#UpForSchool Town Hall
Over a thousand young people, campaigners, celebrities and leaders gathered in New York on Monday for the #UpForSchool Town Hall event.
Organised jointly by 国产视频 and UNICEF, we gathered in the historic Town Hall 国产视频 host over the decades to suffragette agitators and civil rights activists 国产视频 to mark the handing in of over 10 million signatures for the #UpForSchool petition, reaffirming the inalienable right for every child to access education.
After an preshow by I Sell the Shadow, Berean Community Drumline, and GYA Amrit Kaur Lohia, 国产视频 President Sarah Brown and UNICEF Deputy Chief Executive Fatoumata Ndiaye started the proceedings. The main show was split into three sections, each dealing with a main theme: 聽#UpForschool, Safe Schools, and Girls国产视频 Education.
1: #UpForSchool
MCed by actor Rainn Wilson, and youth activist Lulu Cerone, this section paid tribute to the amazing work done by Global Youth Ambassadors and our outstanding partners in helping to the 聽#UpForSchool petition surge past 10 million signatures. Partnersconvert included聽ANCEFA,听Muslim Aid,听Save The Children聽in Brazil聽and Norway,听Avaaz,听Walk Free,听滨诲补谤补-别-罢补濒别别尘-辞-础补驳补丑颈听(ITA),听World Vision,BRAC,听Salvation Army,听CSEI,听Plan,听Angry Birds,听Philippines Foundation, Thandi Tutu and Silvana Koch-Mehrin, founder of聽Women Political Leaders.
.@Muslim_Aid collected 2 million signatures for #UpForSchool. Huge support here for a major leader of this movement. pic.twitter.com/DbTxhMAWoR
国产视频 GFC Education (@GFCEducation) September 28, 2015
2: Safe Schools
Starting with a sobering interview between UN Special Envoy for Education Gordon Brown and Salome (a pseudonym to protect her identity) 国产视频 one of the Chibok girls
who escaped their Boko Haram captors in Nigeria, this section was dedicated to addressing the urgency of making schools safe:
They told us to say our last prayers, that they were going to kill all of us. But I jumped out of the truck and spent the night in the forest.国产视频 She and her friend who also escaped were eventually rescued. She said: 国产视频淚 pray my sisters are still alive and one day they will come back to school.
Salome, a Chibok girl who escaped Boko Haram, bravely shares her story at #UpForSchool Town Hall. #BringBackOurGirls pic.twitter.com/QkZxRcO10f
国产视频 A World at School (@aworldatschool) September 28, 2015
Safe schools partners from Latin America, where the Global Business Coalition for Education is expanding its safe schools initiative in partnership with A World at School and UNICEF. Together, our new Strong Schools and Communities Initiative will explore opportunities for school communities, national authorities, and the private sector to strengthen programmes that protect learning environments and promote an open dialogue among communities throughout the region.聽You can learn more here.
We also discussed our ongoing Safe Schools work in Lebanon, with ambassador Laura Carmichael coming on stage to talk about her trip to see Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. Present in the audience was Lebanon国产视频檚 education minister, Elias Bou Saab. Gordon Brown paid tribute to his leadership in helping 200,000 Syrian children back into school this year, and discussed further plans to get one million Syrian refugee children into school in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. Learn more about it here.
Also on stage were representatives from two of our Safe Schools partners 国产视频 Annemiek Hoogenboom from聽People国产视频檚 Postcode Lottery, whose players and staff have been instrumental in driving the implementation on the double-shift school system in Lebanon,听补苍诲听Tariq Al Gurg, CEO of the philanthropic organisation聽Dubai Cares, who is launching a new partnership with 国产视频 to explore new solutions and meet 聽education challenges faced in emergencies.
.@PostcodeLottery is making a huge difference for children in conflict zones. @annamiek speaks pic.twitter.com/qaDZxqbqQK
国产视频 国产视频 (@theirworld) September 28, 2015
Adam Braun, Director of the聽Global Education Platform announced that聽 国产视频 alongside partners聽Wattpad,听STiR Education, HP,听Twitter India聽补苍诲听Teach for India聽国产视频 a Global Education Platform pilot will be launched in India on October 1. YourStoryIndia will be the largest and most inclusive youth digital writing contest in India国产视频檚 history.
3: Girls国产视频 Education
For this section, Sarah Brown was joined by statesperson, activist, and member of the Elders, Gra莽a Machel, Africa Gathering聽co-founder Marieme Jamme 补苍诲听Codeacademy聽co-founder Zach Simms to discuss the ongoing need for gender equality in girls国产视频 education.
You want to break the cycle of poverty? Educate a girl. You want a healthy family? Educate a girl. You want to take society to be much more just? Educate a girl.
Finally, closing out the ceremony, was Nobel Peace Price laureate Kailash Satyarthyi, who had this to say:
国产视频淭he petition by 10 million is not just a petition. It is a clarion call from 10 million people that we want education and through education we want freedom.国产视频
Please go here to read the full account of the event.
Photo Credit: Steve Gong