.@Politician, photo ops are not enough. #Dayofthegirl

130 million out-of-school girls need leaders to do more and invest in their education.

Girls from across Latin America came together in Mexico City to talk about girls’ education in their communities (Credit: Alicia Vera for Malala Fund)

Today is International Day of the Girl (IDG) — so you’ll probably see a lot of politicians tweeting pictures of themselves with inspiring girls and making bold statements about what they have done or plan to do to make girls’ lives better and easier.

IDG is a chance to thank them for their support, but also remind them that their commitment to girls should be more than a photo op.

130 million girls are out of school today. Despite repeated promises (some of them even made on previous IDGs), leaders are only investing about half the money needed to send all children to school. In some countries, spending on education is actually decreasing.

But I have good news, too. Some leaders are waking up to the problem and want to do something about it. And that’s thanks to you, me and Malala — there are millions of us around the world speaking out and telling leaders to get serious about girls’ education.

In July, we convinced prime ministers and presidents at the G20 summit to commit to developing new ways to fund education and investing more in existing organisations.

Last month at the UN General Assembly in New York, Malala and her friends Najlaa and Marie Claire told heads of state they must do more for girls in their own countries and around the world. Secretary General Guterres, French President Macron, President Mutharika of Malawi, Prime Minister Solberg of Norway and President Sall of Senegal all vowed to increase investment in education.

Malala, Najlaa and Marie Claire speak at the high-level education event at UNGA 2017

We need more leaders to join them and commit to investing in girls. And here’s more good news: they have several upcoming chances to prove their promises are real!

• In February, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) will hold a financing conference for governments to contribute funds needed to support education in 89 countries through 2020. We’re calling on leaders to fully fund GPE.
• In April, heads of state from 50 countries in the Commonwealth of Nations meet in London. This meeting happens once every five years — so we want to get as much out of it as possible. To start, we want girls from all 50 countries to have a seat at the table and tell leaders what they need to learn and achieve their potential.
• When leaders of the world’s biggest economies meet at the G7 and G20 summits (held in July and September, respectively), we want girls’ education at the top of their agendas. Stay tuned to find out how you can pressure them to deliver for girls.

By next year’s International Day of the Girl, we’ll know which leaders are keeping their commitment to girls — and which are not. In the meantime, they need to hear from you.

So when you see a politician or leader tweeting or talking about #IDG2017 or #DayOfTheGirl today, ask what his or her government is actually doing to support girls who want to go to school. And let me know if you get an answer!