Lawallay Cole

Lawallay Cole of the UNICEF Burundi Education Program answers questions about his presentation “Aid and Debt: Progress Since 2000? Will 50$ billion be Granted annually by 2010?”

Lawalley Cole

UNICEF Burundi Education Program- UN Children’s Fund

Lawalley Cole has over thirty years of progressively-responsible experience in teaching, policy formulation, development planning, program design and implementation, monitoring, research and evaluation, and other administrative areas mainly in the field of education. Mr. Cole has been in charge of UNICEF's education portfolios in Gambia, Zambia, Mali and Burundi, and has also supported UNICEF emergency programs in Burundi, and the development of new country programs for 2001 and 2002-2004 respectively. In January 1999, Mr. Cole was invited to Brussels to speak give his advice and opinions on international aid and education to a sub-committee of the European Parliament that was preparing a new convention between the European Union and the Africa-Caribbean–Pacific states. Furthermore, Mr. Cole has successfully secured increased attention to addressing HIV/AIDS in Zambia in 1998 within a sector wide program known as the Basic Education Sub-Sector Investment Program (BESSIP). He has worked as a Consultant with various organizations and institutes including with the UNDP; UNICEF; INSTRAW; U.N; UNIFEM/OPS/UNDP; Ford Foundation and Government of the Gambia. Mr. Cole is presently the Education Program Officer of United Nations Children Fund in Burundi since 2000, where he manages the Basic Educational Program.

Due to globalization, international politics and economics are becoming increasingly interdependent, even including the poverty-stricken nations of the Global South. Cole argues that the “eradication of poverty should be regarded as an international public good that promotes peace, security and environmental sustainability. The onus thus falls on everyone - individuals as well as governments - to take action.”

However, he sees developed nations failing to recognize the enormity of the situation, arguing that, “until the world realises that globalisation is real and dependent on the well being of poorer nations, the struggle for resource reallocation will remain an uphill one.”