UN needs USD 1.64 annually on basic education

New York, PTI :

The UN will need 1.64 billion dollars each year to meet the basic education needs of the rural poor in low income countries where an estimated 94 million children currently do not attend any school.

A major investment is needed in rural education if the Millennium Development Goals, set by world leaders, are to be met, head of the sustainable development department of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Alexander Muller said.

The World body will need 1.64 dollars each year for several years to meet the basic education needs of the poor, he said. h"Rural people with basic education are more likely to adopt new technologies and become more productive. They can deal better with change, improve their livelihoods, and foster gender equality and active citizenship," Muller said. The MDGs aim at eliminating or halving several economic and social ills by 2015 and give a major impetus to development in poor nations.

Muller made the remarks while addressing an international meeting on education attended by donors' representatives and several United Nations agencies. Currently, just over half of the world's population lives in rural areas. In the globe's poorest countries, where education is essential for poverty alleviation, the population will continue to be predominantly rural for decades to come, according to FAO. The meeting, organized by the International Working Group on Education, is hosted by FAO as part of the Global Education for Rural People initiative launched by it and UNESCSO at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa.