Former bonded labourer, Devli asks the world leaders at the High Level Event on MDGs in the UN, New York

Devli addressing the High Level Event on Education in UN Headquarters in New York

Kailash Satyarthi, President of Global Campaign for Education addressing the audience

Gordon Brown: “What is the better way to reach out to out of school children than to enrol them in schools?”

J.M. Barroso, the President of the EU signing up for the class of 2015, while Kevin Ruud, the Australian PM looks on

A representative of Bill Clinton; Prince Saud of Saudi Arabi; Rama Yade, Secretary of State, Foreign Affairs, France; Robert Zoellick, President, World Bank; Kailash Satyarthi, President, GCE; J. M. Barroso, President EU; and John Chambers, PM, Australia listen as Queen Rania of Jordan spoke about girls’ education in the meeting

Rama Yade, Secretary of State, Foreign Affairs, France promised more funds for education for all as she spoke on behalf of President Sarkozy

Bono and Bob Geldof at the event

New York, 25 September 2008: When rescued as a 7 year old, Devli had not seen paper, did not know tap water or that a banana is eaten after peeling it. This young girl is now the classmate of the likes of world political leaders, faith group leaders, CEOs of like Gordon Brown, PM of UK; Kevin Ruud, Prime Minister of Australia; Queen Rania of Jordan; Robert Zoellick, President of World Bank; Koichiro Matsuura, Director General, UNESCO; Prince Saud of Saudi Arabia; John Sentamu, Archbishop of York; Craig Barret, President of Intel and John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, singers Bono and Bob Geldof. These dignitaries were participants of the high level event on education on MDGs dubbed “Class of 2015: Education for All” campaign organised as part of the UN General Assembly in the UN in New York.

Chosen to represent the voice of child and bonded labourers, Devli narrated her story of working at a stone quarry in Haryana, “We would work from morning 4 AM and work until the next night 3 AM. We were beaten if we took rest at any time. It was gruelling and very tough. I was born there and so were my parents.” Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) rescued the entire family along with 112 others in 2004 and rehabilitated them in Jodhpur, their native district. “In my village, I went around from family to family, and helped enrol 15 children into school. If I as a girl could enrol 15 children; wouldn’t all of you as world leaders be able to enrol all children into schools?” was her innocent question to the galaxy of some of the world’s most influential people.

Addressing the audience, Kailash Satyarthi, the President of GCE said: “That children are still out of school is a shame on the face of the earth. There are currently 77 million children out of school Even if 7 children remain deprived of education; we are the people responsible for it. This is a historic event when all leaders have come together on one platform and we should now take the responsibility for providing education for all the children of the world.” The class of 2015 is a campaign for genuine commitment to the achievement of education for all.

The high level event saw the world leaders making financial commitments to the tune of USD 4.5 Bn collectively for the education of children over the next three years. This would help educate over 15 million children around the world. Gordon Brown, the UK PM said: “What is a better way to reach out to out of school children than to put each one into school? There is no cause better than this and England is a proud member of the class of 2015.” Kevin Ruud, the Australian PM acknowledged the British PM’s leadership and stated Australia’s commitment to the World Bank’s Fast Track Initiative for education for all.

Queen Rania of Jordan spoke of the strong need for girl’s education; especially because girls like Devli are out of school for reasons like taking care of siblings, fetching water and performing other household chores. The representatives of Bill Clinton Foundation.

The eminent singers Bono and Bob Geldof were present for the event and said that they would keep reminding the leaders of their promises to world’s children wherever they travelled and performed.

Corporate heads, Craig Barrett of Intel and John Chambers of Cisco pledged support to the cause. They also spoke of the work that they along with Microsoft Corp were doing for providing education through their foundations especially in Africa. More than 15 children have become software literate through our programmes they said.

John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, leaders of the civil society organisations- Comic Relief, Save the Children Fund, Action Aid, Oxfam International were the other speakers. All these dignitaries signed up for the class of 2015, the class of the world leaders that would be graded for performance on aid for education and scores given at the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2 and 3 addressing education. Global Campaign for Education (GCE) would be the International Secretariat for the Class of 2015.

The wide gamut of leaders from the political arena, faith groups, civil society and corporates coming together for a single cause made it a unique event - to pledge resources so that children like Devli don’t remain out of school, so that the gap in funding doesn’t come in the way of achieving the MDGs 2 and 3 on education.