GCE Member Activities – Dominican Republic
GCE is present in nearly 100 countries around the world through its membership, and national education coalitions design campaigns and activities that are unique to their own contexts. This week, we are sharing just some of the many exciting news stories from the Dominican Republic’s Social-Educational Forum (Foro Socioeducativo – FSE) over the second half of 2017:
Dominican Republic: national coalition works toward a fair financing for public education
Since 2017, the GCE member Social-Educational Forum (Foro Socioeducativo – FSE for its acronym in Spanish) in Dominican Republic has been working towards a fair financing for public education. A set of activities were carried out as part of the Latin American Week for the Right to Education, which CLADE promoted from September 18th to the 24th, 2017, under the motto “Fund what is fair! For a public and free education for all” (“¡Financien lo Justo!”). This initiative will continue until July 2018, when the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF) will be held in New York.
FSE has organized multiple activities to pressure the government to open a dialogue with the civil society regarding public spending. For instance, the Forumand other organizations held a press conference in front of the National Congress, demanding participatory spaces in the debate of the Budget Law for 2018 and the use of public resources for the realization of human rights and the overcoming of social gaps. Another activity took place on November 28th: an event called “Beyond 4%: sufficiency and quality of spending in pre-university education”, when the FSE presented the paper “Notes on requirements and challenges to finance public education in the Dominican Republic”, that was developed in partnership with OXFAM Dominican Republic in the context of the Latin American Week for the Right to Education. The discussion included national and international legal frameworks regarding the right to public education and the sufficiency of resources for financing such right. Likewise, aspects related to fiscal justice were addressed, both from the expenditure and the income side.
In 2018, the FSE continues to work and advocate towards a solid governmental investment in education, the right to participate in State decisions and a fair and equitable fiscal policy that guarantees the right to education for all, whilst preparing for this year’s HLPF. Actions such as these are important contributions towards ensuring that SDG4 and the Education 2030 Agendas are met, and will have a powerful impact on the lives of school children in the Dominican Republic.
You can find out more about FSE on their website or at their Facebook page, which you can access here. You can also connect with FSE on Twitter – their handle is @FSocioeducativo.
