260 million children couldn’t go to school today. It’s time to #WriteTheWrong
The #WriteTheWrong campaign launched by Theirworld aims to bring awareness to the global education crisis.
October 12, 2018 by Beth Surgenor-Aldridge, Theirworld
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3 minutes read
#Writethewrong

This morning children around the world went to school. They had a day full of learning the building blocks they need for their future - reading, writing, maths, science. But 260 million children couldn’t go to school today. Not because they didn’t want to, but because world leaders have not prioritized their education.

In 2015, world leaders adopted the Sustainable Development Goals. These 17 goals are “the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all” and one - Goal 4 - promises to ensure inclusive, quality education for every child by 2030.

Off track to meet SDG 4

But, despite recent progress, we are not on track to meet this goal. 1 in 5 children worldwide still cannot access education. And in some areas this means an entire generation of children are denied the opportunity to learn the key skills that they need for their future.

These children could be the future doctors, researchers, leaders and teachers of their communities. Instead they are left vulnerable to poverty, abuse, early marriage and human trafficking.

Within the education sector we have been campaigning for an end to this education crisis. But to achieve the goal of getting every child in school by 2030, we need to do more to raise awareness of the scale of the crisis. We need the world to know that children worldwide are denied their basic right to learn. And we need them to tell their leaders to take action.

A new campaign to keep our promise to children

At Theirworld, we believe that when people stand together, change is possible. That’s why we launched #WriteTheWrong, a movement of people demanding action to unlock the classrooms of tomorrow.  A movement to show world leaders that we want to see them keep their promise by investing in education and a brighter future for 260 million children and their families, communities and countries.

The week before the United Nations General Assembly, we launched the film above narrated by actress Gwendoline Christie - best known for Game of Thrones and Star Wars - that dramatically highlights the realities faced by children who are denied access to education. The film has reached millions across social media and has been shared by celebrity supporters including Stephen Fry, Eddie Izzard, Annie Lennox, Matt Lucas and Rainn Wilson.

We shared the film with world leaders during UNGA to remind them of the consequences of their inaction on the global education crisis and the urgent need for them to #WriteTheWrong.

Together we can succeed

Standing together works. Two weeks ago at UNGA, education was high on the agenda. We saw funding pledges for Education Cannot Wait and the Global Partnership for Education. There was also a giant leap forward for the International Finance Facility for Education - a bold education funding plan that could unlock $10bn - when it was backed by world leaders, the business community and international donors, including the World Bank.

But time is running out: we only have 12 years to achieve SDG 4 and give every child access to quality education and learning. So we need to keep education on world leaders’ agenda.

Through the #WriteTheWrong campaign, we will make sure world leaders see the movement of people who want to see them fulfill their promise to #WriteTheWrong.

You can join the movement at writethewrong.org. Every sign-up means that our message will be taken more seriously.

Together we can #WriteTheWrong.

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