Giving Compass' Take:

• Global leaders Justin Trudeau, Emmanuel Macron, and Theresa May led the #LeaveNoGirlBehind meeting at the UN General Assembly which emphasized the need for girls' education around the world. 

• What are the next steps for these global leaders after the call to action? How will they bring about girls' education to the countries that need the most resources but do not have access?

• Read the list of the ten toughest places in the world for girls to go to school. 

Canada’s Justin Trudeau, France’s Emmanuel Macron, and Britain’s Theresa May led the #LeaveNoGirlBehind meeting at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to highlight the urgency and importance of educating women and girls.

A promise was made in 2015 to girls all around the world that everyone would have 12 years of quality education by the year 2030. And, while we’re not there yet, international unity on the issue will drive essential progress.

“We know that empowering through education is key to building a better world, and specifically recognising that for far too long half of our population hasn’t had a real chance, or a fair chance, to get educated, to have the opportunities that they need,” said Trudeau.

“But more than that, it’s not just about fairness, it’s about understanding that if we are to move forward as a world, we need to make sure that everyone, including girls, can achieve their full potential.”

May continued: “By denying girls an education we deny them a voice, we deny them the choice, we deny them their future.”

She called on everyone to join the campaign, the Girls Education Challenge, to commit to the individual, collective, and governmental action that is needed to break down barriers to girls’ education, and to increase girls’ access to schools and learning.

To continue the push for change, May also announced nine new UK aid-supported projects, with the specific aim of targeting the most vulnerable and marginalised girls in the world, to get them into education.

The new projects are part of the second phase of the Department for International Development’s (DfID) flagship Girls Education Challenge, and will support more than 170,000 of the world’s most marginalised girls — including up to 3,500 girls with disabilities.

Read the full article about girls' education by Imogen Calderwood at Global Citizen.