ABUJA, Nigeria, June 16, 2025/APO Group/ --
Most African governments have consistently failed to meet global and regional education funding targets to ensure quality public education, Human Rights Watch said today on the African Union’s Day of the African Child.
The 2025 theme for the day is “planning and budgeting for children’s rights: progress since 2010.” However, based on national data reported to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), only one-third of African countries met globally endorsed education funding benchmarks for annual average spending over the decade 2013 to 2023. The figure declined to just one quarter of countries by 2022 and 2023. Fourteen African countries did not meet any of the benchmarks a single year over the past decade.
“African heads of state and governments and the African Union have all made bold commitments for national investment in education,” said Mausi Segun, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “But governments are not translating those commitments into sustained funding, and many have actually reduced spending levels in recent years.”
Insufficient public spending on education undermines African governments’ legal obligations to guarantee free and compulsory quality primary education and make secondary education available, accessible, and free for every child. It also undermines their political commitments to AU and international development goals and benchmarks. Under the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in addition to providing at least one year of pre-primary education, African governments are required to ensure that all children complete free secondary education by 2030.
In 2015, UNESCO member states, including all 54 African states, agreed to increase education spending to at least 4 to 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and/or at least 15 to 20 percent of total public expenditure. These internationally agreed funding benchmarks for education have been included in at least five global or AU-led declarations or action plans, including the 2015 Incheon Declaration, endorsed by all UNESCO member states; the Heads of State (“Kenyatta”) Declaration on Education Financing, endorsed by 17 African heads of state and governments and ministers; the 2021 Paris Declaration and “Global Call for Investing in the Futures of Education”; and the 2024 Fortaleza Declaration. In December 2024, the AU and African heads of state and governments expanded the upper end of the GDP benchmark from six to seven percent through the Nouakchott Declaration.
UNESCO member states have made additional commitments to invest at least 10 percent of education expenditures to guarantee at least one year of free and compulsory pre-primary education by 2030. In 2024, African countries agreed to ensure that an increased share of public funding is allocated to early childhood education.
Despite these obligations and global commitments, governments have failed to remove tuition and other school fees, particularly at the pre-primary and secondary level, leading to unequal access, retention, and poor quality in schools, with disproportionate impact on children from the poorest households. Families across Africa continue to shoulder an enormous burden in funding education, absorbing 27 percent of total education spending, according to World Bank 2021 data.
Africa has the highest out-of-school rates in the world, with over 100 million children and adolescents estimated to be out of school across all sub-regions except North Africa. Out-of-school rates have increased since 2015 for reasons including population increases, persistent gender gaps, the cumulative effects of Covid-19 school closures, climate emergencies, and conflicts.
Many children also drop out due to school-related gender-based violence, as well as discriminatory and exclusionary measures against pregnant and parenting girls, refugees, and children with disabilities, among other negative practices.
Only 14 countries guarantee free access to education, from at least one year of pre-primary through secondary education, based on available UNESCO data and Human Rights Watch research. Only 21 guarantee free access to 12 years of primary and secondary education, while 6 legally guarantee access to at least one year of free pre-primary education.
Human Rights Watch found that Morocco, excluding Western Sahara territory that it occupies, Namibia, and Sierra Leone are the only three African countries that both legally guarantee universally free access to primary and secondary education and at least one year of free pre-primary, and that have met both international education funding benchmarks in the last decade.
Many African countries continue to underinvest in public education to manage climate-related emergencies and conflict-related crises, but this is also due to political decisions and economic policies. Numerous African governments are applying regressive austerity measures to service debt interests and repayments. Fifteen are spending more on debt servicing than on education, leading to drastic cuts to teachers’ incomes, shortages of learning materials, and overcrowded classrooms. Creditor governments and institutions should consider debt restructuring or relief to ensure that debtor governments can adequately protect rights, including the right to education.
In a positive development, Sierra Leone currently co-leads an initiative at the UN Human Rights Council to develop a new optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, with the aim of recognizing that every child has a right to early childhood care and education and guaranteeing that states make public pre-primary education and secondary education available and free to all. Botswana, Burundi, Gambia, Ghana, Malawi, South Africa, and South Sudan have publicly expressed support for this process.
“African governments should urgently fulfill their pledges to guarantee universal access to free quality primary and secondary education,” Segun said. “Governments should focus on protecting public spending for education from regressive measures and cuts and allocate resources commensurate with their obligations to guarantee access to quality public education.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Isn't Insurance Xaraam?
Secondly the men guarded in Muuqdishu who have been proven to siphon aid funds into foreign accounts have no capacity to execute insurance contracts.
It is merely a scam to steal money!
Buuxiye you're somewhat hipocrit. You use the label of xaraam and xalaal to your own personal advantage.
You're trying to point out that insurance is xaraam, while not long ago you were politicising poor, starved and malnarished children in somalia, and you were using them to laugh at the sutherners. If you can fool some of whom they call themselves somalilanders, you surely can't fool the creator. Man, you can freely express your opinion, but leave religion aside, it doesn't belong to you
Listen Ilyas, Buuxiye just gave his opinion as you have yours. instead of cursing him how about
that you give your opinion how different you see the insurance issue?
Cheers.
Ilays the difference between our countries is that in my country i can question the decisions of the government and if i do not like their behavior me and my people simple vote them out of power!
In your case you neither have any influence nor any say in the matters of your fragmented country. Hassan Mahamoud was SELECTED via QATARI money which made your opinion totally irrelevant and like wise that of your entire people. Your Selected president is in power in your country via Xaraan money as a consequence everything he stands for is xaraan.
Hassan Mahamoud's terms in office will only intertwine you, your country and your people into endless xaraan.
I guess there is no point worrying about insurance xaraan when your country is swimming in xaraan.
you completely missing the point here it's not about moral principles of any individual leader involved here if you live in a western world every one deals with insurance companies one way or the other and it's up to anyone that can do business with them haraam and halaal does not come into question here.pointing out mistakes of others while trying to justify on moral ground is quite hypocritical on your part indeed.political point scoring on flimsy notion,somalilanders are not walking on the same part with parties,elders,commissions,all on each others necks let alone it's one day a rule written and others decide to break what pride is there with people without firm decision?empty tins only sounding in hargeisa nothing else.each and every day ends without accomplishing a single goal no need to play the pride and prejudice game if words could match with actions then the hat could have been removed but unfortunately all somalis and their politicians are all in the same boat and what to even say.
kILLING YOUR MUSLIM SOMALI IS NOT (HARRAM) YOU BORN IN HAARAM BIRTH BECASE OF KILLING IN RAMADAN A HUMAN BEING CREATED BY GOD.
if somalis keep quetioning the ethical principals of western nation it's one step forward one step backwards the somalilanders are worse when it comes to any issues of land rights why can't they even on a much needed infrustracture which is roads?the whole of the somali regions could benefit from new roads becuause the raw materials are readily available ie cement mountains of it ,rocks,they are completely blind to the pressing need and happy to drive in ruined roads all because cerain business individual want to enrich themselves first and put the nation second,this politicians running about and encouraging people to wait for recognition are themselves to blame to.western companeis are not willing to put their money even though they give high hopes of trying to carry out projects that is one of the down sides to doing business in somalia no foreigners will put their hands in their pockets first.somalis are scattered about and waiting while they could easily agree to bring developments to their regions.the berbera cement is a perfect example it is a scandal for a government to agree to demands from a cement exporting company to reject to the rehabilitation of the berbera plant and it is a sham government without power that can allow it's self to be highjacked in that way.
Yes , it is. But can anyone in the government voice his opinion? They are nothing but puppies
Suldans have no place in the modern Somalilander. Promoting Suldans is like promoting FGM..yake!
Buuxiye is the most hypocritical poster have ever seen. If that company was offering insurance in Somaliland, his words would be very different and everyone one this site knows that. Won't miss a chance to demean anything positive about Somalia. I hope all Somalilanders are not like you because. It's folks like you that brainwash an entire society and teach them to hate everything southern. Subxanallah.