ONE Campaign launches #GirlsCount advocacy, as Malala, Bono, Omotola, Oyelowo, Angelique Kidjo, others speak on girls education crisis
ONE Campaign, an International advocacy and campaigning organisation, has disclosed that globally, 130 million girls are not in school.
The group affirms that because poverty is sexist, girls in the poorest countries are less likely to receive an education than boys.
“This means a generation of adolescent girls is being denied the education they need to get a job, broaden their opportunities, and break the cycle of poverty. A girl with an education can change the world.”
Ahead of March 8th , International Women’s Day, ONE Campaign has launched its #GirlsCount campaign, a bold initiative that has rallied citizens and leaders from around the world and in Nigeria to bring a spotlight on this crisis and demand action from global leaders to end this crisis. In Nigeria, Omotola Jalaide Ekehinde is the main champion for the campaign which has been backed by the new UN Deputy Secretary General, Ms Amina Mohammed and Bring Back our Girls Co-founder, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili.
The #GirlsCount video which features citizens from every walk of life is aimed at getting people to join forces by filming themselves and counting a number between one and 130 million out loud. One film, the group says is meant to represent every girl denied an education.
For ONE Campaign’s Nigeria Director Serah Makka: “It is a global crisis that 130 million girls are not in school and Nigeria is unfortunately contributing a significant share to this. Renewed efforts are urgently needed. Girls’ education spurs exponential positive effects on social and economic development for generations to come. Educating girls secures the future of Nigeria. #GirlsCount is uniting people to make the scale of this crisis clear and to call on leaders to act urgently.”
Makka appealed to people who want to help change the lives of millions of girls around the world to join the campaign by counting a number and posting the video or picture online.
ONE is launching the campaign ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March, alongside, “Why Educating Every Girl is Good for Everyone”, a report that exposes how “educating a girl for a day costs less than a loaf of bread or a daily newspaper. Yet getting more girls in school could save more than a million lives and add more than $100 billion dollars a year to the global economy”.
The ONE Campaign is asking governments for a package of funding and reforms which will make education work for every girl by 2030; urging leaders to double the global funding for girls’ education by 2020.
International supporters, who are joining the count in solidarity, include Malala Yousafzai, Sheryl Sandberg, Angelique Kidjo, ONE founder Bono, David Oyelowo, and Asa. ONE Campaign plans to combine the videos into the world’s longest ever film to urge world leaders to take the action needed to ensure every girl receives a quality education.
Angelique Kidjo, Grammy Award-winning artist and activist said: “130 million girls are being denied an education. That’s 130 million of our sisters, our daughters and tomorrow’s leaders who are not in school, and it has to stop.”
“That’s why I am proud to lend my voice, alongside the ONE Campaign, to the urgent call on our governments in Africa and their partners around the world to act. To cut programs for girls’ education at this moment in time would undermine a whole generation.”
Nollywood Actress and GirlsCount Ambassador, Omotola Jalade Ekehinde said, “Growing up in Nigeria, I was lucky to have access to quality education. Today, there are 130 million girls globally who have not had the same opportunities as I have and are denied the chance to go to school. These girls are kept out of the classroom, not by choice, but by poverty, discrimination, violence, early marriage and domestic responsibility. That’s why I am joining with the ONE Campaign to demand that our leaders address this injustice and support every girl’s right to learn by doubling the funding for education by 2020. To show that we stand behind our 130 million sisters, we are counting every single one. I’ve chosen to count the number 7, because education is power – and every girl should have the opportunity to be in control of her own destiny. Our girls have so much to offer, so let’s make sure that we give them the tools to reach their full potential. They are the key to the future. ”.
Paris-based Nigerian multi-award winning musician, Asa stated that, “As a woman, I will always support initiatives that improve women’s conditions throughout the world. I am eager to use my voice for this edition of the ONE campaign: Poverty is Sexist, whose theme this year is particularly important to me. As a Nigerian, I am passionate that I would not cease fighting until my sisters benefit from an education equal to the one I received. Education, and specifically girls’ education, should not depend on the level of income of the country in which you live, but must be considered as an inalienable right for all. Hopefully, this world campaign will raise political leaders’ awareness”
Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg said: “130 million girls around the world are out of school. One of the challenges in effectively addressing this global crisis is conveying its staggering scale. 130 million girls are being denied the basic human right of an education – the domino effect of which none of us can afford to ignore.
“I joined the count at ONE.org choosing number five because that’s the age millions of girls around the world should be walking into a classroom for the first time. Far too many of them will never get that chance, unless we demand world leaders act.”
In Nigeria, the ONE Africa teams will meet with senior officials of the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja to bring this issue to the attention of the government and will also meet with the Governor of the of Kebbi, His Excellency, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu. These advocacy visits are part of ONE’s global efforts to spotlight the girls education crisis on International Women’s Day (8 March). Thousands of ONE activists around the world will take part in a globally coordinated activity to meet elected officials around the world to hand-deliver an open letter signed by over 330,000 people calling for leaders not to defer actions and investments needed to keep girls in school.
