Today, 62 million girls around the world are not receiving a secondary education, for reasons such as gender inequality, lack of money, child marriage or commitment to family work.

If countries fund continued education, however, extreme poverty can be alleviated. Girls that go to school suspend unwanted marriages and pregnancies, are less susceptible to HIV and AIDS, have greater access to healthcare and gain knowledge and skills that lead to a sustainable life and increased earning.

As a host of the 2015 Global Citizen Festival, Stephen Colbert believes that supporting female education is the right thing to do and crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty. Colbert supports the Global Partnership for Education, a movement that ensures quality education for children in 60 developing countries. In order to continue funding education, however, the organization needs to disperse at least $15 billion a year and would like to do so by 2020.

Because Norway is an international leader in funding education, Colbert decided to lead an invasion into the country via Twitter. He and many other supporters tweeted at Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, encouraging her to further support education by giving the Global Partnership for Education $100 million each year for five years. Colbert explained that if Norway agreed to increase their support, the rest of the world would follow.

Fortunately, Solberg heard Colbert loud and clear. She responded shortly after his invasion, expressing her support for girls education and explaining that equal and accessible education builds secure futures. Norway is financially increasing their support for universal education and encouraging other countries to do the same.

Solberg also confirmed that she will attend the Global Citizen Festival in September in support of girls education.

The power of people coming together is truly inspiring and clearly successful. Social media has the power to unite citizens to establish good in the world, and Colbert successfully took to Twitter to increase funds for girls’ education and ensure that education is universally accessible for all children.

– Sarah Sheppard

Sources: Global Citizen 1, UNICEF, Global Partnership, Global Citizen 2
Photo: Android Headlines