Millennium Development Goals Summit

This September’s Millennium Development Goals Summit saw some new pledges made by nations to try to achieve MDG 2, Universal Primary Education. The government of Australia pledged US$5 billion over the next five years, Japan $8.5 billion for education and health in the same time period, and the World Bank $750 million. As a result of these pledges, there will be a rise in aid for basic education of around $600 million a year.

Whilst this is an enormous sum for education as a whole, many of the world’s poorest children still rely on the work of smaller charities such as Quest4Change, and the support we give to programmes like the Peru Children’s Project in Villa Maria shanty-town and the Malawi Orphan and Community Project. In Malawi, as in much of the world, education is often discontinued after primary school as families can often not meet the fees for secondary school. Working with Joshua Orphan & Community Care, Quest4Change raises the funds needed for children to reach their educational potential. £300 fully sponsors a Malawian child through four years of secondary school, the level required to attain many professional jobs in Malawi. Sponsorship not only benefits the individual, but the whole community. According to the World Bank, education not only improves the income chances of an individual, which will in turn benefit their family, but there is also strong evidence that it improves public health in particular, as well as poverty reduction, and social cohesion.


Read more about Quest4Change’s work in Malawi.