Refugees Need Action, Not Just Advocacy. Urge UNGA to Action Instead of Advocacy. Sign Petition Here.

It’s not just about one’s ability to Google, but it’s building students’ critical thinking skills to be curious, seek information, and know-how to validate their findings. 

As we celebrate women this month, let’s focus on our power to advocate for ourselves and other women. That starts with demanding that we educate all the world’s girls.

The record-setting 118 Congressional seats now held by women in the U.S. House of Representatives have forced the question: Is this the new “Year of the Woman” election? The numbers may play out that way, but the Congresswomen who hold these seats have an immense responsibility to overcome the systemic barriers that have plagued females for generations.

A refugee is defined as a person possessing “a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, [or] membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” This 1951 definition is both prescient in its universality and expresses a deep sense of empathy that seems to be rare in the current political climate. When we think, truly think, haven’t we all seen or known fear at some point? Aren’t we all refugees?

In every crisis country, you will find someone leading refugees in making handicraft in efforts towards building economic independence.

Is this really the best skills to be teaching? Or is it simply the by-product of inherent biases? We need to reexamine how we think about funding nonprofits and what we are willing to support with our dollars; think about how to foster a more equitable society through 21st Century skills and not continue to condemn girls and women in the “pink ghetto.”