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Last week I was emailing back and forth with our web editor to see what A World at School should do for as far as a blog. He asked if I could write something. It could be whatever I wanted but perhaps it should be something fun and energetic, even cheeky. I loved the idea.

Then, two days ago, I had the honour of interviewing one of our , Mohamed, for part of September�鶹APP�s #UpForSchool Town Hall event in New York.

�鶹APP��鶹APP�Mohamed told us of his �鶹APP�childhood�鶹APP� in Sierra Leone: captured when he was five and forced to do unthinkable things, witnessing the worst of humanity for four and a half years.

After listening to his story for over an hour I headed home and tried to read a book I�鶹APP�ve just started and can�鶹APP�t put down. But I kept thinking back to Mohamed and what to write about International Youth Day.

Madeline Serena with Evelin Weber, Philippines Ambassador for #UpForSchool 

Education is a serious issue and, while a fun article may get more readers, I feel it would be an injustice to make light of something for which millions of children die or risk their lives to achieve.�鶹APP��鶹APP�

During the interview Mohamed kept repeating: �鶹APP�My story�鶹APP�s not isolated to me.�鶹APP� He continued, �鶹APP�You and I are not that different, just different opportunities we were given in our lifetimes.�鶹APP�

What struck me the most about this is its truth. Tens of millions of children, like him, simply do not have a youth. They are forced to deal with incredibly adult issues, like war, forced marriage, bearing children, at an age when they should be playing hide and seek and going to school to learn with their peers.

Last year I asked our youth to write their thoughts on education. Some of them below are just a small portion, all of which are backed up by action every single day. Our GYAs have been standing up for those whose daily lives don�鶹APP�t involve school (or anything �鶹APP�normal�鶹APP� for that matter) for years �鶹APP� but this is the perfect time to reflect on what education means to them and some of to make it a global priority.

GYA Joy Tiku Enighe visits orphans in Nigeria

Today is International Youth Day, set up by the United Nations to improve the situation of young people around the world. The was created with 15 priority areas, the first being education. �鶹APP�

Mohamed�鶹APP�s experience has taught him that �鶹APP�you can give a man the world and that world could crumble. But if you give that man or woman an education, they can build their world. Education is a tool which bridges the gap between the fortunate and the not so fortunate�鶹APP�.

I�鶹APP�m sure all of our Global Youth Ambassadors have a similar view. Anders from the United States believes that: �鶹APP�Education opens up a world of opportunities. School has the ability to empower, energise and guide the next generations. Every child should have the opportunity and right to experience the wonders of it.�鶹APP�

Education is a fundamental human right which 59 million children are being denied. Educating them has the capacity to improve not just their life but the lives of every person in their community. �鶹APP�It only takes one child to change a village,�鶹APP� as GYA Murendeni from South Africa wrote.

GYA Majid Mushtaq visits a school in Pakistan

When people are educated, they will not accept other rights violations relating to health, discrimination, gender, even war and conflict. Two of our Pakistani GYAs articulate this beautifully.

�鶹APP�Education elevates and refines a person to the heights of humanity and to emancipate everyone from the shackles of ignorance,�鶹APP� says Anum. Umar believes that �鶹APP�it is impossible to achieve the goal of a terrorism- and extremism-free world without the weapon of education.�鶹APP�

On this International Youth Day, I hope the world realises our power to create change. We are the largest demographic in the world right now and we are going to use this to our advantage by challenging old systems, calling out world leaders who make empty promises and standing up for the rights of children who cannot speak for themselves. 

This year�鶹APP�s theme is youth civic engagement, particularly through online means. Over the past year our GYAs have held hundreds of events in dozens of country, impacting the lives of thousands and influencing education policies. They have also collected over one million signatures for the , further challenging the world leaders to uphold their commitment to education.