In times of crisis, there are always people running towards the problem – not away from it. These are the people who inspire hope in others. And that hope, in turn, is terror’s greatest enemy. This has never been more relevant than today, as the world faces down the largest refugee crisis since World War II, with more than 51 million refugees displaced from their homes by terror attacks and political strife.
For over four years now, discomforting images and stories of entire neighborhoods leveled by bombs, of families mourning children taken too soon and of thousands of refugees leaving everything behind have served as daily reminders of our failure to end the conflict in Syria.
As many children return to school this month, it is an exciting time for parents and students. There is an assumption by many that school is a safe place, but there are children around the world, including in the U.S., that will be returning to school and wondering if their school is really safe.
Last September, at the 10th annual Clinton Global Initiative, Advancing Girls’ Education in Africa (AGE Africa) joined a collaboration of 30 civil society organizations, governments, private sector partners, and multilateral organizations in making a historic commitment to improve educational and leadership opportunities for young women and girls.
When I think of girls’ education in Africa, I dream of a continent where women and men are treated equally. I long for a continent where women are equal contributors to society; a continent where girls receive the same opportunities as their male counterparts so they can tap into their inherent potential. I would love to see every single girl have access to a free, quality education in Africa.
Only 1 percent of Tanzanian girls complete secondary school. The numbers are not much better for boys, but it is clear that girls have a much harder road to travel to get an education. Girls face great obstacles to their education including unaffordable school fees, families privileging sons education over daughters, expectations of hours of household chores and being responsible for younger siblings, and high dropout rates with pregnancies, to name but a few. It is even more difficult for girls living in rural communities where there are often great distances between schools.
Gender-based violence in schools has prevented the world from achieving quality education for all and gender equity, Millennium Development Goals 2 and 3. We must take national and global action to address this crisis and ensure that all girls and boys complete a safe, equitable, quality education.
The opportunity to access something as basic as education shouldn’t be political. Yet, 2014 bore witness to more attacks on schools than any time in the past 40 years and global emergencies like Ebola and conflicts in the Middle East forced millions of children out of school. Never has the goal of getting kids into school and keeping them there safely been more important.
School life at Mattliden School in Espoo, Finland and at Kayole North Primary School in Nairobi, Kenya could not be more different. Each setting includes dedicated teachers, education union members, who support students each day - yet they have very different preparation, education tools, and environments.
The 6th of December was a warm winter morning when we, the Didis (Nepali for elder sisters and what the girls call us mentors), and the Rukmini Scholars (bahinis = younger sisters) gathered together. It was a very meaningful day for all of us for many reasons.
