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	Militaristic responses to urban violence don’t work, new film from slum dwellers argues by IDS, Shack/Slum Dwellers International Institute of Development Studies (IDS)   November 2016   Slum dwellers call into question the effectiveness of militaristic responses to urban violence in a new film, ‘No One Left Behind’ produced by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI) which was previewed at the United Nations Habitat III Conference.   Research for the film highlighted a grave security message from the poor: aggressive policy interventions led by institutions such as the police and military have had limited success and often create long-term instability. The research suggests that viewing urban violence in terms of a public health issue and supporting reformative interventions that foster a sense of shared ownership over public spaces can lead to sustainable gains.   The film highlights the threats to security and wellbeing that city communities in Afghanistan, Bolivia, Cambodia, Ghana, South Africa and Uganda face on a day to day basis. It also offers specific and optimistic proposals for positive and achievable change that contribute to the central ambition of the Global Goals to ''leave no one behind''.   IDS''s Jaideep Gupte, who led the development of the film, said: "The persistence of localised poverty and vulnerability in cities represent major policy challenges of our time. Finding workable solutions to these challenges can only come from understanding the impacts of insecurity and exclusion on the day-to-day lives of the poorest and most marginalised in cities."   Gupte continued, "Rather than ostracise or criminalise city dwellers through hard-nosed responses, the key is to involve the most marginalised in initiatives that address the challenges that face us all. This film shows, once again, that the most marginalised are the experts on their own condition, that they are willing to make the trade-offs and bargains needed to function in the city, and that they are continually innovating to improve their own prospects."   Other recommendations from the research include: fostering urban safety through inclusive policies and practices, for example supporting community champions to continue to initiate local solutions to prevent violence; using innovative measures to accurately understand people''s vulnerabilities; police reform; and putting inclusivity at the heart of infrastructure.   Research for the film   The research undertaken for the film was a collaboration between IDS and SDI in six focus countries (South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Cambodia, Bolivia, and Afghanistan) during 2016. The film was made by slum dwellers themselves as part of SDI''s Know Your City TV initiative. The project aimed to explore what a fruitful, violence-free life means to poor and marginalised city dwellers.   * Watch the film: No One Left Behind via the link below. Visit the related web page
	Good education is part of the glue that holds society together by Education International, agencies   Good education is part of the glue that holds society together, by Fred van Leeuwen.   As the world marked International Human Rights Day, it does so in what are trying times around the globe. Amid an ever-increasing conflict between the rights of people and the rights of corporations, citizens are bearing witness to the fraying of democratic principles.   And when we look at the state of public education in too many countries, the situation is no different.   The United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognises the right to education. However, it sees education as being a lot more than training in skills as important as that may be. Its purpose is also to inform our societies and re-enforce the capacities of people to reflect, engage in critical thinking and adjust.   The mission of education, according to the Covenant is the:   “Development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity.” Education “shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms”.   It goes on to say that “education shall enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups …”   This Covenant was adopted 50 years ago, but it sounds as if it could have been written yesterday.   However, we are seeing eruptions of fear, hostility and of all kinds of bigotry, much of it directed at migrants, disadvantaged and refugee communities.   It is made worse by those politicians who calculate that there is more electoral benefit to be generated through fear than through fairness and responsibility.   I ask a simple, if undiplomatic question. Is the refugee “crisis” being instrumentalised to erode and undermine democratic values and democracy itself in the world? It is in that context that we need to re-read the Covenant today and reflect on the mission of education.   Education International recently held a conference to discuss education for refugees. It was a fascinating meeting that brought together teachers, education stakeholders, political leaders, and academic experts. The main focus was on how education systems can better serve refugees and support their “integration”.   Let us be modest: education on its own cannot confront all challenges, but they will not be met without it. Countering dark forces requires a political response and teachers must be part of that necessary mobilization, but we also have a role to play as educators.   But, that requires a philosophy of education that considers the whole child, one that includes critical thinking and discussion on global citizenship, social justice and human rights.   It will be ignored, at best, by those who think that nothing has value that cannot be measured. And, it will not even be in the same universe with those who see education as a profit centre for shareholders rather than as a vital mission for society.   Good education is, in fact, part of the glue that holds society together. And, without it, particularly in the fast-moving world of today, we will be scattered in all directions by powerful and destructive centrifugal forces.   But, sound education, including civic education, is not only the right thing to do because of our concerns about larger society or even because of the values we serve. It is also good education and provides value to home and host populations. As John Dewey, the American educator and philosopher said early in the last century.   “The intermingling in the school of youth of different races, differing religions, and unlike customs creates for all a new and broader environment.”   http://bit.ly/2hqRX0e http://educationincrisis.net/themes/privatisation http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/12/08/when-public-goes-private-as-trump-wants-what-happens/   * June 2015: Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Kishore Singh - Protecting the right to education against commercialization: http://bit.ly/2hkjFsG http://bit.ly/1CZvICV http://bit.ly/2gr5QeO   Dec 2016   The world is facing a crisis if countries do not increase their education budgets and get more children into school, warns Julia Gillard, chair of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), a global education funding agency.   There are 260 million children and adolescents out of school globally. This is attributed largely to poverty with parents unable to afford to send their children to school but also other factors such as discrimination based on ethnicity, caste or religion.   Recent data forecasts that by 2030, half of the 1.6 billion young people in the world will not have secondary level skills, and will not be easily absorbed into a job market which is demanding higher skill levels.   Ms. Gillard, says this is a crisis not just for the individual child who misses out on school, but also at the global economy level.   "One of things we have learned is that we can overcome these problems if we try. This isn''t the equivalent of saying let''s go to Mars. This isn''t something that no human being hasn''t done before," said Gillard in an interview. "It''s not that at all. We can solve all these problems and be on track to have a learning generation with every child in school."   Ms Gillard says it is imperative that both domestic and overseas financing be made available as one of the first efforts to get children into school.   She said 20 percent of government budgets, or six percent of gross domestic product, would be an indication that a country was trying to make a real difference to the education of children, yet many countries are failing to achieve that level. Low and middle income countries expenditure on education was $1 trillion in 2015, but should be almost three times that, at $2.7 trillion by 2030.   Ms Gillard said foreign aid was also meagre, with only three percent of overseas assistance going towards education.   The GPE has raised an average of $525 million annually over the last two years, she said, but it requires $2 billion a year to do its work - advising developing nations on quality education plans, providing technical assistance and funds.   "The reality is that it has always been a tough environment to raise money for education. Education is a pretty patient investment in quite an impatient world. People want to see quick results. It takes years to educate a child," she said.   "But if this continues, we will see a generation which simply doesn''t have the skills and capacities to make a life for themselves and the next generation of children will be less likely to survive infanthood, less likely to be vaccinated and less likely to go to school themselves."   * The 2016 UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM Report) is both masterful and disquieting says Jeffrey D. Sachs, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Sustainable Development Goals.   This is a big report: comprehensive, in-depth and perspicacious. It is also an unnerving report. It establishes that education is at the heart of sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), yet it also makes clear just how far away we are from achieving the SDGs. This report should set off alarm bells around the world and lead to a historic scale-up of actions to achieve SDG 4.   The GEM Report provides an authoritative account of how education is the most vital input for every dimension of sustainable development.   Better education leads to greater prosperity, improved agriculture, better health outcomes, less violence, more gender equality, higher social capital and an improved natural environment.   Education is key to helping people around the world understand why sustainable development is such a vital concept for our common future. Education gives us the key tools – economics, social, technological, even ethical – to take on the SDGs and to achieve them.   These facts are spelled out in exquisite and unusual detail throughout the report. There is a wealth of information to be mined in the tables, graphs and texts:   http://gem-report-2016.unesco.org/en/home/ Visit the related web page
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