#WeTheWomen

Invest in Education and Empower Women and Girls to Lead

International Women's Day Statement by Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif

NEW YORK, March 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Across much of the world, women have endured thousands of years of oppression, subjugation, and systematic denial of reaching our human and economic potential.

Women's education and leadership have been denied, delayed or destroyed. While progress has indeed been made, millions of women around the globe continue to remain shackled by discrimination and deprivation of their rights and their potentials.

Yet, the world needs nothing more today than its equal share of a highly educated and empowered women leadership. 

This year, as people everywhere come together on International Women's Day, #WeTheWomen say no to oppression, say no to the denial of girls' right to a quality education, and say no to entrenched patriarchal systems.

Today, we say yes to girls' education and yes to empowered women's leadership. Awareness and affirmative action must be strengthened globally if we are to truly "Invest in Women to Accelerate Progress".

Overt and covert oppression of all forms, including gender-oppression, undermine our global efforts to deliver on the promises in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the UN Charter and other binding international accords.  

To empower young girls and an entire future generation of women leaders – and to right the wrongs of thousands of years of subjugation – we must invest in a holistic quality education for the girls and young women today. Only by doing so now, can we empower them all the way towards leadership in all areas of work and life.  

It will be an uphill battle. The world is off track in our efforts to achieve our goals for gender equality and quality education by 2030. According to analysis from the United Nations, at our current rate of progress, it will take 300 years to end child marriage, and 140 years to achieve equal representation in leadership in the workplace.

Every young girl has a right to genuinely solid education and life-long learning. Under no circumstances can this right be denied due to her gender. Indeed, through affirmative action and guidance by parents, teachers and society, every girl should be encouraged to reach her full potential and have the option of pursuing her professional path, not as a follower, but as a leader.