How our Global Youth Ambassadors stood #UpForSchool and International Women’s Day

Young people around the world are rising #UpForSchool – and none more than A World at School’s amazing Global Youth Ambassadors. We have 500 of them in 85 countries spreading the messsage of education for all in their communities.

Many of them marked International Women’s Day (#IWD15) by holding events and asking people to support and sign the #UpForSchool Petition, which demands that world leaders keep their promise to get every child into school and learning. Here is a roundup of some of the ways in which our hard-working and inspirational GYAs did their bit to promote the cause of girls’ education.

BURUNDI

Fikiri Nzoyiseng organised an advocacy workshop with members of the Burundi Friends International English Club. He said: “The majority of this club are boys and it was very interesting to discuss with them what is their role in fighting against one of the most biggest problems that prevent girls from achieving their studies: early pregnancies and marriages.”

CAMEROON

Fideline Mboringong visited this primary school in Bamenda to share with the children the importance of education, building leadership and of girls taking responsible roles.

EGYPT

Amal Abdulkader Al-Ariq and Naglaa Fathy made a thought-provoking video about women’s and girls’ rights in their country.

And here’s Amal an an #UpForSchool event.

GHANA

Hikmat Baba Dua was at an event held jointly by A World at School and the League of Young Female Leaders. She said: “We joined the rest of the world to celebrate the heroines of our hearts on the theme ‘The League Spotlight Women, telling their stories to inspire the world’.”

GUYANA

Imarah Radix Is also a regional co-ordinator for LitWorld’s programme. She held a LitClub session in honour of #IWD15.

 

INDIA

Devika Bhalla spoke on the importance of completing education and girls’ education with students from the charity Galia Pathshala.

INDONESIA

UN Model is an educational simulation and academic competition in which students learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. Kevin Audri told his UN Model team about the #UpForSchool campaign.

Dea Salsabila Amira gave an advocacy workshop talk in Jakarta about the obstacles to education faced by children in rural Indonesia, including child marriage. She said: “We talked about how young people could help by raising their voice and collaborating with partners, NGOs and local government.”

KENYA

Vivian Onano featured in this United Nations video about girls’ education released in the run-up to International Women’s Day.

LIBERIA

Trokon Wleyou said: “I celebrated #IWD with girls from two different communities in Monrovia. We had a match and later climaxed the day with a kick ball tournament.”

NIGERIA

Happy Zirra and Nina Mbah held a conference for more than 100 students at Our Lady of Fatima Girls Secondary School to tell them about #UpForSchool and International Women’s Day.

Chiamaka Uzomba marked #IWD15 by speaking with girls who are in and out of school in Abuja about issues that affect them and their education.

Ojonwa Deborah said: “We celebrated IWD within our normal LitClub session and the girls enjoyed every bit of it. LitClub, an initiative of LitWorld, offers girls a safe space to explore their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. The girls discussed the importance of speaking up for women and girls as the society they live in relegates them to the kitchen and doing house chores instead of having equitable access to education.”

PAKISTAN

Muhammad Ahmad discussed the importance of education with children in a classroom through art.

Rabia Faridi said: “With the help of colleagues and funded by USAID, I organised a four-day event at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad to celebrate the strength of women. These pictures are from a seminar on women’s rights.”

SENEGAL

Ndeye Absa Gningue sent us pictures of this International Women’s Day event.

SRI LANKA

Anoka Abeyrathne was at an event held in a convention centre in Colombo, attended by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge and featuring a discussion on the inclusivity of women in political processes and the importance of education for women. Here are some of the young people who were at the event.

SWEDEN

Nargiza Kilichova, originally from Uzbekistan, held an event devoted to World Book Day and International Women’s Day to discuss the importance of education and girls’ equal rights to learn. She said: “The youngest participant, who was only four, read a short, inspiring story about how education helps us to improve our lives.”

UGANDA

Tracy Kobukindo from Girl Child Network Uganda was at the local launch of #UpForSchool, where Global Youth Ambassadors and others discussed the challenges facing girls and education – as well as how to sign the petition, use social media to create awareness and volunteer with organisations.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Simran Vedvyas and members of SynergY youth group created a community event on Facebook to let students share their old school photos, together with information and messages of solidarity for girls’ education. Here are some of their pictures. 

UNITED STATES

As well as being a Global Youth Ambassador for A World at School, Lulu Cerone is the founder of LemonAID Warriors, which raises money to provide clean water for people in African countries. They spent International Women’s Day collecting signatures for the #UpForSchool Petition.

YEMEN

Maged Al Gabri shared this picture of a big turnout at an #IWD15 event organised by the GYA team.

And Amani Abdulrahman sent us this picture and said: “I made campaigns in different provinces of Yemen like Sana’a, Taiz,Al Mahra and Hajjah to support education and to stand against early marriage. This is just the beginning because I am going to continue my campaigns and cover more provinces and schools.”

ZIMBABWE

Lisa Chiriseri said: “I engaged the Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Youth Council and his team to make them aware of the petition as well as get them to sign it.” Lisa is seen below with Busi Bango, the President of Proweb, which brings together professional and business women to help the economic and social development of Zimbabwean women.

And this is just some of the amazing work done by our Global Youth Ambassadors. You can read some inspiring blogs about their campaigns and successes here.