Shakira kicks off world tour and asks her fans: back campaign to get children into school

Superstar Shakira has set off on a mammoth 54-date world tour - but still found time to urge her fans to back Theirworld's campaign for new education funding.

The Colombian singer has been at the forefront of efforts to get world leaders to support a bold plan to get millions of children into school.

Shakira believes the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd) - that will unlock $10 billion a year - is a key element in solving the global education crisis.

After arriving in Belgium for her concert in Antwerp yesterday, she tweeted this message - sending fans to Theirworld's online petition and using our campaign hashtag #MakeImpossiblePossible.

Great to be in Europe for #ElDoradoWorldTour during #EDD18. We need all countries to back the Education Finance Facility to #MakeImpossiblePossible& get every child in school. Sign today if you want leaders to back this plan for universal education ✍️ https://www.gistyoublog.blogspot.com

— Shakira 🤫 (@shakira) June 7, 2018

Last month she thanked more than 1.5 million people who have signed the petition backing IFFEd. It was presented by three of Theirworld's Global Youth Ambassadors to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who also gave his backing.

Theirworld worked with the organisations BRAC and Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) to collect the signatures. 

Shakira has been a leading figure in the campaign to tackle the global education crisis - there are more than 260 million children and youth out of school - and get some of the most marginalised children into classrooms.

She is a member of the influential Education Commission that proposed IFFEd. The commission believes it can succeed in the same way that a new funding approach in the 2000s helped to ensure that massive vaccination schemes saved the lives of millions of children.

Shakira delivered an inspirational message to the world's most powerful leaders on the eve of last year's G20 summit in Germany. 

At the Global Citizen Festival in Hamburg, she stood on the stage beside Gordon Brown - the UN Special Envoy for Global Education - and said IFFEd had to become a reality.

The scheme would make aid more effective by leveraging and maximising the impact of donor resources through the World Bank and regional development banks. In its initial stage, the aim is to get 20 million children into school.

In her native Colombia, Shakira set up the Fundacion Pies Descalzos (Barefoot Foundation) when she was only 18 and the organisation has helped to educate thousands of children.