*Sheikha Moza, UN chief, other dignitaries attend New York programme held to mark major milestone
*In the next five years Educate A Child to expand its existing programmes and implement new ones
The ambitious goal of educating 10mn marginalised children has been achieved within a short period of five years, Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Founder and Chairperson of Education Above All (EAA) Foundation announced Saturday.
The major milestone was reached through EAA's programme Educate A Child (EAC) and its worldwide partners.
It was promised by Sheikha Moza and EAA partners in 2012 to achieve the milestone of reaching 10mn out of school children in some of the most challenging situations around the world within five years.
During a special Education Above All event co-organised with Unicef at the New York Public Library in New York City, the outstanding achievement was celebrated with the attendance of Her Highness Sheikha Moza, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo, Permanent Representative of Qatar to the UN HE Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif al-Thani, Executive Director of Unicef Henrietta Fore and model philanthropist Naomi Campbell.
Addressing the gathering, Sheikha Moza said that she was delighted at helping 10mn get education. "Experts told me that educating 6mn children would be impossible. But, I refused to believe it. One adviser told me to set a goal that was more realistic. I thought I heard him say, optimistic, so I set a target of 10mn!"
She thanked all the partners of EAA who helped provide education to the 10mn children. Back in 2012, when a total of 60mn young children were out of school, she said she wondered whether it was possible to provide quality education to 10% of those children. "Most of them came from the most marginalised, most vulnerable communities in the world. Many had been displaced, due to conflict; others were refugees, some were fleeing poverty or natural disasters. And none of them were in school."
Sheikha Moza stressed that the next five years will see Educate A Child work to expand its existing programmes and implement new ones. "We will take what we have learned and apply it to the new challenges we face. Going forward, our efforts will require more than money and good intentions."
Sheikha Moza noted that "educating these children will require a real commitment from governments, from the private sector, and from the international community. It will take all of our courage, our strength, and our resilience."
Since this project began, she said Educate A Child has participated in 82 partnerships across 50 countries. They leveraged together a $1.8bn investment. "A third of that sum was from the government of Qatar, stressing that the effort was a truly global one.
"We reached out to the private sector for unique expertise and much-needed resources. We worked with government ministries, public agencies, development banks and community groups. We worked with NGOs, big and small. And we worked with great multi-national organisations like Unicef - experts in child development."
Her Highness Sheikha Moza then moved to discuss the transformative power of education which she saw in places like Bangladesh, Palestine, Turkey, Sudan, Brazil and Kenya. "I have watched as schools were built from scratch, and abandoned buildings turned into classrooms. I have seen children mastering computer skills on refurbished laptops, and I have listened to lessons taught under the shade of a tree, and homework done by candlelight.
"Now there are those who say, yes, education is important, but first we must pave these roads, or train these doctors or build these houses. I know there are competing priorities. But, I say give me 10 reasons why educating the world's out of school children can wait, and Ill give you 10mn reasons why it can't."
She stressed that the desire to learn is one of the most powerful forces of human nature. The EAA chairperson said that helping children fulfil that innate desire is the responsibility of everyone. She highlighted some of the key challenges facing education such as the lack of classrooms, teachers or textbooks. She also highlighted some of the unique obstacles they faced in achieving their goal.
"How do you make the journey to school safe for girls and boys, who need to cross flooded rivers, or walk through wild forests? Where do you put a classroom in a refugee camp? How do you gain the trust of neighborhood leaders who are suspicious of outsiders? And how do you entice boys and girls to come back to a school that had been bombed?"
Sheikha Moza acknowledged that everyone involved with the programme "needed to learn all of these things, and so much more" in order to educate the 10mn children. She added that more work needs to be done to reach the other children who are out of school.
Sheikha Moza concluded her speech by saying: " I can see my friends from EAC rolling their eyes and asking themselves 'does she ever stop'; the answer is no. But, tonight, we take time to celebrate our achievements. And tomorrow, we act on our commitments."
After the speech, she participated in a panel discussion and said that education was the only investment with zero risk. She also called for redoubled efforts as "millions of children are still waiting and in desperate need of our help. Let's work together to ensure a better future for all of them and for the world we share. Believe me, it is possible."
In his keynote address, Guterres spoke of the power of education, saying, "When we educate a child we give her more than books, papers, pencils or a calculator. We give her the tools, skills and imagination she needs to shape the world around her and to make her community, and her society, better, more prosperous and more peaceful."
Sheikha Moza championed education over two decades ago in Qatar with the comprehensive, educational reforms and the establishment of Qatar Foundation. Seeing the transformational power of education in creating a more engaged and empowered generation, she expanded her work internationally to provide the same opportunity of quality education to all out of school children. Today, through her roles as UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocate and Chairperson of EAA, she remains committed to universal education as a global solution to development issues.
