Rihanna has revealed her opinion on global education to The Guardian, and used the opportunity to call on the international community to increase support for education.
The singer wrote about her experience while growing up in Barbados, why she launched the Clara Lionel Foundation and serving as an ambassador for the Global Partnership for Education.
According to Rihanna, countries like Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Finland, and New Zealand should pledge more toward the GPE’s goal of “improving education for 870 million children in 89 countries.”
She writes, “As an ambassador for GPE, I’ve met a number of these world leaders and witnessed first-hand how difficult it can be to commit money to education. Investment in education can be more challenging to quantify compared to something like healthcare, which has a more tangible return on investment ($1 will purchase critical vaccines, for example). But that doesn’t mean it’s less important.”
“We as individuals can use our voices to empower these leaders to make education a priority. I hope you all join me on social media in calling on world leaders to step up to the global education challenge.”
she further wrote, “When it comes to helping the world’s poorest children, as well as the communities and societies in which they live, I’m still learning—and I need others to join me on the journey and use their voices alongside mine. If we can overcome the education deficit in the developing world, everybody wins.”
