There are 61 million children around the world today who are not in school. To get everybody educated, an “Education First” initiative was recently launched in New York where world leaders and partners were given an assignment of putting every child in school regardless of race, gender, background or circumstance.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who himself depended on international organizations like UNESCO and UNICEF for his education as he was growing up, is passionate about this endeavour. He recalls a message on the back of a UNESCO book he was using while growing up which says, “Work hard and you will repay your debt to the United Nations”.

In this piece prepared by Beng Poblete-Enriquez, you will hear Chernor Bah, a young man from Sierra Leone, recounting his unusual experience and his call to action as he delivered a petition to the Secretary-General with a million signatures from youth around the world.

Duration: 4’40”