How Rihanna is fighting for access to education
More and more, Rihanna is dedicating herself to improving the lives of others.
One week after raising nearly $6 million for her Clara Lionel Foundation, which helps young people around the world, the singer expressed her commitment to global education in an op-ed in The Guardian newspaper.
“We must fight for the quarter of a billion young people still denied an education by conflict, poverty, sexism and bad policy,” she wrote.
“Education can be stolen from you in a second,” she continued. “As we’ve seen recently on an unprecedented scale, the Caribbean gets hit by natural disasters that wipe out schools, leaving thousands of children stranded.”
Rihanna, 30, grew up in Barbados and wrote that while she didn't always love going to her classes, she realizes now that perhaps she took her formal education for granted. Now, the singer is determined to make sure young people aren't denied the opportunity to go to school.
“The lack of access to education for children around the world is a massive problem, but that does not mean we should throw up our hands in despair and surrender,” she wrote. “Instead, we need to take on as much of the challenge as we can manage to set an example and see the difference. This is what has driven me to prioritize global education in my philanthropy and advocacy work. The notion that millions of children are desperate to go to school and are not given the opportunity is something I cannot accept.”
Rihanna also explained the mission of the Clara Lionel Foundation, which she launched in 2012, and how she was inspired by her trip to the African nation of Malawi.
“We fund programs that remove barriers to education by offering financial support to children and their communities," she said. "And following our time in Malawi, I am proud to say we are supporting thousands of girls there to move through secondary school.”
“If we can overcome the education deficit in the developing world,” Rihanna concluded, "everybody wins.”
