{"id":23350,"date":"2017-02-01T13:52:33","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T13:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/africa\/?post_type=one_press&p=23350"},"modified":"2017-02-01T13:52:33","modified_gmt":"2017-02-01T13:52:33","slug":"trailblazers-from-business-entertainment-media-and-activism-unite-to-launch-a-global-campaign-to-demand-education-for-all-girls","status":"publish","type":"one_press","link":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/africa\/press\/trailblazers-from-business-entertainment-media-and-activism-unite-to-launch-a-global-campaign-to-demand-education-for-all-girls\/","title":{"rendered":"Trailblazers from Business, Entertainment, Media and Activism Unite to Launch a Global Campaign to Demand Education for All Girls"},"content":{"rendered":"

130 Million Girls Globally are Denied an Education \u2013 More than the Population of Germany<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Open Letter to World LeadersLaunched as part of ONE\u2019s Poverty is Sexist Campaign<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

JOHANNESBURG<\/b> \u2013An alliance of trailblazers from business, entertainment, media and activism have joined forces to demand urgent action by world leaders to get the 130 million girls around the world who are denied the chance to go to school the education they deserve.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nThe group \u2013 which includes Africa\u2019s business giant Aliko Dangote, actors and activists Desmond Elliot, Danai Gurira and Charlize Theron, gender rights activists Sally Dura, Oby Ezekwesili and Amina Mohammed musicians, HHP, Banky W, Angelique Kidjo as well Nobel Peace Prize winning activist Leymah Gbowee\u2013 has signed on to an open letter demanding world leaders take urgent action to address the girls education crisis in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

The open letter was organized by the ONE Campaign as part of its Poverty is Sexist<\/span><\/a> initiative and says in part:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are coming together and uniting across our divides to get every girl into school and to make sure she gets a quality education once she\u2019s there. But we need you to do the same.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

See the full text of the letter below.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to signing on to the letter, ONE is asking people around the world to take part in a mass lobby moment on International Women\u2019s Day (March 8) where activists from around the world will \u201cwalk into\u201d their elected officials\u2019 offices to lobby them on behalf of every girl denied an education.<\/span><\/p>\n

ONE\u2019s Africa (interim) Executive Director Nachilala Nkombo said, \u201cA good education transforms a girl\u2019s life chances, but because poverty is sexist, too many girls are denied this basic right to learn. If a girl is in secondary school, she is six times less likely to be married early than a girl with little or no education. A girl with an education is less likely to give birth young and more likely to make her own choices about when and how many children to have. Girls education is a justice issue and cannot be deferred any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

ONE\u2019s (interim) Global Policy Director David McNair said: \u201cEducation is crucial to empowerment, and data shows that when women are empowered, they come up with the smartest solutions and lift everyone out of poverty more quickly. So, if we can solve the education problem, we solve many other problems by extension.\u201d<\/p>\n

Analysis collected by ONE shows the powerful effect of investing in girls\u2019 education:<\/span><\/p>\n