Buddies meet world leaders at G8 summit in Scotland

Students worldwide made 3.5 million buddies to lobby for universal primary education—more than half of the population of Scotland, the site of the 2005 G8 summit. So when it came time to choose which buddies would get to go to the meeting, you'd have expected there to be some arguments. After all, who wouldn't want to spend three days at a Scottish golfing resort with the most powerful leaders in the world? But there wasn't a single argument. Evenhanded as always, the buddies put together a delegation that would represent the diversity of the countries they came from.

Just as buddies from around the world united in the Global Campaign for Education, so did the students who made them. On July 1, in preparation for the G8 meeting, a bus full of buddies and students traveled to the home of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair (see photo above), the host of the 2005 summit. The students and buddies made a compelling case for why every child should have the opportunity to go to school and urged Blair to put education at the top of the G8 agenda.

Days later, on July 6, the multinational buddy delegation arrived at Gleneagles for the summit. The meeting marked the first time in history that nongovernmental organizations had been invited to attend the annual meeting of the G8, and the buddies wasted no time networking with other activists, journalists and politicians. They slept in shifts on sofas in the press room so that a few buddies would be making the rounds at all times, campaigning for universal primary education.

More than once, a buddy would strike up a conversation with a member of a national delegation that would go like this:

Buddy:  "Did you know that in sub-Saharan Africa, two out of every three kids who start primary school do not finish it?"

G8 Leader:  "Wait, didn't I talk to one of you guys earlier?"

Buddy:  "Probably, but did my associate mention that increased education has been shown to reduce infant mortality rates?"

The hard work seemed to pay off. On July 8, the G8 leaders announced agreements to double aid to poor countries and forgive the debt of 18 of the most heavily indebted states. One of the goals behind making these commitments, they said, was to "deliver free basic health care and primary education for all."

The buddies' responses were mixed. Some thought it was a good start and said they will ride the momentum through the summer to September, when the UN will convene to discuss progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. Other buddies were disappointed that leaders didn't make a more concrete commitment to provide education for all.

Regardless, the buddies are resolved as ever. Coming together has reinforced their sentiment that their struggle to put every child in school is a worthy and necessary one, and they are already plotting strategies for the weeks ahead.

Read the first entry of the BuddyBlog, Buddies Arrive at Netaid, and see buddies from around the U.S. take over the NetAid office.