In this episode, we hear some highlights from Theirworld's International Women's Day event and speak with some of the event's attendees about girls’ education and gender equality Theirworld hosted its 7th annual International Women’s Day event on Thursday 4 March - but went virtual for the first time ever, due to Covid-19.  Covid-19 has put the issue of girls’ education firmly in the spotlight. Now more than ever, it’s important that we come together to hear from those who are campaigning to break down the barriers facing girls and discuss how we can act to unlock big change in the coming year. Hear from inspiring women, including Maysa Jalbout, Global Business Coalition for Education Advisory Member. Hiba Zakka al-Jamal, Head of SKILD ; Zarlasht Halaimzai, Director and Co-Founder of RTI. And Unlock Big Change Award winner - Theo Sowa, Former CEO of The African Women's Development Fund. As well as Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Barrister and Director of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute. Jasvinder Sanghera CBE, Activist campaigner and founder Karma Nirvana. Tamara Box, Managing Partner, Europe and Middle East, and Senior Management Team, Reed Smith. Lorraine Candy, Journalist, Podcaster and parenting Author. Lorriann Robinson, Founder and Director, The Advocacy Team. Angela Saini, science journalist and author.  

Better Angels with Sarah Brown

International Women's Day 2021 Special #2: Live from Theirworld's virtual event

In this episode, Jamira Burley, Theirworld's Head of Youth Engagement & Skills, talks to two remarkable young women who are doing incredible work on the ground to open up education to the next generation of female leaders.  Together we explore what the global recovery should look like, and why girls’ education needs to be front and centre.  Educating girls creates not only greater equality for women but fairer, healthier and wealthier societies with benefits for everyone.

International Women's Day 2021 Special #1: Youth Activism

Rangina Hamidi, the Minister of Education in Afghanistan, talks to Sarah Brown about growing up as a child refugee in Pakistan. She says she was faced with threats of acid attacks just because she went to school. Her parents decided to flee to America to enable her and her sister to have an education.   She says the struggles she faced as a child made her determined to fight against the injustices in the world.  

UN Special #12: Rangina Hamidi Interview

Sanda Ojiambo, Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, talks to Sarah Brown about how businesses can take positive action to address some of the world's biggest challenges. Talking about climate change, she says that businesses have a choice: they can grow in a "GDP-led way" or follow "a green model of growth". "If [these decisions] are made correctly, we can avert what looks like a very bleak future in terms of climate," she says. She says that the Covid-19 pandemic has presented businesses and the United Nations with “a point of reflection” and an opportunity to reevaluate their priorities.

UN Special #11: Sanda Ojiambo Interview

Danielle Green, a Theirworld Global Youth Ambassador from the United Kingdom, speaks to Sarah Brown about the importance of children receiving a good quality education. Danielle says: “It really matters that children have not just an education or appear in an educational space, but that what they're being taught is really, really relevant and important.” She tells Sarah that a good quality education helps children “take charge of their own destiny.”

UN Special #10: Danielle Green Interview

Palak Sharma, a Theirworld Global Youth Ambassador from India, talks to Sarah Brown about the challenges facing the education system in her country. She says that if the country is serious about advancing education for children, they must address issues around sanitation at the same time.  “The important task right now is to ensure that these two goals of education and sanitisation start working together in collaboration," she says.

UN Special #9: Palak Sharma Interview

Marianne Bitar Karam, Country Director at DOT Lebanon, a non-governmental organisation, speaks to Sarah Brown about the challenges facing children in her country during Covid-19. She says that the digital divide in Lebanon meant that many children were excluded from education because they were unable to access online learning materials during the pandemic. She also says that children in Lebanon were missing out on important lessons in social cohesion. "We've lost something important," she says. "School or the formal education setting was a reason for students and adults to come together and to accept each other, to listen to each other, to create connectors between refugees." Asked what motivates her, Marianne said it is her passion for her job, country and people that drives her to do what she does.

UN Special #8: Marianne Bitar Karam Interview

Obakeng Leseyane, a Theirworld Global Youth Ambassador, talks to Sarah Brown about the transformational impact of education on others. He says that educating even just one child has a "ripple effect" on their community.  Growing up in Rustenburg, South Africa, Obakeng was told that the only way to be successful was to become a platinum miner. He changed his fortune after receiving the highest educational scholarship in South Africa, something his family could have never dreamed of.  He now works in his community to help other children access education opportunities.

UN Special #7: Obakeng Leseyane Interview

Theo Sowa, CEO, The African Women's Development Fund, talks to Sarah Brown about the rampant inequalities around the world which are depriving children of a better future.   She says that in the current situation, children who have benefited the most are those "who are wealthier and who are in economically secure situations." To help the most marginalised children across the globe, she says it is time to get  "radical about our inclusiveness.”  Theo says that good quality education for all children should be seen as just as important as basic needs like food, sanitation and shelter.

UN Special #6: Theo Sowa Interview

Annemiek Hoogenboom, Country Director, People's Postcode Lottery, tells Sarah Brown that "radical goals, patience and execution" are the building blocks for change. She also says that luck has a big part to play. She says: "When we admit that a big part of our success is pure luck, it makes us want to help other people more.“ Annemiek also touches on her mission to improve the plight of girls by advocating for their education. 

UN Special #5: Annemiek Hoogenboom Interview

Sarah Brown talks to Emanuel "Boo Milton", about his work as a community organiser and youth advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. When Covid-19 struck, Boo created activity packs - called Spark Boxes - for children to ensure that they were able to continue their learning during the pandemic.   Talking about the power of learning, he says: "Education unlocks that special light that is inside all of us. I feel like all of us have a greatness that lies within us and education helps us articulate that.”

UN Special #4: Emanuel "Boo Milton" Interview

Tariq Al Gurg, CEO of Dubai Cares, talks to Sarah Brown about the importance in developing countries of providing parents with incentives to send their children to school.  He says that health and sanitation programs which ensure children are fed and kept clean in the classroom help to persuade parents of the benefits of sending their children to school. Al Gurg said that instead of going to school girls in poorer countries are often made to stay at home to help with the domestic responsibilities while boys are sent to work to earn money for their families. He also argued that without quality education some of the greatest problems facing humanity, like COVID-19, will never be resolved.

UN Special #3: Tariq Al Gurg Interview

John Goodwin, CEO of The LEGO Foundation, talks to Sarah Brown about the need to “redefine” play and “reimagine” learning.  He argues that play is often overlooked by society when in fact it helps children to develop important skills for adult life, such as critical thinking and problem solving. “Play is the way that children are naturally wired to learn and by subjugating it to the end of line means that children are really inhibited from having the opportunity to get the maximum learning opportunity,” he says. John also talks about the important role that education played in his own life, particularly teachers, who helped him to develop self-belief, confidence and resilience.

UN Special #2: John Goodwin Interview

Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, speaks with Sarah Brown about the need for young people to vote - and to vote well - if they want to make a difference to people’s lives.    In the inaugural episode of this Better Angels podcast series, he argues that voting  is “the most basic and fundamental form of engagement” in democratic countries.   He also discusses the education crisis facing millions of child refugees around the world - a crisis which has been exacerbated by Covid-19.    Calling for greater investment in the education of young refugees, he says that  “education is as important for refugees as it is for anyone”.

UN Special #1: Filippo Grandi Interview

Refugee camps in Greece remain overcrowded and unhygienic beyond imagination, but until Covid-19 struck new education centres were a daily lifeline for children who had fled conflict and persecution, many arriving after perilous journeys from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. This episode provides a glimpse into life in those camps and talks to the team behind Theirworld’s new report that offers a way forward out of the refugee education crisis. Sarah talks to organisations making a difference there, and to two refugees who shed their personal light on what those on the islands are going through. Sarah talks to Maysa Jalbout, author of the report ‘Finding Solutions to Greece’s Refugee Education Crisis’; Justin van Fleet, president, Theirworld; Abi Hewitt, CEO and co-founder of Love Welcomes; Tanko Doris Laure, refugee from Cameroon; Sanda Leslie, refugee from Cameroon; Josie Naughton, chief executive officer, Help Refugees; Naoko Imoto, education chief UNICEF Partnership Office in Greece.   Theirworld is a major funder of education on the Greek Islands – with the support of the People’s Postcode Lotteries and our many individual supporters – in partnering with Education Cannot Wait, UNICEF, UNHCR and many local charities and groups.

Refugee education in Greek islands special

Global campaigner and author Sarah Brown chats with people who've had a positive influence on the world around them, and unearths the lessons to help us do the same. Find out how to develop the better angel inside yourself. Featuring stories from globally renowned campaigners, Nobel Prize winners, celebrities, politicians and remarkable young people, Better Angels with Sarah Brown champions the activist spirit. Credits: Executive Producers: Ben Hewitt & Lolita Laguna Music: Pete Lyons Photo: Brian Aris Studio: People's Postcode Lottery studio in Edinburgh

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Better Angels with Sarah Brown

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