Date: 11/07/2010
Source: The Presidency
Title: SA: Zuma: Opening remarks by the President of South Africa, at the heads of State and government 2010 FIFA World Cup education campaign summit, Pretoria

Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government; African Union
representative, His Excellency President Ali Ondimba Bongo, of the
Republic of Gabon, Former Heads of States and other Eminent Persons
present, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova; Dr Jacques Rogge,
President of the International Olympic Committee and delegation,
FIFA President Sepp Blatter; Honourable Ministers and Deputy
Ministers; 1Goal co-chairperson Archbishop Desmond Tutu and all
representatives, Bafana Bafana captain Aaron Mokoena and African
Football legends, Miss South Africa, Nicole Flint, Members of the
Diplomatic Corps, Esteemed guests, Good afternoon and a warm
welcome to you all at this important 2010 Soccer World Cup
Education Summit.

We are happy to welcome you all, on this historic day of the
final match in the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup tournament. We
convened this Summit because of our strongly held view that the
first Soccer World Cup tournament on African soil should have a
lasting legacy. The most important investment in the future of any
nation is in education.

No legacy could be higher than that.

We today seek to reaffirm the political commitments to achieve
the Millennium Development Goals and Education for All goals by
2015. This Summit occurs ahead of other major events which are
coming up this year. These include the G20 Summit in South Korea in
November and the Millennium Development Goals High Level Plenary
Meeting in New York from September 20 to 22.

These should also be used to take the mission of this Summit
forward. You will recall Excellencies, that the international
community has adopted two main goals in the field of education. We
have the Millennium Development Goal Two, to achieve universal
primary education and the Education for All initiative, to bring
the benefits of education to every citizen in every society. We are
today using the power of football to promote the achievement of
these goals because the status quo in education, especially in
Africa, is cause for concern.

Over the past ten years the international community has
registered significant strides regarding access to and gender
equality in primary school education, with 42 million additional
children enrolling in school. However, there are approximately 72
million children, almost half of whom are in Africa, who are not
attending school. In addition, more than 700 million adults across
the world do not have basic literacy skills.

Based on these figures, it is unlikely that the Education for
All Goals, including universal primary education and gender
equality in education, would be reached by 2015. As Heads of State
and Government, we have to renew our commitment to advance the MDGs
relating to education. The forthcoming United Nations MDG meeting
in September and the possible delay in delivering on the MDGs by
2015, must encourage all of us present here to redouble our efforts
to ensure we do not prolong the suffering of those most affected.

There is a lot that we need to do as governments to make this
happen. Solutions will vary from country to country. However there
are some basics that we can look at in the developing world
especially in Africa. These include ensuring that school fees and
uniforms do not become a barrier to education. We have to fund
feeding schemes to ensure that children are physically ready to
study. We have to strengthen ties with community and
non-governmental organizations, the religious sector and others to
help us reach children in remote areas who are not attending
school. We must commit to improve learning and teaching by
investing in the training and employment of more teachers. We must
invest in programmes that ensure that children do not drop out
prematurely from school.

We must invest in early childhood development and education.
Adult education is also a necessary pillar.

Excellencies,

We are happy to welcome development partners from the North in
this largely African Summit. You will recall that in the year 2000
G8 Summit in Japan, G8 countries began an outreach dialogue with
African leaders. Among the many benefits, the outreach dialogue
allowed for the constant exchange of ideas around our shared
responsibilities in development. In subsequent summits leading to
Canada last month, commitments to ensuring the attainment of the
Millennium Development Goals have been captured in
various declarations.

It is only fitting then that in 2010, on the margins of the 2010
FIFA World Cup, we call on the developed world to partner us in the
implementation of those undertakings.

Your Excellencies, Esteemed guests,

Today we also commend the 1 Goal Education for All Campaign
initiative, as a legacy of this World Cup. Organisers have run an
intensive worldwide campaign to popularize access to education. The
international response has been overwhelming, from political
leaders, football stars, musicians, actors and other prominent
personalities around the world. This has demonstrated the power of
mass mobilization for a good cause.

We congratulate all throughout the world who have been part of
this campaign. We urge you to continue leading us to the next World
Cup in Brazil.

Esteemed guests, in this Summit we look forward to hearing the
perspective of FIFA, the African Union, the United Nations family,
the donor community, 1goal initiative and other key partners in
this projects today, we thank you all for coming.

Working together we can make education a lasting legacy of this
World Cup.

I thank you!