The Coalition Hosts ‘Girls Education: Global Britain’s Best Foreign Policy Tool’ with Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard AC

Libby Smith, Theo Clarke MP, Harriett Baldwin MP, Rt Hon Lord McConnell, Julia Gillard AC, Baroness Sugg CBE, Alison McGovern MP, Akuja de Garang MBE, Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP

In the lead up to International Women’s Day, the Coalition were delighted to host a packed room in Parliament to hear former Australian Prime Minister and Chair of the Global Partnership for Education Julia Gillard AC discuss the role that Girls Education plays in achieving a more peaceful and prosperous society for everyone.

The event brought together parliamentarians, journalists and civil society to discuss how educating girls is the key to tackling a multitude of the world’s most pressing issues, from conflict to the economy. Alongside Ms Gillard, guests also heard from Baroness Sugg CBE, Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP, Rt Hon Lord Jack McConnell, Alison McGovern MP, Akuja de Garang MBE and Theo Clarke MP.

Theo Clarke MP, a newly elected member of the International Development Select Committee, welcomed guests to the room, and stressed how pleased she was that the government have prioritised this issue.

Acting CEO of the Coalition, Libby Smith then kicked off the speeches with her opening remarks, in which she agreed that the UK should be proud of the government’s commitment to this issue, but warned that with around 130 million girls still denied access to education around the world, there is still a long way to go.

Former Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard AC then provided her keynote address, in which she praised the UK for its leadership on Girls Education, and outlined some of GPE’s achievements in this area; working in 70 of the most acutely affected countries to help more than 77 million more children into schools.

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, Baroness Sugg, then outlined how girls education is inextricably linked to ending preventable diseases, and that she wholeheartedly supported the government's commitments in these areas.

The audience then heard from Akuja de Garang MBE, who runs Girls Education South Sudan (GESS), an organisation which has now reached almost one third of adult women in the country. Garang demonstrated how their cash transfer programme in particular freed up girls to attend school, and reiterated that ‘if you educate a girl, you educate a nation’.

Rt Hon Harriet Harman MP opened her speech by stressing the importance of cross-party cooperation on this issue, stating that it was an area that was linked to everything from economy to conflict.

Harman spoke of the importance of girls having key elected female representatives in regional and national governments, arguing that DFID should consider finding a coalition of elected representatives for girls’ education.

Guests then heard from The Rt Hon Lord Jack McConnell, co-chair of the APPG on the UN Global Goals, who spoke of his background as an educator and stressed that Girls Education was intrinsically linked to achieving every other Global Goal.

Alison McGovern MP provided the final speech of the event, in which she paid tribute to three powerful women who have inspired her; the late Jo Cox, filmmaker and activist Waad al-Kateb and Julia Gillard AC.