�鶹APP

Picture: Neil Brandvold

Getting every girl into school around the world is a huge task and one that cannot be done by one group alone. It will take the concerted efforts of all kinds of people �鶹APP� from world leaders to young advocates.

And that�鶹APP�s exactly what happened when Barack and Michelle Obama were joined by education experts and representatives of A World at School at the launch of the initiative. The President and First Lady of the United States announced they are expanding their efforts to help girls across the world go to school and stay there.

�鶹APP�Every girl is precious. Every girl deserves an education.�鶹APP� �鶹APP�President Obama:

�鶹APP� The White House (@WhiteHouse)

A World at School�鶹APP�s 500 are working on the ground in 85 countries to bring about lasting change in their communities. They know better than most the barriers that prevent girls �鶹APP� and boys �鶹APP� going to school, including child labour, child marriage and discrimination. And their demand for action has resulted in the , which calls on world leaders to keep their promise to provide education for all.

At the Let Girls Learn launch yesterday at the White House in Washington, DC, these voices from across the globe were represented by A World at School�鶹APP�s Chernor Bah and Dawnique Shury.

With my colleague here at the White House launch of .

�鶹APP� Chernor Bah (@Cee_Bah)

Dawnique said: �鶹APP�Growing up in Guyana and sitting feet away from the president of the most powerful economy indicate we are all on an assignment �鶹APP� mine is to ensure every child has access to a quality education.�鶹APP�

She was invigorated by President Obama�鶹APP�s comment that �鶹APP�every girl on this planet deserves to be treated with dignity and equality �鶹APP� and that includes the chance to develop her mind and her talents�鶹APP�. Dawnique had already taken part in a roundtable meeting last year with the First Lady and other education experts, including Justin van Fleet, Chief of Staff to the Gordon Brown. 

Mrs Obama told the Let Girls Learn launch: �鶹APP�I�鶹APP�ve seen time and again how our young people �鶹APP� particularly our girls �鶹APP� are so often pushed to the very bottom of their societies. Everywhere I go, I meet these girls and they are so fiercely intelligent and hungry to make something of themselves. These girls are our change-makers �鶹APP� our future doctors and teachers and entrepreneurs. They�鶹APP�re our dreamers and our visionaries who could change the world as we know it.�鶹APP�

She also paid tribute to the many people she had consulted about girls and education, saying: �鶹APP�Time and again, you have told me that whatever these obstacles these girls face �鶹APP� whether it�鶹APP�s school fees or violence or cultural beliefs that girls simply aren�鶹APP�t worthy of an education �鶹APP� you�鶹APP�ve said that these problems will not be fixed from on high, that these are community challenges that call for community solutions.�鶹APP�

Dawnique meets actress Keshia Knight Pulliam at the event

After the event Dawnique said: �鶹APP�I leaped with joy knowing I played a very small part in a larger movement. There�鶹APP�s no greater accomplishment, no greater place to be than among those who are creating lasting change.

�鶹APP�There�鶹APP�s a sense of renewed hope and childlike tenacity I will take with me to ensure each community, village and child is a part of a space where learning occurs.�鶹APP�

Chernor didn�鶹APP�t hide his emotions either as he tweeted this:

Proud to be at the White House for the launch of lef initiative. Great event. About time!

�鶹APP� Chernor Bah (@Cee_Bah)

Let Girls Learn is a collaboration between Mrs Obama and the  to expand access to education for adolescent girls around the world. It will start in 11 countries and will build on the investments and progress that the US government has made in global primary school education.

It aims to elevate existing programmes and public-private partnerships, build additional partnerships and challenge organisations and governments to commit resources to help adolescent girls get into school and learn.

A key part of Let Girls Learn will be to encourage and support community-led solutions �鶹APP� of the kind being done by A World at School�鶹APP�s Global Youth Ambassadors �鶹APP� to eliminate the barriers that prevent girls from completing their education. The Peace Corps will train thousands of volunteers and tens of thousands of community leaders; collaborate with local leaders to identify community-based solutions; and recruit, train and place hundreds of additional volunteers.

The efforts in Pakistan and Nigeria were highlighted as examples of an existing partnership with bilateral and multilateral partners that is aiming to Let Girls Learn.

In Nigeria, a Safe Schools Initiative was set up by Mr Brown, A World at School and the Global Business Coalition for Education. It was launched in response to the growing number of attacks on school children, including the kidnapping of more than 200 girls in Chibok. The , which aims to meet the educational needs of thousands of children affected by the ongoing conflict in northeast Nigeria, specifically in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states.

In Pakistan, USAID supports the Safe Schools Initiative with $4.6 million. Last month �鶹APP� backed fully by Mr Brown and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif �鶹APP�  in a multimillion-dollar campaign for girls�鶹APP� and boys�鶹APP� education. It follows hundreds of attacks on schools in recent years and the massacre of children by the Pakistani Taliban at a school in Peshawar in December.

Learn more about the initiative at the .