News and Studies

Malala Returns to School!

Malala, a brave advocate for girls' education, returns to school. Image via Business Insider

Malala, a brave advocate for girls' education, returns to school. Image via Business Insider

The world’s youngest Nobel Peace Prize nominee. TIME’s Person of the Year candidate. Education activist. Writer. Survivor.

These are just a few of the titles Malala Yousafzai, a 15-year-old girl from Pakistan, has earned. But beyond her titles and international accolades, Malala is a force for change and embodies fight for girls’ education.

On October 9, 2012, Malala was shot by Taliban gunmen on her way to school (full story here). She was attacked doing exactly what she had dedicated her life to – ensuring that girls worldwide have equal access to education. After enduring life-threatening injuries less than six months ago, Malala is returning to school once more!

Calling her return to the classroom “the most important day of her life,” Malala will renew her studies in the U.K. In a statement she prepared with her family, Malala said, “I am excited that today I have achieved my dream of going back to school. I want all girls in the world to have this basic opportunity.”

Her strength, determination and impassioned demands captured headlines around the world. However, before she was the center of international media attention, she was authoring her own headlines. At the age of 11, Malala began blogging about her desire for all girls to be enriched by receiving an education and her dream of serving as a doctor. Though her blog was at first anonymous and shared through the BBC, she later revealed her identity and became a target of the Taliban.

However, the Taliban’s attempts to extinguish her voice only fueled her fire. Her attempted assassination has prompted international political response, calls for a “Malala and 32 Million Girls Day” to be celebrated on November 10 and amplified demands worldwide for gender equity in education.

As Malala returns to school, we celebrate her strength and voice, as well as the millions around the world who are committed to ensuring that all girls are empowered and encouraged to use theirs.

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Mark Your Calendar: Nov. 10 is Malala Day

If you’ve been following girls’ education news or this blog, I’m sure you’ve already heard of Malala Yousafzai. Her story has flooded the international news circuit, and people across the globe are realizing just how dangerous it can be to be a girl with a book. Many have stood up to speak against the violent actions of the Taliban and to carry on Malala’s voice for education rights while she recovers — perhaps none more so than Gordon Brown, the UN Special Envoy for Global Education. (You can read his views on the situation here.)

On November 10, Brown is calling for a day of action in honor of Malala, and he’ll be hand-delivering a petition to President Zardari of Pakistan asking him to lead governmental policy changes to protect the right to education for all the girls in his country. He’ll set up a timetable with the president to ensure real change happens — the change Malala and so many girls like her need so desperately in their home country.

So it starts here: One girl, one petition, one slow start to policy change. You can sign the petition at educationenvoy.org, like we did, and be part of the movement for girls’ education with all of us at She’s the First.

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A Name You Should Know: Malala Yousafzai

In the girls’ education sphere, certain people enjoy something similar to “hero” status. Many of us would list Nick Kristof, with his illuminating Times columns, and his wife Sheryl WuDunn, who co-authored Half the Sky with him. Others would look to strong women fighting for human rights, like Hillary Clinton, Aung San Suu Kyi, Queen Rania, or Somaly Mam; still others would name figures like Fawzia Koofi, with her rise to potentially take over as Afghanistan’s first female president. Then there are the superstar organizations and campaigns — Room to Read, 10×10, The Girl Effect — that push for higher rates of international education every day, and the foundations — Women Moving Millions, Gates Foundation,  Novo Foundation — that make change possible. On top of all of these, I know we all have our own personal heroes as well; mine are Ana Teresa, Jancy, and the many other girls we sponsor, as well as the partners we work with on the ground.

But out of all those names in that thick paragraph, out of all these organizations and figure-heads and world-travelers and politicians, there’s one name you should–you need–to know: Malala Yousafzai.

Malala is 14, and has been fighting for girls’ education rights since she was 11, when she started an anonymous blog to give voice to the girls oppressed by the Taliban in Pakistan.

On Tuesday, she was shot for that voice, once in the head and once in the neck.

There has already been quite a bit of media attention around Malala’s case, and if you want more details, you can find them here. But instead of hashing through the who/what/where of the tragedy, let’s discuss one fact made incredibly clear by this horrific situation: Girls’ education is powerful. Malala believed in it so much that even at age 11, she was willing to stand up to a terrorizing regime and fight for her right to it, knowing that it could change her life and the lives of all the girls around her. It’s so powerful that the Taliban was willing to track down a school bus and shoot a teenager, because her voice was such a threat to them. There are few things in this world that could motivate such actions, and if there is a takeaway here, it’s that Malala was fighting for girls’ education because she knew how much change it could bring, and how much change was needed for everyone around her.

Tomorrow is the International Day of the Girl, and I know many of us will spend it thinking about this girl in particular. I don’t know Malala, but I wish I did. Because even as she lays in a hospital bed in Peshawar, 14 years old and struggling to stay alive, she is the most powerful person I know of.

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World Day Against Child Labour: A Spotlight on Girls

Photo from the International Labour Organization

Hundreds of millions of children throughout the world are involved in work that deprives them of adequate education, health, and their fundamental human rights. Today marks the tenth annual World Day Against Child Labour, an occasion meant to highlight the lives of these children.

Currently the International Labour Organization, the organization that first launched this event in 2002, estimates that 215 million children worldwide are involved in child labour. While the majority work in agriculture, there are still many who are forced into its worst forms: prostitution, armed conflict and slavery.  For obvious reasons, this has a devastating effect on a child’s future.

This year’s theme, Human Rights and Social Justice, is about more than just protecting children from child labour. It’s about helping the world’s youth fulfill their true potential. There are nearly 90 million girls between 5 and 17 years old involved in child labor across the globe today. That’s 90 million girls who are working instead of attending school.

Girls who are harvesting sugar cane instead of reading.

Girls who are breaking rocks instead of practicing their arithmetic.

Girls who are busy providing for their family instead of dreaming about their future.

The truth is that child labour is intrinsically tied to our work here at She’s the First and it’s an obstacle that cannot be overlooked in our fight for universal education. Research shows the more a child works, the less time she will spend in school–making her chances of graduating nearly impossible. Unfortunately this only perpetuates the problem, helping the cycle of poverty reach into future generations.  As a global community, we must work together to find real solutions to this growing crisis. Solutions that keep our kids in the classroom, so they can go on to find honorable jobs that pay a fair wage.

Today is about the millions of boys and girls, each uniquely full of hope and promise, out there working right now. They deserve better. Join us as we stand for them today and everyday.

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Let’s Discuss: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Anti-Gay…?!

Earlier this morning, we sent a tweet from the She’s the First account labeling Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as one of the women we’d most want to interview if we had the chance—and received a response from a follower who linked to this Guardian article, published on Monday, with a video of the Liberian president acknowledging that she is not in support of repealing anti-gay laws, as Liberia has “certain traditional values that we would like to preserve.”

Yikes.

First, a little background on Sirleaf, and why this comes as such a shock: She was the first woman to ever be elected in Africa, and has over 25 years of political experience both in Africa and in the international realm. She’s largely credited with starting the healing process for Liberia after years of civil war, rebuilding infrastructure and institutions within the country while working to pay off their international debts. She was re-elected as president in 2011, when she also won the Nobel Peace Prize (along with two others) for her work in promoting the health, safety, and equality of women in Africa (who, by and large, drive her to victory in both elections). Her memoir, This Child Will Be Great, chronicles not only her own path to the presidency but Liberia’s struggles over the years to reach stability. It’s safe to say that she’s been heralded in the international community as a great politician, a remarkable leader, and a strong voice for women.

And now, this:

So here are our discussion points:
• Can a Nobel Peace Prize winner be anti-gay? The honor is bestowed upon those who fight for human rights—and without a doubt, Sirleaf has been an amazing advocate for women’s rights in her own country and throughout Africa. If women’s rights are human rights, should gay rights be human rights, too? Currently, the law punishes anyone charged with “voluntary sodomy” with up to a year in prison. Should a president who accepts that law be considered on par with Elie Wiesel and Martin Luther King, Jr.? Or does her extended good works for the people of Liberia in a time of healing and for women across Africa cancel this out?

• It would probably be political suicide for her to repeal these laws. Liberia is not a liberal country. My guess is that should she come out in favor of repealing these laws, or make it a part of her goals for this term, she would find herself facing repeated backlash (and riots) from her own electorate, with a smattering of international applause. Her first responsibility is to follow the will of her people, and she’s doing that here. Of course, this is her last legal term as President, but her 25 years of past political experience suggests she doesn’t plan on quitting the arena anytime soon. Leaving her personal feelings for the issue aside, is it okay for her to leave these laws on the books if it means that ultimately, she can do more good for her country and her people in other ways (education, infrastructure, job creation) that those before her have utterly failed to do?

In the end, she’s still at the top of my list for women I’d want to interview: Her tireless work for women and for Liberia has to be respected, and while I absolutely disagree with the current Liberian laws and her stance on their repeal, it would certainly make for an interesting tête-à-tête, wouldn’t it?

Comment time: Tell me what you think.

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Let’s Discuss: The Kony 2012 Campaign

If you’ve logged onto Facebook or Twitter in the past 24 hours, chances are that you’ve already seen mention of the Kony 2012 campaign—along with endless comments on it. Whether your friends are excited to “cover the night” on April 20 or critiquing Invisible Children’s mission, there is a big conversation going on.

At She’s the First, we’re having the same discussion you are. As a story-driven non-profit, we have to admire the way IC created such a huge viral campaign, becoming a household name literally overnight. And with it? They’ve made a truly despicable man notorious for his crimes against the most innocent of humanity, and pushed our generation into becoming more globally aware. So far, so good. But there are a lot of other, less positive reactions floating around too. For every “Now is the time” post I see, there’s another stating “Know where your money goes: Invisible Children only gives 32 percent of its funding to programs!” (You can see their financials here.) But we want to hear what you think about all of this, so let’s run through some of the major arguments floating around out there:

• The film is too simplistic vs. Awesome cause marketing. It just isn’t as easy as “Capture Kony, end the war, end the use of child soldiers.” Obviously, the children affected by war will need more than a ride home, and IC has addressed some of this (and various other critiques) on its page (read it here). But just as complex as what happens next is what came before: The history of the LRA is long and complicated, as are the various political forces in action in the region. You can get an idea of just how complex in this article by Foreign Affairs, written in November of last year. Of course, the simplicity of the video is a large part of what made it successful, and turned it into what is now a verifiable movement. So the big question here: Should we dumb down the message if it means the message will spread further, faster? Or does the nonprofit world have an obligation to illuminate the full story, even if it means no one will take the time to sit through the video and learn all the complexities of a situation? (Dave Algoso identifies “Advocacy’s Golden Rule” in his post, and I think it’s one to live by: Simplify, but don’t distort.)

• “We need military intervention to capture Kony” vs. “We shouldn’t work with the Ugandan military.” The campaign wants the U.S. to continue to work in Uganda to stop the LRA and capture Kony, and supports working with the Ugandan military. The Pros: The Ugandan military is, while not perfect, the most stable and equipped in the region, and has reason to want Kony captured for past ills. The Cons: Ugandan military does have many of its own issues in maintaining authority without violence and/or rape, and the LRA hasn’t actually posed a threat to Uganda since around 2003. (More on those points here.) One of the very few Ugandan views of American military intervention—an important view to include, I think—I’ve found is here, on the blog Africa is a Country. This question gets into much larger issues (When is it okay for the U.S. to intervene? When are we obligated to?) and gets very political very quickly, but the easiest question to tackle here might be whether this is the most strategic way to end the violence, or if militarizing the area further will simply lead to more violence down the road.

• White Man’s Burden vs. Youth Activism. Chris Blattman argues this on his blog: “There’s also something inherently misleading, naive, maybe even dangerous, about the idea of rescuing children or saving of Africa.” Even more notably, take a look at this comment by Ugandan reporter Rosebell Kagumire, on the blog Under the Banyan, which starts with, “I viewed it [the video] this morning and the first 5 minutes told me this was another effort by a good white American guy trying to save my people.” On the flip side of this argument is that encouraging youth to be more globally-minded, to engage in service, and to care about humanity can only be a good thing, right? At She’s the First, we talk every day about the power of youth to change the world, and we believe it—but we also believe that education is the key to helping yourself, and your country, to overcome obstacles. So where is the line between “Youth as activists who can change the world” and “Youth as saviors for the downtrodden”?

So let’s discuss. What do you think, about the campaign’s marketing techniques, about the U.S. presence in Uganda, about youth activists?

(Again, for good measure, Invisible Children’s response to various critiques is here, for reference.)

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Education is the Key to Peace and Development

Girls at the Ayak Anguei Girls’ Primary Boarding School in South Sudan

Here at She’s the First, our top priority is to help girls in developing countries become the first in their families to graduate. We’re all about creating a world with strong, well-educated female leaders that can not only win today’s fight against poverty and injustice, but also inspire future generations to do the same. But what about using education to support world peace?

One recent study suggests the benefits of education extend beyond what we already know (a delay in marriage & childbirth, decreased vulnerability to HIV/AIDs, higher earning potential, etc.) and may actually play a more important role than previously thought in the peacebuilding process in conflict-affected countries.

The report, put out by the Education and Emergencies and Post-Crisis Transition (EEPCT) program – a partnership between UNICEF, the Government of the Netherlands and the European Commission, discusses the fact that the majority of the world’s out-of-school children are located in conflict zones. We all know access to quality education is not always possible in the midst of conflict, but this study suggests more focus should be paid to how and when education is reintroducted in post-conflict societies:

“Education is deeply implicated in processes of socialization and identity formation, is vital for economic growth and individual and national advancement, and can act as an important vehicle for social cohesion and reconciliation…we need to ensure that it is delivered effectively and equitably and is a driver of peace rather than war.”

The report goes on to suggest that education play a more prominent role in all stages of the peacebuilding process, even throughout the conflict itself and especially in the immediate post-war period. Even more, it is argued that education has the power to serve as vehicle for change in society, providing children with values and attitudes that not only combat conflict, but also create a more productive and developed economy.

We told you that educating a girl could change the world!

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