21 reasons why five million people have signed #UpForSchool
Up for School or #upforschool campaign
Five million and counting! The #UpForSchool Petition has smashed through the five million signatures milestone – in fact it’s just hurtled past 5.5 million and is now speeding towards 10 million names.
That means 5.5 million people who have taken a stand. Who care about the education of children. Who took the time to sign the petition and support our youth-led demand that world leaders stick to their promise to get every girl and boy in every country into school and learning.
They have come from all over the world to join the growing campaign that the international community cannot ignore. People in 206 countries, territories and dependencies in every corner of the globe have added their name to the cause.
We need to keep those signatures coming, to hand over to world leaders when they meet at the United Nations General Assembly in September. Here are some of the reasons why so many people have signed – and why many millions more will join the #UpForSchool campaign.
1. EVERYONE CAN GET INVOLVED
You have a voice. So use it. This new A World at School video sums up the #UpForSchool campaign and why we hope you sign our petition. The message is clear and simple but the difference it can make is enormous.
2. IT’S ALL ABOUT PEOPLE POWER
Young people – like these ones from Girl Child Network Uganda – have had enough of waiting for world leaders to take action. We’ve had youth-led #UpForSchool rallies in cities across the world, including New York, London, Delhi, Kinshasa, Nairobi and Oslo. This movement is growing stronger and cannot be shrugged aside.
3. SIGN ONLINE OR ON PAPER
It’s so easy to sign the #UpForSchool Petition. You can sign on your computer, tablet or mobile here. And organisations around the world – like Green Hope UAE – are taking paper petitions into their communities.
4. MAKE YOUR OWN PETITION
You can personalise the #UpForSchool Petition and make your own page – which can also reflect your own particular reason why every child should be in school. This page belongs to A World at School co-founder Chernor Bah. Start one here.
5. COME UP WITH A PLAN
A staggering one million signatures was collected by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA). Find out how they did it with their five-point plan. As the people spoke, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif backed A World at School’s plea for safe schools to be created in the wake of the Peshawar massacre.
6. STARS ARE JOINING IN
Celebrities looked out their old school pictures on #ThrowbackThursday to mark International Women’s Day and ask their social media followers to sign the #UpForSchool Petition. See some of them here – others are on our home page.
7. YOUTH ARE LEADING
We have more than 500 Global Youth Ambassadors in over 85 countries. They’ve been working so hard in their own communities to spread the #UpForSchool message and collect petition signatures. Here’s Laetitia Mundele talking to students at a school in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
8. STUDENTS ARE COLLECTING
The Cool kids at #StPetersCollege are #UpForSchool, Are you? Sign here: http://t.co/u72QOzsAdj pic.twitter.com/oa8tbyo77n
— Dennis Ngango (@DennisNgango) April 23, 2015
Students in various countries are getting engaged with the #UpForSchool campaign and collecting signatures in their classrooms.
9. ORGANISATIONS HAVE A VISION
When World Vision Bangladesh sprang into action, it was a joy to behold. Rallies, school visits and door-to-door collections. The result? An astonishing 1.5 million signatures. Find out how they did it.
10. CHURCHES SPREAD THE WORD
In Brazil, Santa Cecilia e Sao Pio X Church in Rio de Janeiro asked the congregation to get behind the campaign and to unite with other faiths around the world. Find out more about the Brazil campaign.
11. COMMUNITIES ARE MARCHING
The community of Kibera in Kenya stood #UpForSchool with a noisy rally led by Shining Hope for Communities (aka Shofco) and the wonderful Kibera School for Girls.
12. TEACHERS ARE HELPING
Lessons plans, real-life stories, powerful films. They’re all in the Teacher’s Pack, which educators are now using in the classroom to teach their students about the global education crisis and how they can help to make a difference. Download the Teacher’s Pack here.
13. PEOPLE ARE NETWORKING
The Bangladeshi organisation BRAC used its vast network of schools and adolescent development clubs across the country to collect a magnificent 1.2 million signatures. See more pictures here.
14. CHILDREN ARE CHANTING
Calling on the Indian government to spend more on education and health, children stood #UpForSchool in Delhi. See more pictures.
15. TWITTER IS TRENDING
Ordinary people, famous names, politicians and activists. Thousands of people across the world have been pushing the #UpForSchool Petition on Twitter. See a selection of them on our #UpForSchool newsfeed.
16. GLOBAL NAMES ARE JOINING
The campaign is growing by the day. In the past few days, we’ve had a celebrity-backed launch in the Philippines (including Asia’s Got Talent presenters Marc Nelson and Rovilson Hernandez, pictured above) and The Salvation Army called on its worldwide membership to sign the petition.
17. ACTIVISTS ARE FILMING
Global Youth Ambassador and film-maker Jamil from Kabul rises #UpForSchool with this haunting video made in the wake of the Peshawar school massacre.
18. AVAAZ IS APPEALING
In the wake of the Peshawar school massacre in Pakistan, the campaigning website Avaaz carried our petition. Find out how Avaaz supporters are driving home the message.
19. WORLD LEADERS ARE SIGNING
Global Youth Ambassador Hellen Griberg managed to get not one, but two, prime ministers to sign before grabbing a selfie. Here she is with Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg and former Australian PM Julia Gillard, now chair of the Global Partnership for Education. See more pictures and a chat with Hellen.
20. IT’S A NOBEL CAUSE
When Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi received their joint Nobel Peace Prizes, 6000 Norwegian children held a Peace Party outside and asked people around the world to sign #UpForSchool.
21. SHARING IS EASY
We’ve got loads of great social share images, #UpForSchool Petition forms, sample letters, blogs and press releases for you to download and get campaigning. They’re all here.
…AND IT CAN BE FUN
Yes, getting every child into school is serious stuff. But collecting signatures for #UpForSchool can be fun too. Here’s Egyptian Global Youth Ambassador Amal Abdulkader AL-Ariq; a dog signing #PupForSchool on National Puppy Day; and #UpForSchool cakes at England’s Winchester University.
You can join in now. Check out our #UpForSchool action pack for more information about how to get involved.
So have you signed the #UpForSchool Petition yet? Yes? Then thank you so much. No? Well, what are you waiting for? Act now – sign #UpForSchool and become part of the growing global movement.
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