my fellow ‘A World at School Global Youth Ambassadors’ and thousands of young advocates for education around the world to demand the right to education and safe schools for all. No child should have to risk being attacked or abducted for going to school, yet around the world attacks on students, teachers and schools are on the rise and 28 million children are out of school due to conflict and emergencies. United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown has echoed the responsibility we have to ensure children are in a safe environment, “It is our moral duty to make sure that every single child in the world can enjoy the basic right to education – free of terror, free of fear, and with the support of the international community.” The kidnapping of the Chibok girls shocked and outraged the international community. But this is not just about Chibok. While children risk violence to get a seat in a classroom, donor aid to education is in steady decline, many countries do not have plans to reach the most marginalized children, and the 2015 target for getting all children in school and learning is being pushed back to 2030. This is unacceptable. Girls’ education is also a critical issue in our own country. Education enables girls and women to overcome oppressive social limitations such as exploitative work and child marriage, and enables them to learn how to better claim social and economic rights. An educated female population increases a country’s productivity and fuels economic growth, yet some countries lose more than $1 billion a year by failing to educate girls to the same level as boys. Now is a critical time not only for rescuing the Nigerian girls but also for securing the right to education and safety of all students across the world. We have the power to make these issues a global priority. A world at school Global youth Ambassador, Salimatou Fatty]]>
