A group of Hollywood celebrities have banded together to throw their support for education for girls. Lady Gaga, Blake Lively and Natalie Portman are just some of the famous names who have signed the open letter spearheaded by ONE.
Entertainment Weekly reports that Ryan Reynolds, Neil Patrick Harris, Robin Wright, David Oyelowo and Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg also signified their support for girls' education. ONE hopes that this move will encourage world leaders to make education more accessible to over 130 million young women all over the world.
"In the poorest countries girls are denied it more often than boys," the letter stated, as posted on ONE. "Every additional year of school that a girl completes increases her future earnings, which is good for her family, her community and her country."
ONE is also encouraging any individual to show their support by affixing their name in the letter. By gathering the signatures, the charitable organization hopes that it will be enough to convince leaders to create laws and policies that would make education for girls a top priority.
Over 104,000 signatures have been gathered so far, as of press time. ONE hopes that the number will increase by the time International Women's Day is observed on March 8, as this will be the date when world leaders will receive the signatures.
A video posted by onecampaign (@onecampaign) on Jan 12, 2017 at 7:20am PST
ONE was founded in 2004 by U2 lead singer Bono and has since amassed seven million members and advocates all over the world. According to Teen Vogue, the organization's advocacy includes ending poverty and diseases, especially in deprived areas in Africa.
But the organization has also launched campaigns in support of women, such as "Poverty Is Sexist," which includes making education for girls more attainable. Learn more about ONE and its campaigns in the video below.
