Town Hall tributes to our #UpForSchool Petition partners
Campaigns
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Some of our partners address the Town Hall audience Picture: Steve Gong
An incredible 10 million people around the world signed our #UpForSchool Petition. But we wouldnt have been able to reach that astounding total without the help of some very special supporters.
Many of them were recognised at our event in New York last week held to mark the petition being handed in to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.
Heres another thank you to these amazing organisations and people who helped to shout out the message that every child deserves to be in school. All pictures are by Steve Gong for A World at School.
MUSLIM AID
An amazing two million signatures were collected by this UK-based charity . At The Town Hall, USA country director Salaudeen Nausrudeen pictured with UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown said: We were excited from day one until today and our commitment continues, not only for the kids of Gaza and Palestine and Syria but the kids around the world who deserve an education now.
SHOFCO
Shining Hope For Communities is based in Africas biggest slum Kibera in Kenya. SHOFCO held a major . Its founder Kennedy Odede pictured with his wife Jessica Posner told the event: We went door by door and the kids felt part of it. When you are poor you become invisible but we became visible. They felt they are part of this country, they are part of this global world.
ITA
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aaagahi in Pakistan by going door to door,holding events, going to schools and universities and using its network of Education Youth Ambassadors. At The Town Hall event, Baela Raza Jamil, ITA Adviser/Trustee, said: The youth have been our transformative power. Once they have a mission and they have been given the skill and commitment and the motivation, they have shown unstoppable energy.
WALK FREE
The organisation was represented in New York by Alex Monroe, Senior Campaigns Manager in the United States on the microphone in our picture. He said: Getting every child into school is a monumental step toward eradicating child slavery. We are so excited to be part of this huge day for global education.
PHILIPPINES FOUNDATION
Evelin Weber writer, entrepreneur and Philippines Ambassador for A World at School has helped to mobilise thousands of people to back the #UpForSchool Petition and is behind the . She said: The campaign has transcended boundaries, cultural norms, political and religous biases. It has become the string that has attached all education movements within the Philippines.
ANGRY BIRDS
Rovio Entertainment, the company behind the massively popular games brand, produced a to support the petition persuading thousands of fans to give their backing to the campaign. The Mighty Eagle of Angry Birds, Peter Vesterbacka pictured with Tiina Rantakokko was at the launch of the #UpForSchool Petition a year ago and returned last week to the Town Hall event.
BRAC
The largest NGO in the world and adolescent development clubs across Bangladesh to collect 1.2 million names. HereDr Muhammed Musa from BRACgets a handshake from Mr Brown.
WORLD VISION
World Vision Bangladesh by activating a network of children, parents, teachers and community and religious leaders. It shared messages on child forums, held youth rallies, went into classrooms, visited markets and went door to door in villages across the country. Pictured is CEOKevin Jenkins taking a bow.
SALVATION ARMY
The organisation in countries across the world, withsignatures collected in time for the church and charitys 150th anniversary congress in London in July. At the Town Hall, presenter and TV star Rainn Wilson said the Salvation Army has been highlighting the injustice and the dehumanising effects of being out of school. Pictured is Dean Pallant with Salvation Army colleagues.
GLOBAL YOUTH AMBASSADORS
A World at Schools network of 500 are in 85 countries around the world spreading the #UpForSchool message throughout their communities. More than 30 of them travelled to New York to be at the Town Hall and share ideas and stories at our headquarters.
ANCEFA
The has been with the #UpForSchool campaign since its launch, campaigning across the continent. Here Gordon Brown shares the #UpForSchool Petition book with ANCEFAs Boaz Waruku and Solange Koumbon.
SAVE THE CHILDREN & FUNDACAO ABRINQ
Staff from Save The Children in Norway known as Redd Barna and Fundacao Abrinq from Brazil were at the New York gathering. Last year Redd Barna to mark the Nobel Peace Prize awards and to promote the #UpForSchool Petition. Pictured is Maite Fernandez Gauto of Fundacao Abrinq.
PLAN INTERNATIONAL
One of the leading child rights organisations and a champion for education, leading advocacy around the world. Plan has worked with A World at School on several projects and recently some of its youth activists in Indonesia to raise awareness of #UpForSchool. Plans Gorel Bogarde is pictured with youth activists.
THANDI TUTU
The Chief Executive of TutuDesk, which aims to provide 20 million mobile desks to children in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020. Her father, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, becoming the sixth millionth person to add their name.
CSEI
The works to help excluded communities in India, including Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims particularly focusing on aiding young people and women into education and employment. CSEI promoted #UpForSchool at a . Illiterate children working in the rubbish dumps of the city added their thumb prints to the petition.
AVAAZ
The campaigning website Avaaz last December. Hundreds of thousands of people honoured the memory of the victims of the Peshawar school massacre in Pakistan by signing. It helped to take the number of signatures at the time past one million.
WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT
Silvana Koch-Mehrin, founder of Women In Parliament, was at the event. Host and TV star Rainn Wilson said: Shes helped mobilise women parliamentarians from around the globe to stand #UpForSchool.
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