Shakira: Education Changes Everything — Transcript

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1. 0:00[applause]
2. 0:04>> Thank you, Matthew.
3. 0:05>> [laughter]
4. 0:06>> Hello, everyone.
5. 0:07Secretary-General,
6. 0:09Director Lake,
7. 0:11panelists,
8. 0:13Secretary Duncan,
9. 0:16I am so excited to see you all
10. 0:20here today
11. 0:21to discuss this important issue.
12. 0:24Uh so, thank you very much for coming.
13. 0:27Now, for those of you expecting
14. 0:28hip-shaking of any kind, it's not going
15. 0:30to happen.
16. 0:31It's just me speaking this time. Sorry.
17. 0:34We are here because each of us can make
18. 0:37a significant difference.
19. 0:39And my hope is that your presence today
20. 0:44is a pledge of your commitment and your
21. 0:46passion
22. 0:47to do everything everything that there
23. 0:50is
24. 0:51in our hands to ensure that every child
25. 0:55gets the best start in life.
26. 0:58The first years of life are crucial. Are
27. 1:01crucial in the development of a human
28. 1:02brain.
29. 1:03And the advances in neuroscience are
30. 1:06revealing striking information, striking
31. 1:09discoveries about how early experiences
32. 1:11in the first 5 years of life can have a
33. 1:14huge impact on the developing brain of a
34. 1:17child and repercussions that can last
35. 1:20the whole lifetime.
36. 1:22For example, in the in the early years,
37. 1:25there 700 to 1,000 new neural
38. 1:28connections being formed every second.
39. 1:31And to me,
40. 1:32this information is astonishing. I just
41. 1:35delivered a baby 7 months ago, so
42. 1:37you can imagine.
43. 1:39This is the moment when we want to be
44. 1:41doing things right for a baby because as
45. 1:43we get older,
46. 1:45uh the brain loses plasticity and it
47. 1:47becomes more difficult to change its
48. 1:49architecture.
49. 1:51Thus, we have we have a very very small
50. 1:52window to affect change and to affect a
51. 1:55child's life and his future.
52. 1:57We need to provide kids with proper
53. 2:00care, nutrition, and stimulation in the
54. 2:04first 5 years of their lives
55. 2:07because it is proven that children who
56. 2:09benefit from ECD programs do better in
57. 2:11school and later in life, as opposed to
58. 2:13kids who don't count on that and are
59. 2:15more likely to have severe learning
60. 2:17disabilities,
61. 2:18lack attentiveness, and lack the ability
62. 2:21to interact well with others.
63. 2:24And unfortunately,
64. 2:25the the disadvantage can be especially
65. 2:28drastic
66. 2:29when child when a child is exposed to
67. 2:30violence
68. 2:32due to war or conflict
69. 2:34uh because it affects the development of
70. 2:36the brain and can cause aggressive
71. 2:37behavior
72. 2:39uh later in the adult. And as a person
73. 2:41who comes from a country marked by
74. 2:42violence and civil and social strife,
75. 2:45I've seen this firsthand
76. 2:47because sadly in Colombia, where I come
77. 2:49from, like in many other countries in
78. 2:51the developing world,
79. 2:53if one is born poor,
80. 2:55one is destined to die poor.
81. 2:57And this lack of social mobility
82. 2:59is due in great part
83. 3:02to education being perceived as a luxury
84. 3:04and not as a birthright.
85. 3:06And as a consequence, people don't have
86. 3:08access to equal opportunities, and this
87. 3:11perpetuates the cycle of poverty and
88. 3:13unrest.
89. 3:15The good news is that there is an exit
90. 3:17strategy, and that that is the reason
91. 3:19why we're here today, and that's what
92. 3:21keeps us here uh
93. 3:24advocating for this cause.
94. 3:27In our schools in Colombia, the role of
95. 3:29ECD is vital for the kids, especially
96. 3:32um
97. 3:33in order to complete their education
98. 3:35successfully.
99. 3:36And now I'd like to show you some images
100. 3:37that will help illustrate my point.
101. 3:40Um we've worked over the years with My
102. 3:42Brother Foundation um in vulnerable
103. 3:44places around the world where many live
104. 3:47with less than a dollar a day.
105. 3:49And here are some specific examples in
106. 3:51Colombia.
107. 3:52Um this is a typical home
108. 3:55in La Playa.
109. 3:57This is near my hometown Barranquilla,
110. 3:59where 9,000 kids
111. 4:01were out of school when we first
112. 4:02arrived.
113. 4:04And most of them lived in in homes like
114. 4:07this one, shacks
115. 4:09um with tin roofs or cardboard ceilings
116. 4:12and in very precarious conditions. You
117. 4:13can see it in the picture.
118. 4:16Um this is the outskirts of Cartagena,
119. 4:20um an area plagued by gangs and
120. 4:23thousands of displaced families without
121. 4:25portable water, electricity,
122. 4:28or even paved roads.
123. 4:31Many of our students uh
124. 4:33had been victims of
125. 4:35violence themselves or have lost family
126. 4:37members.
127. 4:38So you can imagine the obstacles that we
128. 4:40had to
129. 4:41encounter that we I'm sorry that we
130. 4:43encountered that we had to deal with
131. 4:45uh that range from behavior issues to
132. 4:48problems of basic infrastructure to
133. 4:50malnutrition.
134. 4:52You name them.
135. 4:53In order to overcome many of these
136. 4:55difficulties, we had to find creative
137. 4:57solutions, of course.
138. 4:59So we came up with school feeding
139. 5:00programs and parents and teacher
140. 5:02training and psychosocial support for
141. 5:05the kids in community at large. And we
142. 5:07were very very successful.
143. 5:09You can imagine
144. 5:11um what it was like
145. 5:13uh to deal with the many difficulties
146. 5:15and and and the the satisfaction after
147. 5:17we saw um
148. 5:18our projects being completed and you can
149. 5:21see it here in the picture. This is the
150. 5:22Barranquilla school for 2,000 students.
151. 5:25Um
152. 5:28and this is the Cartagena school for
153. 5:291,800 students.
154. 5:32And these are two of the six schools
155. 5:34that we have built in Colombia.
156. 5:37We've been able to impact over 60,000
157. 5:39family sorry people uh
158. 5:4260,000 people
159. 5:43>> [laughter]
160. 5:43>> and virtually eliminated them on
161. 5:45nutrition and child labor and local
162. 5:47gangs disbanded from the area, and we
163. 5:51were able to commit the government to
164. 5:52their part by bringing electricity,
165. 5:55portable water, and even paving roads.
166. 5:58So, it has been incredibly incredibly
167. 6:00exciting.
168. 6:01>> [snorts]
169. 6:01>> And it has been
170. 6:03uh
171. 6:04aside from that, a process of trial and
172. 6:07error. It hasn't been a path of roses
173. 6:08because we had a hard time at some
174. 6:11point, a really hard time,
175. 6:13um keeping kids in school.
176. 6:15Because they never received adequate
177. 6:18adequate care and nutrition and
178. 6:19stimulation in the first 5 years of
179. 6:21their lives.
180. 6:22So, that's when we realized that we were
181. 6:23getting to these kids too late.
182. 6:25And it was then when I was introduced to
183. 6:28research on ECD, and we made that a
184. 6:30priority, and believe me, that made
185. 6:34all the difference in the world.
186. 6:36Kids who had access to ECD programs were
187. 6:38more school-ready,
188. 6:40could learn the information better, and
189. 6:42today we have virtually no school
190. 6:44dropouts.
191. 6:46>> [snorts]
192. 6:46>> So, we started forging public and
193. 6:48private alliances and expanded
194. 6:50throughout Latin America building four
195. 6:52centers
196. 6:54in Mexico
197. 6:55in partnership with the local
198. 6:56government, uh 13 in Argentina,
199. 7:00and 19 in Colombia.
200. 7:03Here are the pictures again. You can see
201. 7:05actually very very pretty centers.
202. 7:07Very proud of them.
203. 7:09Um the success stories paint the picture
204. 7:11much better than I can.
205. 7:13Um I'd like to
206. 7:16I'd like to talk to you about uh one of
207. 7:18the girls who
208. 7:19who attends our school, Tania. Well, who
209. 7:22used to attend our schools.
210. 7:24Her name was Tania S S, sorry. Her name
211. 7:27is Tania Araque. For example, who
212. 7:29entered one of our schools in Soacha,
213. 7:31Colombia,
214. 7:32at the age of nine. Yeah, she was 9
215. 7:34years old. Um and she had been
216. 7:37previously expelled from from school uh
217. 7:40for serious conduct issues. And Tania
218. 7:43was able to rise above her situation and
219. 7:45even become an example to
220. 7:47many other students. She started help
221. 7:50She started her own, um,
222. 7:52uh,
223. 7:54group and and started to help, uh, other
224. 7:58children, um, to keep them out of
225. 8:00trouble.
226. 8:01Now, she's 19 and at the university
227. 8:04studying to one day become a child
228. 8:06psychologist herself.
229. 8:09And this is one of many, many, many
230. 8:11examples that I could give you of kids
231. 8:13who have turned their lives around in
232. 8:15our schools. And that is the beauty of
233. 8:17investing in education. And that is what
234. 8:20keeps me so passionate.
235. 8:22Because the change is real and it's
236. 8:24immediate and it's tangible. And even
237. 8:27from day one, you start witnessing the
238. 8:29impact on the children, their families,
239. 8:32and entire communities.
240. 8:34So, from my personal experience over
241. 8:36nearly 20 years working in education, I
242. 8:38promise you I had I've had the time of
243. 8:41my life.
244. 8:42I really have.
245. 8:43Apart from my musical career, of course,
246. 8:45it's one of the most exciting things
247. 8:47that I've done and I
248. 8:49it really is,
249. 8:50uh, incredibly encouraging knowing that
250. 8:53I haven't wasted my time or money cuz
251. 8:54nobody likes that.
252. 8:56And really, every dollar invested has
253. 8:59been proven to produce results.
254. 9:02The plan is to continue developing
255. 9:03models for comprehensive ECD centers and
256. 9:06programs in Latin America and here in
257. 9:08the US.
258. 9:09And by the way, we could use partners
259. 9:11like you.
260. 9:12Uh,
261. 9:12so if you're interested in joining us,
262. 9:14I'll buy you coffee after the event and
263. 9:16we can chat.
264. 9:17>> [laughter]
265. 9:18>> Colombian coffee, though.
266. 9:22This is not about charity. It's about
267. 9:24human investment.
268. 9:26It's about
269. 9:27being proactive rather than reactive
270. 9:30and preventing rather than looking at
271. 9:33prescriptive solutions.
272. 9:36Economic studies demonstrate that for
273. 9:38every dollar invested in a child's early
274. 9:40education, the same child returns from
275. 9:4310 to 17 dollars
276. 9:45in his adult life to the state.
277. 9:48Just like my hips, numbers don't lie.
278. 9:55>> [laughter]
279. 9:56>> Among those who have done the math is
280. 9:57Nobel Prize winning economist James
281. 9:59Heckman,
282. 10:01uh who says that ECD interventions lower
283. 10:03the risk of disease,
284. 10:05increase the wages of children in their
285. 10:06adult lives, and also produce benefits
286. 10:09for society that are massive, up to 10%
287. 10:13a year either in savings or in revenue.
288. 10:16The simple truth is that ECD programs
289. 10:19boost economic growth and are one of the
290. 10:22most effective ways to guarantee global
291. 10:24stability and security.
292. 10:28I I recently read a study by the
293. 10:31Brookings Institution that caught my
294. 10:33attention.
295. 10:35And it states that a national ECD
296. 10:37program would add two trillion to
297. 10:39America's annual GDP within a
298. 10:42generation.
299. 10:44I'm no economist, but wow.
300. 10:46I can only imagine what we'd be looking
301. 10:48at if we multiply that number several
302. 10:50times with ECD programs in the rest of
303. 10:52the world.
304. 10:54It's no wonder It's no wonder that
305. 10:55politicians and world leaders
306. 10:58are all dedicating effort to this issue
307. 11:00now.
308. 11:01Not to mention the that
309. 11:03for the first time in history ECD is
310. 11:05being included in the global UN agenda,
311. 11:08and also China. I mean, let's look at
312. 11:11China, for instance, are making ECD a
313. 11:13priority on their national agendas.
314. 11:17But ECD is one of those challenges that
315. 11:19can be met only if society
316. 11:23works together as a team.
317. 11:25A joined-up approach is needed.
318. 11:28And the private sector should pick up
319. 11:31where governments leave off. It's the
320. 11:32only way.
321. 11:34We need a new generation of
322. 11:35philanthropists and entrepreneurs to
323. 11:39make this issue their own.
324. 11:41And some of you Some of you know the
325. 11:43importance of being ahead of the curve.
326. 11:46I I'm convinced that each one of you in
327. 11:49this room can be tremendously
328. 11:51influential.
329. 11:53And we can be the first society that
330. 11:55eradicates poverty and figures out an
331. 11:57intelligent way
332. 11:59to bring education to the most
333. 12:00disenfranchised people on Earth.
334. 12:03So, the challenge for each and every one
335. 12:05of us here is
336. 12:07what are what are we going to do about
337. 12:08it? How do we scale it up?
338. 12:12Today, we're dealing with issues like
339. 12:15world hunger, like climate change,
340. 12:19crime, poverty,
341. 12:21civil wars,
342. 12:23and threats of violence,
343. 12:25and the tragedy of the refugees.
344. 12:29And the old-fashioned way of addressing
345. 12:30issues
346. 12:32one by one as if they aren't
347. 12:33inter-interrelated,
348. 12:35as if they existed in a vacuum, simply
349. 12:37will not work today.
350. 12:39We need a newer, fresher, smarter, and
351. 12:43more holistic approach to solving the
352. 12:45global issues that concern us all.
353. 12:48Bringing ECD initiatives to all has to
354. 12:51be the cornerstone upon which we build
355. 12:54and design strategies for the world's
356. 12:56greatest problems.
357. 12:58That's what I believe.
358. 13:01So,
359. 13:02we need to keep
360. 13:04or we need to start at least uh applying
361. 13:07uh the brains and the strategies of
362. 13:09business
363. 13:10and use the assets of your companies
364. 13:12to do social good and to solve
365. 13:15our social problems.
366. 13:17That is philanthrocapitalism.
367. 13:20I often won- I often wonder um for
368. 13:23example, why why there isn't a fund for
369. 13:25early child development, a global fund,
370. 13:27you know? Much like the like the AIDS uh
371. 13:30fund or like the
372. 13:32tuberculosis and malaria fund.
373. 13:35Money in this fund could be used to
374. 13:37encourage countries to agree on
375. 13:38initiatives for ECD.
376. 13:40That's an idea.
377. 13:42>> [laughter and gasps]
378. 13:43>> But even before there is a fund of this
379. 13:45kind, I I want to urge you all
380. 13:48to commit to being leaders in forming
381. 13:50national ECD strategies in countries
382. 13:52where you have influence.
383. 13:55Too often in the past
384. 13:58the world has underinvested in
385. 14:00strategies that involve significant
386. 14:02upfront costs to generate long-run
387. 14:04benefits that are many times larger.
388. 14:08And
389. 14:09ECD is the test of whether the world can
390. 14:12rise above short-termism to do what is
391. 14:15in our best interest in the long run.
392. 14:19Every year that passes without us making
393. 14:22significant investments in ECD
394. 14:25millions and millions of kids will be
395. 14:28born into the same cycle of poverty and
396. 14:30lack of opportunity.
397. 14:32Today there are still 59 million kids
398. 14:36out of school.
399. 14:37We cannot afford this.
400. 14:39From an economic perspective, it is
401. 14:42important, sure.
402. 14:43But now take that to a human level and
403. 14:45the case becomes so much more stronger.
404. 14:48Because money isn't everything in the
405. 14:50end.
406. 14:51But investing in humans and the future
407. 14:54of our society is.
408. 14:57I strongly believe that the best is yet
409. 15:00to come.
410. 15:02But we need to move faster.
411. 15:05Our children and our collective future
412. 15:08depend on it. Thank you very much.
413. 15:11>> Access over 1,000 resources to improve
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416. 15:27>> Mhm.