EDUCATE A CHILD RECEIVES PRIX DE LA FONDATION FOR ITS EFFORTS TO PROMOTE THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION

October 19, 2015

DURING THE CLOSING CEREMONY OF AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT ORGANISED BY THE CRANS MONTANA FORUM, EDUCATE A CHILD, A GLOBAL PROGRAMME OF EDUCATION ABOVE ALL, RECEIVED THE ‘PRIX DE LA FONDATION’ FOR ITS EFFORTS TO PROMOTE THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION. THE PRESTIGIOUS PRIZE WAS RECEIVED BY DR MARY JOY PIGOZZI, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATE A CHILD, WHO ALSO SPOKE AT THE SUMMIT. THE EVENT TOOK PLACE IN GENEVA FROM THE 14TH TO 16TH OCTOBER 2015.

Established in 1989, the Prize has been awarded to notable figures that work towards advancing the values of democracy and strive towards the achievement of a better world. Past prize winners have included: Lech Wałęsa, Nobel Prize Winner and former President of Poland, José Manuel Barroso, former President of the European Commission, the late Yasser Arafat, former Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), the late Rafik Hariri, former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, and the late Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Commenting on the award Dr Pigozzi, said: “It is a great honour to receive this prize on behalf of Educate A Child. It is especially encouraging that advocacy efforts to promote the value of education are recognised by the international community gathered this weekend in Geneva. There are 59 million out of school children around the world at the primary level adding these to those who cannot access secondary education and other levely of education, we have a gobal disaster waiting to happen.. In September 2015, UN member states adopted the UN Sustainability Development Goals, including the goal of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all (SDG4). We must keep our promise to the millions of  children who continue to remain out of school. We work closely with our partners around the world, and invest in the methods which already work in order to reach as many children as possible”.

Educate A Child has commitments in place to provide access to quality education to six million children who are out of school by 2015, and aims to reach ten million by the end of 2016.