Julia Gillard comes out of the political wilderness to condemn Nigeria’s Boko Haram

JULIA Gillard has come out of the political wilderness to condemn the kidnap of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls at the hands of extremist group Boko Haram.

Former PM Julia Gillard has returned to public attention through the Global Partnership for Education. Picture: Bianca DeMarchi

THE kidnap of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls at the hands of extremist group Boko Haram has provided an unlikely avenue for Julia Gillard to return to public life.

The former Labor prime minister has lain low since Kevin Rudd ousted her from the nation’s top job last year, fulfilling her promise to leave politics altogether.

But she has re-emerged from the wilderness this week in response to the brutal developments in Nigeria that have shocked the world.

Gillard started a new Twitter account on Tuesday, @JuliaGillardGPE, and today tweeted out a statement expressing her concern over the abduction of the schoolgirls in Nigeria.

“It is with utmost concern that I condemn the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok in northern Nigeria by the terrorist group Boko Haram,” she said in the statement.

“My thoughts and heartfelt feelings are with the families of these girls and I hope they will soon be able to embrace their daughters once more.

“This act of violence against girls who are seeking an education is deplorable and cannot be tolerated.

“It is the right of every child to get a free universal education and it is all our obligation to ensure that schools are safe places — for students and teachers.”

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A still from a video posted by Boko Haram sympathisers.

Gillard has taken up the issue as part of her role as chair of the Global Partnership for Education, which is devoted to providing quality education to the 57 million primary-school-aged children shut out of classes in developing countries.

During her time as an MP, Gillard often expressed her deep passion for education. As education minister for the first Rudd Government, she was tasked with implementing Labor’s promised “Education Revolution”, which included extra spending and the publishing school results.

Established in 2002, the Washington-based Global Partnership for Education aims to support education in fragile and conflict-affected states, especially promoting schooling for girls.

The partnership has allocated US$3.7 billion in grants to education between 2003 and 2013.

US First Lady Michelle Obama is also among the many to have joined the campaign to save the kidnapped girls.

Originally published as Julia Gillard comes out of the political wilderness to condemn Nigeria’s Boko Haram