New York: The ambitious goal of educating 10 million marginalised and vulnerable children has been achieved within a short span of five years, Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Founder and Chairperson of Education Above All (EAA) Foundation announced this during a special Education Above All event co-organised with UNICEF at the New York Public Library in New York City . The major milestone was reached through EAA’s programme Educate A Child (EAC) and its worldwide partners. It was promised by HH Sheikha Moza and EAA partners in 2012 to achieve the milestone of reaching 10 million out of school children in some of the most challenging situations around the world within five years. The outstanding achievement was celebrated with the attendance of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Executive Director of UNICEF Henrietta Fore and many more.
Addressing the gathering, Sheikha Moza said that she was delighted at helping 10 million children to get education. “Experts told me that educating 6 million children would be impossible. But, I refused to believe it. One adviser told me to set a goal that was more realistic. I thought I heard him say, optimistic, so I set a target of 10 Million”
HH Sheikha Moza acknowledged that everyone involved with the program “needed to learn all of these things, and so much more” in order to educate the 10 million children. HH Sheikha Moza added that more work needs to be done to reach the other children who are out of school.
HH Sheikha Moza concluded her speech by saying: “Tonight, we take time to celebrate our achievements. And tomorrow, we act on our commitments.”
In Pakistan American Refugee Committee (ARC) and the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MOENT), Government of Pakistan, have launched a country wide program with the collaboration of Education Above All (EAA) Qatar; to enroll one million out of school children under the “Educate a Child” program to improve education outcomes. ARC-Pak chief representative Dr. Tariq Cheema participated in the event held in New York and reiterated ARC-Pak commitment towards EAA’s goals of educating children.