I have always gotten a kick out of doing something that someone said I couldn’t do or that I am not supposed to do—finishing a grueling hike, building something, fixing something or even something as seemingly simple as getting up each and every day and going back to finish something you started even if everyone is against you. All of that takes strength—the strength to do, the strength to overcome and the strength to keep going.
On June 26, more than 800 delegates including heads of state, education ministers, representatives from multilateral organizations, civil society, business and youth leaders from 91 countries gathered in Brussels for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) 2014 Replenishment Conference.
The Week of the Young Child™ is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) to focus public attention on the learning opportunities for young children, their families, and the professionals and educators who serve them.
57 million children around the world denied an education despite the world's promise to put every child in school by 2015. Tens of millions of children drop out of school before learning how to read and write - forced into early marriages, participating in dangerous work just to feed their families, or pushed out because of school fees they can’t afford. Access to education is one of the best ways to decrease poverty.
On November 20, 2013, the Global Campaign for Education-US, the Basic Education Coalition and RESULTS Educational Fund honored Representative Nita Lowey (NY) on her 25 years of leadership in global education. Speakers for the event included Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Representative Kay Granger (TX), Senator Pat Leahy (VT) and USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah. Twelve members of Congress pariticpated in the event. Click here for a video message from Congresswoman Lowey on the importance of global education.
We always hear about these fantastic conferences in far flung places with great speakers and sessions and find ourselves saying things like "I wish I could take the vacation time...", "I wish I could afford to go right now..."and/or "If it just started a bit later, I could go."
LinkedIn, the international jobs and professional networking site, recently announced that it was going to allow students 13 years and older create profiles on its site. LinkedIn is the latest example of how young students worldwide -- that is, students who have access to the Internet and the educational opportunities to make them aware of the opportunities available on a site like LinkedIn -- can now learn about a world of work that exists beyond the boundaries of their country and city.
Today I joined four of our student advocates at the United Nations in New York City. We were part of the first ever #UNYouthTakeover, with more than 600 youth to celebrate Malala's birthday and to call for world leaders to prioritize education. It was inspiring to hear from so many young people who are advocating on behalf of their fellow students, over 130 million of whom are still denied access to education.
In the process of identifying what has to happen in the 1,000 days before the end of the 2015 education Millennium Development Goal, there has been little discussion of how to finance education initiatives worldwide.