Ending violence is a collective task, no one person can achieve it alone. Sarafina, 18, from Ghana
In June, the UK hosted the G7 Summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall. Prime Minister Boris Johnson gathered leaders from the G7 nations, to reach new agreements on how we can all ‘build back better’ from coronavirus by investing in economies, protecting our planet, and developing new partnerships around the world based on shared beliefs and responsibilities.
Girls’ education was a key priority at this year’s G7 Summit as the United Nations estimates that nearly 5.2 million girls are at risk of not returning to school after the pandemic. To respond to this, at World Vision our G7 engagement was aimed at encouraging the UK Government to not only recognise girls’ education as a priority, but to also recognise the need to address the various barriers to education which children face. This includes discrimination and inequality, lack of gender-sensitive educational environments, financial insecurity, malnutrition, gender-based violence and weak protection systems.
Whilst we welcome the G7 Nation’s commitment to education, within their overall G7 strategy, future generations are hardly mentioned. At World Vision we believe that children are at the heart of ‘building back better’ from COVID-19. Therefore, we continue to advocate for a children’s agenda for a post-pandemic world. One where children are listened to and are able to communicate their own needs and experiences, which then feeds into the policy-making process. We believe the G7 leaders have the opportunity to meaningfully include young people in their decision-making and become champions of the world’s most vulnerable children, however this will be especially difficult given the recent changes to UK Aid funding
G7 Girls’ Education panel event
As part of our series of G7 events, on 15 June, we hosted a webinar panel event alongside the Kenyan and UK Governments to discuss what can be done to remove the barriers to girls accessing education. Speakers included:
- Mark Sheard, World Vision UK CEO
- Helen Grant MP, Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Education (UK Government)
- Dr Sara Ruto, Chief Administrative Secretary for Education (Kenyan Government)
- World Vision Youth Advocates: Sarafina from Ghana and Whytiny and Lidia from Kenya
- Send My Friend to School Youth Advocate: Sophie from the UK
- Erica Hall, World Vision UK Policy Expert
- Noëlla Coursaris Musunka, Founder and CEO of Malaika
This was a unique event that brought together representatives from both the UK and Kenya to discuss how we can collectively address barriers to education whilst listening to the voices and experiences of young people. We look forward to engaging with governments, influencers, and young people on this vital issue again in the future.
The recording of the event is still available to watch. See the video below.
FCDO Young leaders G7 Panel Event | World Vision UK – YouTube
We are very proud of what we achieved over the past month, and we are building upon our G7 work as we look forward to the Global Partnership for Education summit on the 28-29 July. This summit, co-hosted by the UK and Kenya, will be a key moment for the global community to come together to build upon advance commitments to get all children into school and learning.
Global Education Summit Side Event: Education and Safety – Listening to what ‘Build Back Better’ means for girls
On the 26 July, we are hosting an event alongside Girls Not Brides, Malaika and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to hear from the perspectives of girls living in Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe on the challenges they face accessing quality education and being protected from violence. They will also share their recommendations for solutions to these issues.
If you would like to join us, please register here – Webinar Registration – Zoom
This is lining up to be an amazing event as we provide space for young people to share their insights on the importance of education and what can be done to end violence to build a better future for every girl.