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Hundreds of Writers Worldwide Demand Education for All Children
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 18, 2008) — In a global effort, Save the Children has enlisted the support of 260 authors, playwrights and screenwriters from 49 countries to sign to a joint letter demanding United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, and world leaders take action to ensure all children have the opportunity to attend school.
The letter targets world leaders who will meet on September 25, 2008 in New York to discuss how to accelerate action towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Development Goal on education — that by 2015 every child is receiving primary education — will be missed unless urgent action is taken by those with responsibility, power and political will.
View the open letter from 260 authors to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
"781 million people are illiterate worldwide. Those 781 million people cannot understand a voting form, or the label on a medicine bottle. They cannot read a newspaper. They are denied the dignity the ability to read and write brings to people's lives," states the joint letter.
72 million children are missing out on an education, and the opportunity to become literate. Over half of these children, 37 million, live in countries affected by conflict. War in these countries has destroyed schools, forced teachers to flee, and caused education systems to collapse.
"It is a rare occasion that the world's writers come together with such a passionate call to action," says Charles MacCormack, president and CEO of Save the Children, based in Westport, CT. "With hundreds of writers taking a stand to demand education for all children, it demonstrates the global urgency and importance of this issue."
Save the Children has been inviting writers to speak out on behalf of children as part of its Rewrite the Future campaign which aims to change the lives of the many children missing out on education simply because they are born in countries affected by armed conflict. Save the Children has taken direct action to improve the quality of education for 5.7 million children affected by conflict, and has brought the issue of education in situations of emergency and conflict onto the international agenda, calling on the international community to take action.
The writers' support is reminiscent of 1919 when Eglantyne Jebb, the founder of Save the Children, persuaded writers such as George Bernard Shaw, Thomas Hardy and Sigmund Freud to speak out for the injustices suffered by children.
