Rihanna is getting the job done.
The singer (and one of this year’s Global Citizen festival headliners) put the pressure on French President Francois Hollande on Thursday, sending a tweet asking about his leadership on the Education Cannot Wait bill.
.@fhollande Did you see my letter? Waiting on your answer! We need your leadership on #EducationCannotWait
— Rihanna (@rihanna) September 22, 2016
The Education Cannot Wait fund will help deliver emergency education to children in crises around the globe. It was launched in May with $90 million from the USA, UK, the EU Commission, the Netherlands, and Dubai Cares. The Global Coalition for Business - Education also pledged $100 million.
Read More: Rihanna to Be Named Ambassador for Education
But 40,000 Global Citizens and more than 200,000 others from around the world called on the leaders of France, Canada, and other countries around the world to pledge more money for those in need of an emergency education.
And Rihanna wanted an answer.
This morning, the secretary to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, André Vallini, tweeted back to Rihanna.
@rihanna You're right #EducationCannotWait Working on it w/ Gordon #Brown , last week again at #UNGA ! With @fhollande we've commited France
— André VALLINI (@VALLINIAndre) September 23, 2016
Vallini said he was meeting with former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is now the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and Chair of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity. And he hinted that the country has agreed to help the fund, though he didn’t offer any details yet on how.
The Education Cannot Wait fund will help 75 million children living in refugee camps, crisis settings, or host countries around the world who are facing lost opportunities and long breaks in their education, putting them at risk for ISIS exploitation or for becoming, as the UN warned recently, a “lost generation.”