers visit Legislative Staff of Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)
April 25 The children called on the legislative staff from the office of Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chair, Judiciary Committee and Member of the Appropriations Committee.

Rescued child laborers visit Montgomery Blair High School
Speakers from India, Colombia and Mexico discuss experiences
April 25 By Natasha Prados, Online Staff Writer, Silver Chips Online, Montgomery Blair High School Online Student Newspaper

Five rescued child laborers from India, Colombia and Mexico spoke at Blair today during 6th period. The event was sponsored by the Blair Academy of International Studies in conjunction with the International Center on Child Labor and Education (ICCLE).

Kailash Satyarthi, the founder of the Global March Against Child Labor and the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude (SACCS), and Dr. Sudhanshu Joshi from ICCLE also spoke. Joshi introduced Satyarthi as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize whose work has helped to emancipate over 69,000 children from slavery.

The five children who spoke shared their stories and expressed how grateful they are to be getting an education after being rescued by various organizations in their native countries. All five are now actively working to bring an end to child labor and raise awareness about the issue.

The first speaker, Puran Bangura from India, explained that when his father borrowed money he could not repay, the entire family was forced to work as slaves. Joshi, who translated for Bangura, described Bangura's job as stone mining, a trade which Joshi said is often illegal.

Bangura said many children in India are forced to work twice as hard as adults for no wages. "They are bought and sold like animals," Bangura said.

The other boy from India, 13 year-old Mohmad Samsur, was a "rag-picker." Joshi (who also translated for Samsur) explained that in India, there are huge amounts of trash, which rag-pickers - often very young children - go through to collect anything that can be potentially sold, such as metal scraps, plastic and batteries.

One day when Samsur was taking his trash to a contractor to sell, an activist saw him and told him he should not be working. Samsur agreed that the work stunted his growth and prevented him from playing and getting an education, but at the time he had no other options. He is now receiving a full-time education and learning to paint at the rehabilitation center.

Luz Karime Lemos Viveros, from Colombia, is also getting an education now. She began working at age three to help support her seven brothers and sisters, who are now all in school, said translator Belen Gutierrez.

The other speaker from Colombia, Leidy Johanna Moreno Blandon, had two jobs: helping her mother in the domestic service industry and working as a vendor in the street. She lost her father at the age of 13 in a bomb explosion and had to help support her two brothers, said Gutierrez.

Blandon said she is very grateful that her mother never let her quit school. Now the sixteen-year-old is almost finished with her secondary education. She hopes that her two month old baby will never have to work as a child.

Last to speak was Aly Zayory Perez Hernandez, 16, from Mexico, who started working at age 13, taking care of a two-year-old in the evenings and working as a messenger in the afternoons, while attending school, translated Gutierrez. Hernandez said she could not concentrate in school because she got so little sleep, and was often up until 3 a.m. trying to finish her homework.

Now Hernandez receives a scholarship so that she does not have to work and can go to school without constantly worrying about the welfare of her parents and her sister.

After the children spoke, Satyarthi answered questions from an audience of approximately 200 Blazers.

Satyarthi said that although the children's stories were all deeply troubling and depressing, he hoped they would encourage students to act against child labor. "The purpose of these children is not to shock you, not to upset you, it is to provide hope… each one of them [the children] symbolize courage - they have stood up against all odds," he said.

Satyarthi urged students to be aware as consumers and to write letters to their politicians and large corporations advocating an end to child labor and slavery and ensuring that more of the world's children receive an education. "As a strong consumer, you can start questioning and demanding," he said, adding, "sensitize your neighborhood, your friends, your politicians."

Blair social studies teacher Kevin Moose organized the event in order to raise awareness of child labor, slavery and bondage around the world, to encourage students to act and to prompt interest in the International Academy at Blair.

Day 3
Child activists meet legislative staff of Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL)
April 26 The children called on Gina Piek, Legislative Assistant, Education, from the office of Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL), member of Foreign Relations Committee.

Former child laborers at mock hearing, Russell Senate Office Building
April 26 The Mock Hearing was organized by all the partners of the US Chapter of the Global Campaign for Education, including the International Center on Child Labor and Education (ICCLE), the North American advocacy office of the Global March Against Child labor.

ICCLE mobilized former child laborers turned child activists from India, Mexico and Columbia to participate in the mock hearing. There were two children from India: Shamsur, 12-year-old former rag picker, and Puran, 14-year-old former bonded child laborer who used to work in stone mining. These children came through Save the Childhood Foundation, India. Another two children came through the national coordinator of the Global March Against Child labor from Columbia, Mundo Mejor Foundation led by Miriam Ines Gomez Gonzalez. These children were Carime, a 14-year-old girl who worked for many years as a child domestic worker, selling and lifting loads on the streets of Cali, Columbia, and Leidy, a 16-year-old girl who used to do domestic work and sell tortillas on the street. Aly, 16, from Mexico worked as baby sitter and messenger.

The children testified at the mock hearing and shared their life, experiences, and aspirations and brought the messages from all the children globally out of school. Those present on the occasion were Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey (D-NY), Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL).

The mock hearing was sponsored by Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NA), Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Representative Jim Kolbe (R-AR), Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY), and Representative Spencer Bachus (R-AL). During the hearing 15 students from US High Schools all over United States mobilized by CARE, Global Kids and Net Aid made the case for Education for All. These children took the pledge with Senator Harkin (D-IA) to remain in the forefront of the fight for children's rights in the years to come. Those present on the occasion included various policy institutions from Washington, D.C., and Kailash Satyarthi, Chair, GCE and President, Global March Against Child Labor and Gene Sperling, Coordinator, US Chapter of the GCE.

Congressman Bachus (R-AL) shared his concern that the US, being the largest economy in the world, has not made increased commitments yet to EFA, though UK Secretary of Treasury has made a commitment of GBP 15 billion, averaging GBP 1.5 billion every year over the next ten years. Bachus said that he would do every thing possible to match this and that the irony is that UK economy is one-sixth the size of the US.

Senator Harkin (D-IA) mentioned that more is required from the United States to ensure that all the children are in schools, and that we need to ensure that children are withdrawn from work in order to create the necessary pre-conditions for them to attend full-time school. He has been lone champion in the political domain globally who stands out in the fight against child labor.

Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) promised that they would do everything possible to ensure that all children are in schools and that they would continue to work for the enhancement of education funding from the United States. They have been championing the consistent increase in education funding from the US over the past few years.

Tour of Capital by Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and Lindsay McAllister, Legislative Correspondent
After the mock hearing, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and Lindsay McAllister, Legislative Correspondent, wisked the children away on an underground train for a quick tour of Capitol Hill on the way to the general meeting of the 67-member strong Congressional Progressive Caucus, co-chaired by Woolsey and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA).

Child activists address general meeting of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
The child activists addressed members and legislative staff of the members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Congresswomen Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) committed to focusing not only on girl's issues, but also on ensuring that all children are in school. Woolsey candidly said that she had been focusing her efforts on the education of girls, but that it is important to work to ensure that all the children are able to receive good quality education. She agreed that it is extremely important for the United States Government to lend its full support to Education for All by 2015 and to substantially increase aid for education within the framework of a global compact. Following the meeting, the children were taken to watch the House proceedings.

Day 4
Child activists meet legislative staff of Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NA)
April 27 The children called on Joseph Lai and Andrew Holland, Legislative Staff from the office of Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NA), member of Foreign Relations Committee.

Interface with Executive Board Members and Staff, Fast Track Initiative, Education Unit and Social Protection Unit, The World Bank
April 27 The children were hosted by the German Executive Director Mr. Eckhard Deutsche and the Indian Executive Director Mr. Dheerandra Kumar, The World Bank, together with the Social Protection Unit and the Education Unit from the World Bank. The meeting was chaired by German Executive Director Eckhard Deutsche. This meeting was primarily an interface with the Bank Executive Directors and their advisors, and staff officers from EFA Fast Track Initiative, Education Unit and Social Protection Units of the World Bank. The children also met Senior Vice President of The World Bank Mr. Jamil Salmi.

Briefing with staff of members of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee
At the end of the children's visit to Washington, D.C., the children and Mr. Satyarthi addressed various staff members from the offices of the Members of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP), chaired by Senator Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyoming). The meeting was sponsored by the office of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), who is the ranking member of the HELP Committee.

Day 5
Child Laborers from India share their stories with UNICEF
April 28 Former child laborers Puran Banjara and Samsur Mohmad shared their stories with UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Rima Salah and UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman at UNICEF headquarters in New York. They were accompanied by Global March Chair/GCE President Kailash Satyarthi.

Child Laborers at UNDP, New York
April 28 Accompanied by GCE President Kailash Satyarthi, ICCLE Executive Director Dr. Sudhanshu Joshi and ICCLE Deputy Director Beth Lindley, all five child activists called on Mr. Ad Melkert, Associate Administrator and Under Secretary General of UNDP at his office in NY. Mr. Satyarthi shared an update on the Global Task Force on Child labor and Education and informed Mr. Melkert of the critical need for embedding child labor elimination into the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) led by UNDP and for holistically looking at the cross-cutting issues of child labor, poverty alleviation, education, girls' education and women's empowerment in order to achieve the MDGs. Ignoring the linkages is a practical and fundamental flaw in the achievement of the MDGs. Mr. Satyarthi encouraged the UNDP to take the lead in this direction as a necessary imperative.

General Resources for Send My Friend to School Week 2006
Send My Friend to School Week 2006 Flyer
Send My Friend to School Week 2006 Activity Pack

2005 Global Action Week, April 24-30
The theme for 2005 Global Action Week was "Send My Friend to School." While various activities took place in many countries, the global activity was to make cut-out “friends” and to write letters, which were delivered to Heads of Governments during the 'Group of Eight' Nations (G-8) Summit, July 6-8, 2005, in Scotland, and the UN Millennium +5 Summit, September 13, 2005, in NY.

At least 3.5 million cut-out 'friends' were made across the globe during the week. What else happened in 2005?

At least 3.5 million cut-out 'friends' were made across the globe during action week. For more information on what happened in 2005 go to the Global Campaign for Education (Please provide link to: http://www.campaignforeducation.org/action/action2005.html )

	2004 Global Action Week, April 19-25 (below)
	Maura Welch, US Youth Delegate to the Children's World Congress on Child Labor and Education; and Senator Clinton, Congressional Reception, April 20, 2004
	Maura Welch and Senator Harkin, Breakfast meeting, April 21, 2004 (Global Action Week)

2004 Global Action Week, April 19-25

The focus of 2004 Action Week was on the 100 million children missing an education, and the main activity was children lobbying their leaders to increase resources for education to ensure that no more children miss out on the right to go to school.

On April 20, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) headlined Action Week in the U.S. by unveiling legislation designed to provide universal basic education for all children throughout the world.

ICCLE brought Maura Welch, U.S. youth delegate to the Children's World Congress on Child Labor, to Washington, DC, to participate in activities in Washington, DC. Maura, a 9th grader at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse, NY, spoke at the Congressional Reception on Universal Basic Education on the preventive role education can play for child labor, April 20, 2004. The reception was hosted by Senator Clinton and Senator Specter.

Read Maura’s speech