Education
Driving Force for Development
Education is important in the fight against poverty. Source: KfW Photo Archive / photothek.net
The international community is aiming high with its objective of "education for all". There are still almost 800 million adults around the world who lack basic reading and writing skills: parents who do not see the importance of education for their children because they have never been to school themselves. The number of boys and girls who still do not attend school has only fallen from 106 million (in 1999) to 67 million (in 2008). There is still a long way to go before we achieve education for all.
For over 30 years, KfW Entwicklungsbank has been committed, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), to improving education in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The building of schools in the troubled region of Palestine for instance is giving boys and girls a few hours of normality during school hours, as well as providing their fathers with work and income while building and maintenance is going on. In Indonesia and Ethiopia young people are being prepared for professions that will enable them to compete in the labour market. In Afghanistan there are now almost as many girls as boys who go to school - at least in the towns in the north of the country. Furthermore, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East are priority regions for KfW Entwicklungsbank projects in the area of basic education.
A Key Element in Fighting Poverty
The common aim of all of these measures is to enable children, young people and grown-ups who have until now been denied the opportunity of an education, to go to school, and to ensure that those who have managed to get to school have suitable conditions there. One of the most promising ways of escaping "educational poverty" is through school. More education for the children and young people of this world equals more opportunities for a better life. This is why KfW Entwicklungsbank is placing increasing emphasis on the provision of further education, whether through vocational training or in universities; because every country needs highly skilled personnel for its economic and social development. Education also provides better opportunities for political involvement and the development of democratic structures.
Education is development - a lifelong process, also contributing to sustainable development. It enables individuals, and society as a whole, to adapt to the demands that life places on them, whether these be economic, social or political.
Last updated: July 2011
