Better Angels with Sarah Brown

This year, Theirworld launched the Act For Early Years campaign, calling on world leaders and global institutions to act to support the world’s youngest children.  In March, Theirworld brought together a panel of experts to discuss at the critical issues around providing quality care and early learning for young children - and the burden that falls unfairly on women to plug the gap.  Sarah Brown, Theirworld Chair, was joined on an Instagram Live by Professor Dame Leslie Regan, the first women's health ambassador for England; Janet Mbugua, Kenyan media personality and gender equality advocate; Sara Pascoe, a comedian, writer and actor, and Sanjana Sanghi, an Indian actor and Save the Children India’s Youth Advocate for Education.  In this episode, the panellists share their own experiences balancing their careers with motherhood and discuss why affordable high-quality childcare is more important than ever.  

To celebrate the 100th episode of Better Angels on World Children’s Day, Sarah handed over her hosting microphone to Andrew Jack, global education editor of the Financial Times, for a wide-ranging interview with her and her husband, Gordon Brown, about the state of global education.   Andrew asked Sarah and Gordon, the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, about their motivations for advocating for children’s education and what actions world leaders need to take to give all children around the world a quality education.   “If we could become the first generation in history where every single child had an education and where instead of developing some of the potential of some of the children in some countries, we developed all the potential of all children in all countries, then that would, in my view, make the biggest difference to our prospects and possibilities as a world,” said Gordon.   Sarah reflects on her career as an activist and shares her insights from working with youth activists, displaced families and global movements for change during her 20 years as founder of the global children’s charity Theirworld.  

In November, the world will gather in Egypt for COP27, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, to discuss ways to tackle the climate emergency.   In this episode, Sarah Brown speaks with Keya Lamba, the co-founder of Earth Warriors, an organisation bringing climate education to curriculums around the world, and most recently, with the support of Theirworld, to schools in Zambia and Botswana.  Keya talks about how climate education empowers students to take action to make the planet safer and greener.   Sarah also speaks with Maria Mphanza, a teacher at Mnyaula Community School in Zambia, one of the schools about to begin Earth Warriors’ curriculum, about her hope that the programme will help to combat deforestation in her community.  

Right now, 260 million children are not in school, and many more are in the classroom but not receiving a quality education. Let down by poorly trained teachers, outdated curriculums and lack of digital connectivity, they risk not reaching their full learning potential.  Next week, world leaders will debate solutions to this crisis at the historic Transforming Education Summit in New York during the United Nations General Assembly.   To mark the summit, Theirworld Chair Sarah Brown spoke with Jayathma Wickramanayake, United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, and two Theirworld Global Youth Ambassadors, Mathilde Boulogne and Yuv Sungkur, who will be attending the event.   The Envoy spoke about why it is crucial for world leaders to listen to young campaigners and offered advice to young people trying to make their voices heard.   Mathilde and Yuv discussed why they are supporting the #LetMeLearn campaign, and what action they hope world leaders will take to avert an education catastrophe. 

In the final episode of Theirworld’s 20th anniversary special, Theirworld Chair Sarah Brown talks with Beatrace Ndisha Mwanjala, a Global Youth Ambassador from Kenya, about what needs to be done to ensure we meet the United Nations goal of inclusive and quality education for all children by 2030.  Beatrace shares some of her own struggles accessing education, including what it was like to walk long distances to school when faced with the threat from wild animals.  Sarah also speaks with Justin van Fleet, President of Theirworld and Executive Director of the Global Business Coalition for Education, about his hopes for the future, and the power of education to fight inequality.   “Education has the power to be a great equaliser,” Justin says. “It can be a rising tide that can lift all boats, and I think getting equity in educational access and then the quality of education delivery that all young people deserve, that's going to be the biggest challenge we're facing.”

In the third episode of Theirworld’s 20th anniversary special, Theirworld Chair Sarah Brown talks with Motunrayo Fatoke, a Global Youth Ambassador (GYA) from Nigeria, about how forging powerful partnerships has helped to get some of the world’s most vulnerable children back into school.   We also hear from Maysa Jalbout, Senior Advisor on Education in Emergencies for Theirworld, about her work supporting refugee education in Greece.   She is joined by Elias Bou Saab, former Lebanese Minister of Education, who collaborated with Theirworld on the double shift school system in Lebanon, which has helped provide education for more than 300,000 refugee children.    In the final part of this episode, Lorriann Robinson, Director of The Advocacy Team and a Theirworld consultant, talks about some of the practical tools people can use to help them advocate for quality education. 

In the second episode of Theirworld’s 20th anniversary special, Theirworld Chair Sarah Brown talks with Benedict Joson, a former Global Youth Ambassador (GYA) who supported Theirworld's 2015 #UpForSchool petition calling on world leaders to prioritise education.  The petition gathered 11 million signatures, making it the largest petition for education in history – and Benedict took a starring role, delivering the petition with global pop sensation Shakira to Gordon Brown, the UN’s Special Envoy for Global Education.  Sarah also speaks with Ben Hewitt, Theirworld‘s Director of Campaigns and Communications who spearheaded the campaign, about how supporters travelled to some of the remotest parts of the world to collect signatures for the petition.   Sarah also catches up with June Sarpong, author, broadcaster and Theirworld Advisory Board member, who was an ambassador for this campaign. She recalls the optimism of the GYAs and their determination to bring about change.  

To celebrate Theirworld’s 20th anniversary, we have produced a special Better Angels podcast series about the history and evolution of the charity.  In the opening episode of this four-part series, Theirworld Chair Sarah Brown talks with Dr Taha Khan, a former Global Youth Ambassador who was selected to support many of Theirworld’s early campaigns.  Sarah shares how her daughter Jennifer, who died just 10 days after being born prematurely, inspired her to establish the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory to look into the causes and impacts of early birth.  We also hear from key figures from Theirworld’s early days who helped develop the charity’s commitment to supporting early years education and giving every child the best start in life. Guests include Dr Ian Laing, a former neonatologist at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh; David Boutcher, Senior Corporate Partner at Reed Smith who has been involved with the charity since its inception; and Dr Pauline Rose, Director of the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre at the University of Cambridge.  TW // Baby loss  Producer: Sarah Myles

In this episode, we hear some highlights from Theirworld's International Women's Day event and speak with some of the event's attendees about girls’ education and gender equality Theirworld hosted its 7th annual International Women’s Day event on Thursday 4 March - but went virtual for the first time ever, due to Covid-19.  Covid-19 has put the issue of girls’ education firmly in the spotlight. Now more than ever, it’s important that we come together to hear from those who are campaigning to break down the barriers facing girls and discuss how we can act to unlock big change in the coming year. Hear from inspiring women, including Maysa Jalbout, Global Business Coalition for Education Advisory Member. Hiba Zakka al-Jamal, Head of SKILD ; Zarlasht Halaimzai, Director and Co-Founder of RTI. And Unlock Big Change Award winner - Theo Sowa, Former CEO of The African Women's Development Fund. As well as Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Barrister and Director of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute. Jasvinder Sanghera CBE, Activist campaigner and founder Karma Nirvana. Tamara Box, Managing Partner, Europe and Middle East, and Senior Management Team, Reed Smith. Lorraine Candy, Journalist, Podcaster and parenting Author. Lorriann Robinson, Founder and Director, The Advocacy Team. Angela Saini, science journalist and author.  

In this episode, Jamira Burley, Theirworld's Head of Youth Engagement & Skills, talks to two remarkable young women who are doing incredible work on the ground to open up education to the next generation of female leaders.  Together we explore what the global recovery should look like, and why girls’ education needs to be front and centre.  Educating girls creates not only greater equality for women but fairer, healthier and wealthier societies with benefits for everyone.

Rangina Hamidi, the Minister of Education in Afghanistan, talks to Sarah Brown about growing up as a child refugee in Pakistan. She says she was faced with threats of acid attacks just because she went to school. Her parents decided to flee to America to enable her and her sister to have an education.   She says the struggles she faced as a child made her determined to fight against the injustices in the world.  

Sanda Ojiambo, Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, talks to Sarah Brown about how businesses can take positive action to address some of the world's biggest challenges. Talking about climate change, she says that businesses have a choice: they can grow in a "GDP-led way" or follow "a green model of growth". "If [these decisions] are made correctly, we can avert what looks like a very bleak future in terms of climate," she says. She says that the Covid-19 pandemic has presented businesses and the United Nations with “a point of reflection” and an opportunity to reevaluate their priorities.

Danielle Green, a Theirworld Global Youth Ambassador from the United Kingdom, speaks to Sarah Brown about the importance of children receiving a good quality education. Danielle says: “It really matters that children have not just an education or appear in an educational space, but that what they're being taught is really, really relevant and important.” She tells Sarah that a good quality education helps children “take charge of their own destiny.”

Palak Sharma, a Theirworld Global Youth Ambassador from India, talks to Sarah Brown about the challenges facing the education system in her country. She says that if the country is serious about advancing education for children, they must address issues around sanitation at the same time.  “The important task right now is to ensure that these two goals of education and sanitisation start working together in collaboration," she says.

Marianne Bitar Karam, Country Director at DOT Lebanon, a non-governmental organisation, speaks to Sarah Brown about the challenges facing children in her country during Covid-19. She says that the digital divide in Lebanon meant that many children were excluded from education because they were unable to access online learning materials during the pandemic. She also says that children in Lebanon were missing out on important lessons in social cohesion. "We've lost something important," she says. "School or the formal education setting was a reason for students and adults to come together and to accept each other, to listen to each other, to create connectors between refugees." Asked what motivates her, Marianne said it is her passion for her job, country and people that drives her to do what she does.

Obakeng Leseyane, a Theirworld Global Youth Ambassador, talks to Sarah Brown about the transformational impact of education on others. He says that educating even just one child has a "ripple effect" on their community.  Growing up in Rustenburg, South Africa, Obakeng was told that the only way to be successful was to become a platinum miner. He changed his fortune after receiving the highest educational scholarship in South Africa, something his family could have never dreamed of.  He now works in his community to help other children access education opportunities.

Theo Sowa, CEO, The African Women's Development Fund, talks to Sarah Brown about the rampant inequalities around the world which are depriving children of a better future.   She says that in the current situation, children who have benefited the most are those "who are wealthier and who are in economically secure situations." To help the most marginalised children across the globe, she says it is time to get  "radical about our inclusiveness.”  Theo says that good quality education for all children should be seen as just as important as basic needs like food, sanitation and shelter.

Annemiek Hoogenboom, Country Director, People's Postcode Lottery, tells Sarah Brown that "radical goals, patience and execution" are the building blocks for change. She also says that luck has a big part to play. She says: "When we admit that a big part of our success is pure luck, it makes us want to help other people more.“ Annemiek also touches on her mission to improve the plight of girls by advocating for their education. 

Sarah Brown talks to Emanuel "Boo Milton", about his work as a community organiser and youth advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. When Covid-19 struck, Boo created activity packs - called Spark Boxes - for children to ensure that they were able to continue their learning during the pandemic.   Talking about the power of learning, he says: "Education unlocks that special light that is inside all of us. I feel like all of us have a greatness that lies within us and education helps us articulate that.”

Tariq Al Gurg, CEO of Dubai Cares, talks to Sarah Brown about the importance in developing countries of providing parents with incentives to send their children to school.  He says that health and sanitation programs which ensure children are fed and kept clean in the classroom help to persuade parents of the benefits of sending their children to school. Al Gurg said that instead of going to school girls in poorer countries are often made to stay at home to help with the domestic responsibilities while boys are sent to work to earn money for their families. He also argued that without quality education some of the greatest problems facing humanity, like COVID-19, will never be resolved.