G20 Blog

Our Young Education Campaigner, 14 year old James Simmonds, is part of a special group of 50 bloggers from around the world who have been invited to attend the G20 summit of world leaders. He is the youngest official blogger at the event. Find out more.


What a day

16.55 Friday 3rd April

Overall, I hope I did fairly well. It just a shame that due to physical I-cannot-go-on-or-my-hands-feet-and-now-permanently-attached-notebook-will-drop-off fatigue that this post is, oh, twenty hours late. I was however particularly proud that yesterday, when I was constantly speaking at twice my normal speed, I only once got Mr Obama's name wrong. And other than that, I caused no international diplomacy incident/world war on Norwegian television. That = Good, I think...(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

Phew! I was so tired last night. But now I'm ready to continue on my endeavours to describing the events of the amazing G20 summit of twenty leaders from nineteen nations (and the European Union) last night.

I went into school this morning and it suddenly became known that I had been in a press conference with Barack Obama. But I was really disappointed with that reaction: why is the President so much more important than the PM? Besides, Mr Brown was way better in his conference. Clear, concise and relevant. In addition his responses to questions were I thought more apt, they directly reflected the events of the summit. Mr Obama has quite a few more "er"s and was a little less articulate. Not perfect for his first time addressing the world.

I sat, wow - less than 24 hours ago (it feels like a week), so excited that I, - me; myself; me! - was going to be seeing Gordon Brown in the flesh. I remember myself trying to take in all the details. The ambience and the atmosphere of the room was entirely official - you could sense that this was a suitable room for announcing some big plans for the future of the world.

We had a little bit of time waiting for him to arrive in our seats, but Mr Obama kept us waiting for half an hour outside! The low thunder both times of the journalists conversing turned into the unexpected, unannounced lightning as in turn each world leader stepped onto the stage and a hundred photographers all stood up to take their picture. And, naturally, I remember writing down how Mr President has started: "Good afternoon, or good evening; we're running a little bit late." No?! Everything he said was interpreted as being incredibly funny by the members of the press of course.

Please, if you think I'm being to negative - I don't mean to be. I am absolutely thrilled to have seen Obama in the flesh. But when he was talking he diverged from the G20 and talked about the aid that America is giving! One thousand, two hundred journalists from nations all around the world do not turn up just to hear about how America is doing!

To be honest, I felt sorry for him. The Prime Minister went first and, to be fair, he got all the good stuff. Much was announced in terms of global aid. There were some things which were thrown around a lot and reiterated by both world leaders.

Firstly, the "injection" of money into aid, which will be distributed through loans from the IMF. According to Brown, 90% of all trade depends on financial aid in some way and they are heavily trying to "kick start" aid by investing in trade for developing nations. As Mr Obama says "I have to say this is not just charity, these are future markets."

You may ask what this has to do with education - but another thing that was constantly mentioned was sustainability. If a country has a better economy through trade it makes sense that they will have more money to spend on education.

But the IMF, the international fund which will give loans to developing countries like Tanzania, instead of having less power so that countries can do what they want with the money (like, ahem, training teachers) will now have increased power to regulate (i.e. check that everyone is doing what they want with their money).

Secondly, in my scribbled recordings of Gordon Brown's words (I have plenty of them) "This is the day that the world came together." All to solve crisis. The world leaders seemed to be very intent on showing the world of how well they could work together. And I couldn't be happier for them on that front. As Mr Brown said, "We know that if you act in one country it will make some difference. But if you act together it will make a major difference."

You know what really struck me? When Gordon Brown walked off of the stage there was just haste to get to the next press conference - no applause. But, wouldn't you know it, the entire audience applauded the all-mighty Mr President.

One of my favourite bits: Obama said that if we don't have an education for children in developing nations we may be depriving ourselves of the "next great scientist" who will discover a cure for crippling diseases. Ooo, I might use that.

Next time on G20 leader conferences: there is going to be another summit (announced very, very soon) where we will learn more about the IMF conditions, where they will be developed. In the words of Obama - "Our problems are not going to be solved in one meeting, our problems are not going to be solved in two meetings."

I think that in the long term, seeing as Douglas Alexander says that the economy in a developed country is "inexplicably bound" to that in a developing one, more trade and a healthy economy will be good for reducing poverty. And when poverty is reduced, parents will be able to send their children to. And that will truly = good, I think.

Last Words (For Now)

20.42 Thursday 2nd April

Oh. My. God. Firstly, I should most probably appologise for not blogging in the last five hours! I've been fairly busy with members of the Obama administration, Gordon Brown and the man himself, Barack Obama...(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

We attended two separate press conferences at which we were spoken to by the delegates of the UK and the USA after receiving a communique filled with promises.

There are very large amounts of money being made available. Billions of pounds will be injected into trade and the financial system.

This means that everywhere, trade will (hopefully) be revived, meaning that developing nations will have the opportunity to develop their economies. Everywhere we go, sustainability is the main word, the idea (in theory at least) is that this will be an economic kickstart for nations everywhere to produce supplies on the international markets, these words said by none other than Mr Obama himself.

That's the theory anyway...

If I were to sum up my feelings about this event I would say that world leaders need to use the children of the world as assets and recognise that their education will be beneficial for any developing economy. When I spoke to Douglas Alexander earlier today he agreed that investing in education is one of the "smartest" things a country could do. What I want to know is how the agreement reached today will enable poorer countries to do that. That’s not really clear at the moment but I hope we will find out soon.

But now I am being dragged out of the ExCel centre and hopefully I will get an opportunity to comment on the experience of being in contact with world leaders and my impressions. But for now I depart, back to Milton Keynes.

Watch this space - I have pages full of notes waiting to jump out of my notebook and onto this global platform.

Power to the People

14.26 Thursday 2nd April

I am currently peering at the G20 bloggers having their discussion about climate change whilst I am here tapping away with desperation on my laptop (I am suddenly very grateful for the spacious keyboard which allows me to touch type with ease). The bloggers are from all over the world and are of all ages and it strikes me how much expertise they have collectively...(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

Apparently altogether they have an audience of over 50 million people. If I had an audience of 50 million people I would probably say something embarrassing which required me to hide underground for several years at a time so rather them than me, but notwithstanding they seem to be handling the pressure competently, as you would expect of fifty professionals and experts at the forefront of the digital revolution.

This is the start of the digital revolution, where press is moving onto the internet. This is the first international summit where bloggers have been given press accreditation (again - I am so lucky!) and this marks the start of a new era where the internet is taking hold of news.

But the Global Campaign for Education is working hard to make the most of these changes and so I am very happy that things are moving in this direction. This new platform for reporting ensures that we can get our message across and to more people. Even more, it means that students can engage with us directly through our social networking sites - this is an all new grass-roots approach to our campaigning. All of our trip to Tanzania was organised electronically and this new technology allows us to explore new ways of doing things.

This new way of blogging is a much more personal way of communicating - it means I can write without the formality of a conventional newspress. Just a thought.

Open letter to whoever listens

14.16 Thursday 2 April

I have a few comments to make about this event. Firstly - whoever organises this event, could you please move the TVs closer to my workstation? There is an American journalist next door who is constantly complaining about having to get up to look at the TVs. Secondly, can I have an escalator? This is just a practical thing but it takes me twenty minutes (not joking) to get to the toilet…(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

Whilst it may seem uninteresting to talk about these things it has to be said that things have quietened down a fair bit. In fact, I may even sink to the low of looking online to find out about the riots going on outside.

This entire event is so disconcerting. We get the feel of a vast community but then we have the fighting between journalists all trying to get a story, in between the sound of the ominous London trains rattling along outside.

I am about to be interviewed by Radio Cambridgeshire and I am looking forward to that, but since Bob Geldof and Douglas Alexander it's difficult to find out about what is happening in the all important designated "World Leader" black-pass-needed-too-good-for-me-because-I-only-have-a-yellow-pass room.

Insider...me?

13.15 Thursday 2nd April

It's occurring to me how you can be in the most exclusive event in London. Through the security, the oversized doors, yes, more security and still be completely and blissfully ignorant of the events going on right under your nose...(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

There are TV screens here showing the Sky News broadcast and that is where we are getting the majority of our information from. Just because I am less than a hundred of metres away from world leaders doesn't mean I can see them!

I am constantly thinking of just how privileged I am to be here. This is the 21st G20 summit - and the first one in the UK. And the year that I am here the Global Campaign for Education get me into the meetings! I only hope that the publicity of me being here is beneficial for all of the others attending.

Also, just a thought but we are pampered here. Honestly, the security need not be so tight because you don't need a bomb - you could just shake up the bottle of Sprite which they give us for free. I thought about doing it at the press centre here, I thought it would be a good way to make a SPLASH (See what I did there? - I made a pun!) on international TV but I already stand out enough already, being half the size of most of the attendees.

It's not just the size of the centre which is awe-inspiring - it's the scope and the international impact of the event which is awe-inspiring. Oh dear - that didn't come out as very artistic did it. I'll stick to literal analogies in future.

Introducing...1200 journalists, camera crews and a fourteen year old

12.20 Thursday 2nd April

It is ridiculous that I have been here for several hours now and I haven't even described the venue. The ExCel centre is naturally huge. I try not to look up at the ceiling because if I do I get dizzy...(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

As a massive event this whole experience is simply confusing to some extent. I just wandered over to the broadcast area where the anchors are talking. The BBC and other stations from all over the world are there. No actually, here. They are here. I can see them from where I am sitting. I wandered over to get a view of Alister Darling, a politician in the UK.

Although I won't be able to speak to him I can however see him on the giant TVs here. He has just made a speech about the expectations of the World Bank and the IMF, saying they need to "reflect today's realities". I couldn't agree more but the language is all about being "determined" to take action. We do not, as of yet, have a promise of anything from him.

As soon as he moves the entire multitude of the press attach to him, moving as one. Encompassing him, moving in for the "kill". The TV men seem to be very eager to bundle up.

I am the youngest attendee and I feel a tad fraudulent sitting next to acclaimed journalists and established bloggers but I feel like my voice is being heard.

An interview with Douglas Alexander

11.27 Thursday 2nd April

Horrah! Huraah! Something - I am only suddenly realising that I do not know how exactly to spell that but the sentiment stands none the less...(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

I am so lucky to be here. I got into this campaign through winning a competition but through being here I still feel like I am extremely lucky - especially when I sit next to self-built bloggers who have millions of readers off of their own backs.

I appear to be attracting some interest here. Yes, being fourteen in a crowd of over-30s appears to be somewhat a virtue. Already I have been interviewed for Norwegian and Mexican national television.

But bear with me - da, da-da, da. I just interviewed the person who works in an office behind a door which I walked past when I was in the Department for International Development just a month ago.

I just interviewed Douglas Alexander. He is the supreme cheese who rules over his domain of international aid, and I was thrilled to be able to meet him.

He appears to be an incredibly well-informed person, and during the conversation he casually dropped in that he travels the world of developing nations and he has in fact been to Tanzania and Kenya.

He attentively listened to my question - I had others but I only got the time to ask one - about the use of education to help develop nations. And I learnt some very interesting information when he answered this and other questions.

He said that he is hoping at the end of this conference to acheive a "reason to feel rational hope" for developing nations. He said that students who went to school and had an education would be healthier, with a better understanding of issues, and they would be more productive members of society.

He said that children in developing nations have the same "talent, ability, resiliance, courage" that we have. It's good to know that the leader of DFID shares some of our views.

I was desperately trying to scribble some quotes and notes. But I got some interesting stuff about trade. He was saying that the growth in Africa in recent years is all about the prices of goods and this is an essential balance that needs to be struck. Think about it - if a nation has a stable economy then they don't need to rely on aid to fund their education systems. He also said that the "we now need global rules to civilize the effects of the global market". He wants global rules which, I sincerely hope, will make trade fairer to developing nations.

He said that developing nations are "inexplicably bound" to the success of the developed world. This means that when we suffer a downturn, Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) will go down with us.

But directly relevant to what we witnessed in Africa: he said that conflicting attitudes must not be an excuse for governments to have firm principals.

This guy seems fantastic! But he spoke of the progress and the attitudes. As the day unfolds I will need to know what is going on right now to get a fair overview of what our politicians are doing for the well being of people around the world.

I am pleased that this man seems hopeful and enthusiastic, and I want to know how he will turn these attitudes into progress.

What happens in London certainly will not stay in London

11.01 Thursday 2nd April

I am live, here in the Excel centre in the heart of London where I have just encountered Bob Geldof, a famous philanthropist, and witnessed firsthand the anarchy of the journalist vultures. Today I will be finding out about a couple of things only: about how world leaders are going to look after global education in the world and the students associated with those systems....(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

Bob Geldof was immediately mobbed after stepping out onto the floor and is even now still surrounded by swarms of journalists that are circling, all trying to make their mark.

I want to know what he thinks about the investment of education, how a country will use education as a conduit to train their people to do well paid jobs better and thus lift themselves out of the economic crisis.

In addition, I just want to know what is happening. It would be no good if we came to London and talked to the IMF about trivial issues. We need to find out what is happening about removing conditions on the money that they have loaned to developing nations. Those conditions are simply crippling to countries that need to manage their budget so that they can get teachers into schools. [To find out more about the problems caused by conditions on IMF and World Bank loans check out our policy page]

Mr Geldof seems to be very well informed, and he always seems perfectly calm. He is talking about the figures behind the situation but until I can get my questions in I won't be able to get some in depth information.

I will be trying to find out about how people view the situation here and I will be intrigued about announcements regarding the reformation of the IMF and the World Bank.

The atmosphere is crazy, the journalists must be really nervous. They are all desperately trying to find a story and approaching the event from any angle they can.

I am waiting for any announcements, but also the communique. This will tell me at the end of the day what has been announced and I shall be reporting back on the conference.

The press seems to be growing in brutality. You may have seen the pictures of Barack Obama being welcomed to Downing Street yesterday with a jovial and lively Mr United States against the contrasting austere and cold looking Gordon Brown. How cruel of the press to choose the one shot which shows the PM in such a negative light.

The big challenge today will be getting my message and my questions about education across. Good luck, me.

Wrapping Up - Watch this Space

16.34 Wednesday 1st April

I am about to leave (regrettably) and this is the last opportunity that I will have to blog; for today. Consider this a summary of a day of findings and public forum, in addition to the light roasting of various bloggers by other bloggers....(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

Today I have been finding out about the interesting attitudes shared by bloggers for other sites and moreover I have a better understanding of what I should be expecting for tomorrow.

Generally there are not hugely significant announcements expected tomorrow but there is a positive attitude here which will be carried through to tomorrow.

The conference tomorrow will be the occasion that many, including the DFID minister who we met, need to utilise in order to make a difference and it is going to be really important for them to get their message across tomorrow.

Watch this space - we will find out how things develop tomorrow.

From the bottom, up

15.49 Wednesday 1st April

We're being spoken to about the grass roots level used in the Obama campaign and I'm thinking, how can we use this to help us?...(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

This is not merely a selfish effort to use other people's work for our own gain but an exemplar model of how we can learn from other people in order to build on our cause.

There has been a lot of talk about "grass roots" and working at that level and, for us, it is important on two levels.

Firstly, "drumming up support" as our speaker puts it. When campaigning for Barack Obama the focus was not on the politics as such but on the individual people affected and the campaign started working with individuals and then went to regional and national campaigns. Supporters were able to use social networking to show their support.

Secondly, as we experienced in Tanzania and at DFID with a minister for international development it is extremely important that we get right into local projects in developing nations because quite simply if you only give money to governments then some money may be lost as it filters down through the system.

This is interesting because I was talking to another individual from a different campaign and the fundamental principals about sustainability for instance is the same.

This shows that we charities need to learn from each other and that there are systems that we will use to build on in the future.

What am I supposed to think?

15.01 Wednesday 1st April

You might think that fifty campaigners and protagonists locked in a room with nothing but their WiFi-equipped laptops to defend themselves would have heated discussion about the importance of issues in relation to each other....(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

But in fact when prompted for argument everyone here is exceptionally polite and agreable. I wish I could say the same for the media teams who respond to communiques.

We have just received a briefing about the G20 communique, a document which will sum up the meetings tomorrow, which was leaked to several newspapers despite only being a vague draft.

But it's when the bloggers here have the vague draft that they get fired up, criticism engines at full power. When you look at the communique you can see that they have a point.

I have been writing a lot about the expectations of the summit and everyone here is sceptical about the prospective acheivements of the meetings tomorrow and reading the communique it is not difficult to see why.

The documents are filled with the positive "achievements" of world leaders but much of the communique is just filling based on the preconceptions of what we were hoping might happen.

Certainly, when I receive the communique tomorrow I shall be analysing the content to see what actually happened, not what is simply "hopes" and "pledges".

The promise to send billions of pounds of aid to international bodies gives us hope. But the actual delivery of that money is what will give those in the developing world a future.

Who thought that fifty journalists having discussions could be exciting?

13.55 Wednesday 1st April
"James Simmonds, reporting from Westminster for the Global Campaign for Education: discussion with journalists, talks from experts and insights from bloggers, all that and more in the next fifteen minutes." [Rolls eyes at poor impersonation of a journalist].....(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

The atmosphere here is subdued now, with speakers focusing on how the global situations are being talked about by various people. However, rather frustratingly for me, the people here are all about climate change and the efficiency of aid, not specific to education.

Forget this though, as everything is a web. If we ignore the irrelevant waffling as spewed out by some attendees we can surmise that everyone is concerned and has ever so high expectations of tomorrow.

Some people want more money from governments, some people want policy changes, but there is general feeling that whatever happens, not enough will be announced to change the world.

This is what I want: I want the World Bank which has loaned money to poorer countries to remove conditions which they set when they gave the money. These conditions restrict their public sector budget and stop governments from spending what they need to spend on teachers.

I have talked with many people and it is very clear that everyone's desires are linked. For me, all this talk about the economy is beneficial for education. Even though we must ensure that people do not get sidetracked and forget their promise to get children into school we must remember that if countries develop their own economy then this is money that they can use for developing their education systems.

In my opinion, there could be nothing more important for improving the lives of students as well as the stability of money supplies in developing nations.

The Sound of My Own Voice

12.58 Wednesday 1st April
There are passionate people here, people from all over the world wanting to report back to their enthusiastic online communities to tell them what is happening. But this passion is hidden beneath the convolution of politics and the internet.....(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

We are listening to bloggers state how they feel about the representation of data around the world: how people take information and opinions and represent them. The most blatant thing that has come out of the discussion here is that the internet is a vital resource here. All bloggers struggle in getting their voices heard outside of the internet. That said, the attendees here reach millions of people through their blogs and and their websites.

First Impressions are Important

11.43 Wednesday 1st April

There have been twenty conferences in the past based on the G20, the all-seeing, all-powerful overlords of Earth who with a swish of their pen could destroy the world with weapons or (somewhat preferably) solve the global education crises....(CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL)

Everything here is all about money. Money this. Financial crisis that. But we have found that there are people dedicated to making sure that issues do not get sidetracked. I will be one of them, I hope.

It's absolutely essential that world leaders do not forget their promise to give money to schools in other countries. The whole atmosphere is buzzing with talk of tax havens and debt. But I am here to ensure that leaders talk about what is most important to pupils in the poorest parts of the world.

There are people here who want to use the shock of the financial crisis to get world leaders to do something about the economy and there are so many ways that education for all links into the economy. Firstly, if a country wants a stable economy then they have to invest in their people, and the return will be a smarter generation of people better educated to do the more important jobs. A suitable dividend, no?

Also: aid. The world is giving more and more aid but since our currencies are worth less the people who need the money desperately are not getting as much.

These are the crucial themes of the G20 summit: stability, growth and jobs. With a better education developing nations will get all three. Now if everyone could get that...

Attached Images

James

James