#HumanRightsDay: Education as a right and honouring Nelson Mandela
December 10th, was Human Rights Day, a chance for people across the globe to reflect on their rights, the rights of others Â鶹APP“ and crucially, whether those rights are being delivered.
This year, those reflections were of course particularly poignant as tens of thousands of South Africans Â鶹APP“ joined by millions of viewers across the world Â鶹APP“ made their way to the FNB stadium in Soweto to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela, one of the greatest champions of human rights of our times.
As world leader after world leader acknowledged, Mandela was a man whose legacy was to honour the right of every human being regardless of who they were and where they were from. As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon put it,
Â鶹APPœMandela wasÂ鶹APP¦one of our greatest teachers. He taught by example. He sacrificed so much Â鶹APP¦ for freedom and equality, for democracy and justice.Â鶹APP
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The conversation about rights carried into the Twittersphere when hosted a Twitter Chat about girlsÂ鶹APP™ education with thought leaders that included the (GEFI), (UNGEI), , , , and .
Hundreds participated from around the world to answer questions about how we can work to improve the fate of girls on their path towards an getting an education. Ìý
Read the insightful question and answer tweets below:
One of our favourite answers came from @GirlUp:
A3: An educated girl can break the cycle of poverty. Without investment, she cannot reach her full potential.
Â鶹APP” Girl Up (@GirlUp)
It reminds us of of Nelson MandelaÂ鶹APP™s quote that:Ìý
Â鶹APPœA good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.Â鶹APP
A World at School and GEFI then hosted a Google+ Hangout on Continuing MandelaÂ鶹APP™s Vision: Education as a Human Right that featured Chenor Bah of Sierra Leone and Hayley McQuire of Australia from the Youth Advocacy Group and Gcobani Jombile, a youth leader in South Africa.
During the discussion, Mr. Bah emphasized how:Ìý
Â鶹APPœMandela representsÂ鶹APP¦ [how] young people in todayÂ鶹APP™s world, weÂ鶹APP™re called to be global citizensÂ鶹APP¦[Mandela] had a sense of responsibility to people.Â鶹APP
The day's activities carried the weight of Mandela's mission for equal access to education for every child and that providing opportunity is not just the responsibility of one group or organisation. Education is a universal human right, and regardless of oneÂ鶹APP™s gender, origin, or affiliation, it needs to continue to be the driving force behind fulfilling our responsibility to one another as students of Mandela.
Watch the entire Hangout here: