Finance Facility for Immunisation to help low-income countries build their health systems to deliver better immunisation services to their people. We will also work to halt and reverse infectious disease transmission, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and address the growing problem of non-communicable diseases, particularly in the Pacific. We will invest in strengthening the overall health systems in partner countries to deliver services that benefit poor people—for instance, training doctors, nurses and midwives, and improving drug procurement and distribution. We will empower poor communities to improve their health through direct support to reduce the economic and social barriers that prevent the poor accessing critical health services and interventions. We will also help combat avoidable blindness through support for better screening and treatment. 5.2 Promoting opportunities for all We will also expand opportunities for people in developing countries to lift themselves out of poverty through our work in education, gender equality and disability. Our key development objectives Enabling more children, particularly girls, to attend school for a longer and better education so they have the skills to build their own futures and, in time, escape poverty. Empowering women to participate in the economy, leadership and education because of the critical untapped role of women in development. Enhancing the lives of people with disabilities. Education There have been impressive gains in getting more children into school, particularly girls, with the number of children not in primary school falling from 100 million in 1999 to 67 million today. The quality of education is a challenge across all regions. Too many young people are leaving school without the necessary literacy and numeracy skills to be fully productive members of society. The link between school and work is also a growing challenge, particularly in countries with high population growth rates and large youth bulges, for example, Solomon Islands, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea. Education will become the flagship of our aid program. Our primary focus will be to increase the number of children in school, keep them there for longer, and help them to learn more while they are there. In our immediate region, we will support the whole sector, from early childhood to vocational training and higher education. We will particularly on addressing the financial and social barriers to girls’ education, including in Afghanistan (Box 8). Box 8: Australian support for education in Afghanistan Education has been one of the success stories of Afghanistan over the past 10 years. With support from Australia and other donors, more Afghans now attend school or receive some sort of education than
Finance Facility for Immunisation to help low-income countries build their health systems to deliver better immunisation services to their people. We will also work to halt and reverse infectious disease transmission, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and address the growing problem of non-communicable diseases, particularly in the Pacific. We will invest in strengthening the overall health systems in partner countries to deliver services that benefit poor people—for instance, training doctors, nurses and midwives, and improving drug procurement and distribution. We will empower poor communities to improve their health through direct support to reduce the economic and social barriers that prevent the poor accessing critical health services and interventions. We will also help combat avoidable blindness through support for better screening and treatment. 5.2 Promoting opportunities for all We will also expand opportunities for people in developing countries to lift themselves out of poverty through our work in education, gender equality and disability. Our key development objectives Enabling more children, particularly girls, to attend school for a longer and better education so they have the skills to build their own futures and, in time, escape poverty. Empowering women to participate in the economy, leadership and education because of the critical untapped role of women in development. Enhancing the lives of people with disabilities. Education There have been impressive gains in getting more children into school, particularly girls, with the number of children not in primary school falling from 100 million in 1999 to 67 million today. The quality of education is a challenge across all regions. Too many young people are leaving school without the necessary literacy and numeracy skills to be fully productive members of society. The link between school and work is also a growing challenge, particularly in countries with high population growth rates and large youth bulges, for example, Solomon Islands, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea. Education will become the flagship of our aid program. Our primary focus will be to increase the number of children in school, keep them there for longer, and help them to learn more while they are there. In our immediate region, we will support the whole sector, from early childhood to vocational training and higher education. We will particularly on addressing the financial and social barriers to girls’ education, including in Afghanistan (Box 8). Box 8: Australian support for education in Afghanistan Education has been one of the success stories of Afghanistan over the past 10 years. With support from Australia and other donors, more Afghans now attend school or receive some sort of education than
effective-aid-program-for-australia.docx