Global Book Alliance: ADEA and USAID join their efforts for the Ghana International Book Fair
Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) 24 August 2018 – Under the ongoing and successful partnership established between the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and the Global Book Alliance (GBA) – supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) - the Books and Learning Materials section of the ADEA’s Inter-Country Quality Node on Teaching and Learning (ICQN-TL) is organizing three activities with the Ghana Book Industry Stakeholders on the occasion of the Ghana International Book Fair (GIBF). This important event will take place from 30 August to 2 September 2018 at Accra International Conference Center.
The main activities include a Bloom Software in-country training workshop for enabling African writers; an Open Licensing Seminar and an Open Forum with the African Publishers Network (APNET). These core activities stemmed from the recommendations made in an Action Plan that was agreed upon by African book industry stakeholders during a workshop organized by ADEA in January 2018 in Abidjan.
The Ghana International Book Fair is a platform where both local and international book industry players come together to trade books and negotiate deals. The public gets the opportunity to have access to a variety of exhibitions of good books and buy them at highly discounted prices.
The Global Book Alliance aims to transform book development, procurement and distribution, especially in Africa and Asia, to ensure that children everywhere have the essential books and learning materials produced in languages children use and understand, including braille and sign languages. Studies, including a Feasibility Study conducted by Results for Development (R4D) and International Education Partners (IEP) and funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID), the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), and USAID in 2015-16, have shown that children do not have reading materials in languages they speak and understand, which facilitate early reading acquisition. USAID and partners have developed an ambitious program to address the scarcity of titles in African languages, improve the efficiency of procurement and financing and strengthen supply chain management systems.
The three above-mentioned activities will be facilitated and attended by over 95 prominent personalities in the Ghana Book Industry and from other African countries, including among others Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
For more information, please contact:
- Lily Nyariki, Focal point of the ADEA’s Inter-Country Quality Node on Teaching and Learning (ICQN-TL) - Books and Learning Materials (BLM) section, T. (+254) 733712117, lmnyariki@gmail.com / l.nyariki@adeanet.org
- Aliou Sow, Focal point of the ADEA’s Inter-Country Quality Node on Teaching and Learning (ICQN-TL) - Books and Learning Materials (BLM) section, T. (+224) 622544826 / (+001) 5148036190, aliou2sow@yahoo.fr
Media:
- Stefano De Cupis, Senior Communications Officer, ADEA, T. (+225) 20264261, s.decupis@afdb.org
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About ADEA: The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) is a forum for policy dialogue, composed of all Ministers in charge of Education, Science and Technology in Africa. Established in 1988 at the instigation of the World Bank Group, it has evolved into a pan-African institution based within the African Development Bank Group (AfDB). ADEA’s work has expanded to focus more on the development of skills and competencies across all the education sub-sectors especially thanks to its two core pillars: The Continental Education Platform and the Advisory and Execution Support Services. ADEA envisions a “high quality African education and training system that is geared towards the promotion of critical knowledge and skills for accelerated and sustainable development in Africa”.
About BLM: The Books and Learning Materials (BLM) section of the ADEA’s Inter-Country Quality Node on Teaching and Learning (ICQN-TL) is committed to supporting processes conducive to formulating adequate National Book Policies that improve the provision of good quality educational materials, effective schooling, and literacy across Africa. It strives to accomplish this by calling on governments, the private sector, development agencies, and civil society to consider a holistic approach that includes substantial input from African partners to achieve viable book policies. BLM is the implementing arm for this project.
www.adeanet.org/en/working-groups/books-and-learning-materials
About GBA: The Global Book Alliance (GBA) is an international effort involving multiple stakeholders working to transform book development, procurement, distribution, and use to ensure that no child is without books. Our mission is to guarantee that children everywhere have the books and learning materials they need to learn to read and read to learn. The lack of reading materials is so severe that it cannot be solved without new and innovative solutions. New and innovative solutions are needed to solve the learning crisis, and the Global Book Alliance is taking the lead on identifying and implementing these solutions.
About GBPA: The Ghana Book Publishers Association (GBPA) is a non-profit making, trade association of publishers in Ghana. It is a registered company limited by guarantee and without a share capital. It is the only collective voice of book publishers in Ghana. It serves as a rallying point for all book publishers in the country. GBPA provides a forum where publishers come together to deliberate on various issues affecting the industry at large. The Association promotes policies for the growth and development of the knowledge sector.
http://www.ghanabookpublishers.org
About APNET: The African Publishers Network (APNET) was formed in 1992 to strengthen the African publishing industry through indigenous publishing. For many years now, APNET has played a critical role in training, promotion of intra-Africa book trade, and coordinating information and resource flow among African publishers. During the January 2018 ADEA/GBA Workshop for African Book Industry Stakeholders, delegates were in unison that there is urgent need to revitalize APNET and structure it in a way that makes its existence viable, sustainable and beneficial to the book industry in Africa.
