Author: Ilana Drake

news of young women being
unable to attend school in
afghanistan because of the
taliban means the world
needs to fight,
the world needs to fight
for women

because 130 million girls
lack access to education,
too large a number for
us to sit back as we
focus on what we see
as “progress”

rural girls are 2 times
as likely as urban girls
to be out of school and
period poverty means
that girls miss school

and the social determinants
of health interact with
the ability to access

an education and knowledge is power.

A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and Global Action Week for Education.

Ilana Drake is a sophomore at Vanderbilt University in the U.S. and is studying Public Policy. She is twenty years old and serves as a United Nations UNA-USA Global Goals Ambassador for SDG 4 (Education).