13 June 2018: The Education Above All Foundation has announced that it will provide a quality education for ten million of the world’s most marginalized children. Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, founder and chairperson of the Education Above All Foundation (EAA) and a member of the UN’s Advocates Group of Eminent Personalities on the SDGs, made the announcement at a high-level event attended by other SDG advocates including Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana and co-Chair of the SDG Advocates.

The event convened at the New York Public Library in New York, US, on 27 April 2018. Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the event to stress the power of education for a sustainable future. Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General, and Henriette Fore, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director, also participated, along with SDG Advocates Forest Whittaker, Founder and CEO of the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative, and Dho Young-Shim, Chairperson of the UN World Tourism Organization’s Sustainable Tourism for Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) Foundation.

By working with partners, EAA has enrolled 6.6 million out of school children around the world, and has secured the remaining commitments necessary to reach over ten million children, according to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser called on partners to replicate and scale up the “formula” utilized by EEA’s Educate A Child programme, saying the world is “not a safe place yet.” UNESCO stresses that the provision of education must be supplemented by protection of education and prevention of war, conflict and insecurity.

In June, President Akufo-Addo addressed a group of Ghanaian CEOs regarding their role in implementing the SDGs. Speaking at a meeting with CEOs of Ghanaian and multinational businesses operating in the country, Akufo-Addo said they are “the primary promoters of social and economic transformation,” according to a press release from the presidency. He also told the CEOs that he will “bring you on board” in making sure the SDGs are implemented.

Akufo-Addo said that he aims to mobilize political support for the Goals in the African region. He said the SDGs must not be an “abstract, remote phenomenon” but an “active set of goals within the public consciousness, because people can recognize that they do affect all of us.” [Education Above All website] [EAA Announcement] [Ghana Presidency Press Release] [SDG Advocates News]