Students Across US Watch HE NAMED ME MALALA and Call on Congress to Support Girls’ Education
This spring, Students Stand #withMalala, a partnership between Malala Fund and Participant Media, gave 20,000 DVDs of HE NAMED ME MALALA to teachers and students so thousands of young people could have the opportunity to watch the documentary film in schools across the United States.
Inspired by Malala’s message, thousands of student and education activists joined the campaign. They used the film to encourage audience members to take action for girls’ education.
And the response was tremendous.
They joined Malala and urged the US government to allocate $1 billion for global education programmes, ensuring that every girl has access to 12 years of school. They sent letters, tweeted and picked up the phone to ask their members of Congress to prioritise girls’ education.
Thanks to the support of students and educators across the US, over 347 representatives heard our call to action. This is huge!
In June, Malala Fund President Meighan Stone was invited to testify before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. At the “Barriers to Education Globally: Getting Girls in the Classroom” hearing, she read a letter on behalf of Malala and carried messages from our supporters that girls’ access to secondary education must be a priority.
The budget process is still underway, but we’re so grateful to the thousands of supporters standing #withMalala to insist every girl is able to receive the education she deserves.
Here are some of our favorite moments from the Stand #withMalala campaign from earlier this year:
Malala Fund, RESULTS and Participant Media co-hosted a screening of HE NAMED ME MALALA with senior-level congressional staff and key decision makers on Capitol Hill. At the panel discussion following the film, we shared our message from supporters that Congress commit to fund global education programmes.
ONE Campus challenged their chapters to screen HE NAMED ME MALALA and participate in our advocacy action. As a result, over 700 handwritten letters were sent to Congress from almost 50 chapters! Read ONE Campus’s challenge recap here.
By the end of May 2016, our friends at Girl Up hosted over 105 screenings of HE NAMED ME MALALA in 27 states and 9 countries, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and India.
Girls Learn International activists spread Malala’s message by hosting screenings for their communities throughout the country this spring.
The Global Campaign for Education (GCE-US) student leaders brought HE NAMED ME MALALA to their campuses across the US.
And, finally She’s the First rallied 1,000 students across the country to watch the film.
Malala Fund would like to send a huge thanks to all that screened HE NAMED ME MALALA and participated in our advocacy action.
Want to host your own screening? Find information on how to get started on our Host A Screening page. You can also head to our students page to find more ways to join our movement and stand #withMalala.
