Even before COVID-19, 90% of children in low-income countries could not read and understand a simple sentence. The global learning crisis is the biggest educational threat of our time, not just because it means that individual potential is being squandered. The world’s future hangs in the balance. After all, the children of today are the doctors and public health professionals of tomorrow. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, this sobering picture has only gotten worse. At its peak, COVID-19 pushed 1.6 billion...
This is the first post in a monthly series about how we ensure children are learning in school. We’re kicking off with an overview of the evidence pointing to a global learning crisis and how we can solve it. Stay tuned for more stories that dive deeper into the evidence and our solutions for better global education outcomes. Improving education is central to our work here at ONE. To have the biggest impact, we wanted to identify what the greatest...
The Zulu Sierra – Papa Whiskey Whiskey (ZS-PWW) may look like any other plane. But, this aircraft is special because it carries bright young minds to an exceptional future. The plane is owned by Refilwe Ledwaba. She’s the first black woman to fly for the South Africa Police Service and the first black woman to be a helicopter pilot in South Africa! Refilwe grew up in Lenyenye, a small township in the Limpopo region of South Africa. She is the...
The fight against extreme poverty can’t be won without data. After all, we can’t find solutions if we don’t know where there are problems. Luckily, we have a new way of discovering where progress needs to be made. The highly-anticipated Human Capital Index was launched as part of the World Bank’s Human Capital Project. It compares 157 countries, based on the amount of human capital – knowledge, skills, and health – that a child born in each country today can...
What does your future hold? University, your own business, fame and fortune? Whatever your hopes, you will not have imagined a future in which you got married off as a child, were denied an education, or infected with HIV by a husband that’s twice your age. But this is the reality for millions of girls living in extreme poverty. And it’s time to call it out for what it is: Sexist. Nowhere on earth do girls and women have the...
In 2015, world leaders agreed to 17 global goals for a better world by 2030. These goals have the power to end poverty, fight inequality, and change the world for the better. Guided by these goals, it is now up to all of us –governments, businesses, civil society, and the general public – to work together to build a better future for everyone. Global Goal #4 is a quality education. Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai once said, “One child, one...
Malala was thrust into the global spotlight nearly a decade ago because of her unstoppable and courageous dedication to getting an education. Undeterred by the threat of speaking out publicly against the Taliban, Malala blogged for the BBC, featured in a short documentary about her fight for girls’ education in her community and even won Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize. But in 2012, she was shot by the Taliban for standing up for what she believed in. Amazingly, this didn’t stop...
Written by Klara, 2016 ONE Youth Ambassador Germany At 17 years old, Patrick was forced to leave his home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His city suffered multiple attacks from rebel groups, and he fled to Uganda with his younger brother, Raphael. After escaping this conflict, the two brothers found shelter in one of the most refugee-friendly nations in the world: Uganda. Patrick and his brother have lived in the Nakivale refugee settlement for the past five years. The settlement...
Canada hosts the #G7 Summit this week. Here is my message to leaders: pic.twitter.com/Eh2yIJ2DUF — Malala (@Malala) June 7, 2018 The 2018 G7 Summit will take place this week. The leaders of the world’s seven largest economies will convene to make decisions that could have massive effects on the world. Malala Yousafzai has called on world leaders to invest in girls’ education, saying it is “the single best thing you can do this week.” Malala understands the immense value of education, and...
More than 130 million girls weren’t given the chance to go to school today. That’s why people around the world are adding their voices to the #GirlsCount campaign to tell our elected officials that they need to make girls’ education a priority. Girls’ Voices shares in our passion to educate girls around the world. Their organization believes that “when a girl stays in school, she has the power to transform lives, families, and communities.” Through digital media training, they’re empowering...