A constellation of international artists gathered yesterday at London’s Royal Albert Hall for the landmark “Education Through Conflict” benefit concert, drawing global attention to the plight of millions of girls whose education has been disrupted by war. The sold-out performance, headlined by indie rock group English Teacher, pop provocateur Girli, and folk-rock singer-songwriter Katy J Pearson, raised over £3.2 million for educational initiatives in conflict zones where, according to recent data, over 129 million girls remain out of school globally.
Event organizer Mira Patel explained the urgency behind the concert, noting that “girls in conflict zones are 2.5 times more likely to be out of school than their peers in stable regions, with secondary school-aged girls facing even greater barriers.” The performances highlighted five critical crisis hotspots—Sudan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Pakistan—which collectively account for nearly half of all out-of-school crisis-affected children worldwide. Recent reports indicate that violent attacks on schools have escalated dramatically, with over 5,000 such incidents documented in 2020 and 2021 alone. Girls in these regions receive an average of only 8.5 years of education in their lifetime, significantly limiting their future opportunities.
Girls in war zones face devastating educational inequality, with millions of futures hanging in the balance across global crisis hotspots.
During her haunting acoustic set, Katy J Pearson performed “Learning in Shadows,” inspired by her recent visit to educational programs in East Africa where learning poverty rates for girls frequently exceed 90%. “Music creates empathy where statistics often fail,” Pearson told the audience between songs, her voice occasionally breaking as she described meeting young students in displacement camps. The artists have strategically leveraged social media advertising to maximize awareness of the cause prior to the event, resulting in unprecedented engagement across platforms. The artists plan to leverage sync deals from the concert recordings to generate additional funding for educational initiatives.
The evening took a powerful turn when Girli invited teenage refugee Amina Hassan to speak about her experiences fleeing violence in the Sahel region. “Education isn’t just about books—it’s protection against recruitment, exploitation, and early marriage,” Hassan explained to the hushed crowd, underscoring why safe access to education remains a critical challenge for crisis-affected girls.
English Teacher closed the concert with their new single “Classroom Revolution,” accompanied by a virtual choir of girls from five continents. The band announced their upcoming tour of universities across Europe and North America, where they’ll continue raising awareness about educational disruptions while promoting community-based interventions that integrate artistic expression with traditional learning for war-affected girls.
