Young people came together yesterday to launch a global call to action- the #UpForSchool Petition- to demonstrate unprecedented support for education. UN Special Envoy Gordon Brown, #BringBackOurGirls leader Hadiza Bela Uzman, A World at School Co-Founder Sarah Brown, CNN’s Isha Sesay, and youth advocate Chernor Bah were just some of the awesome people in attendance.

Andrea Pereira was another person present at the rally. I met her just before it started, and asked her why education is important to her. Her response blew me away:

“Education is important to me because it is a way to liberate social and economic issues. It’s an armour- it enables youth and communities to protect themselves with knowledge.”

I was equally impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of our MC, Chernor Bah, seen below. Because 58 million children don’t have access to school, he suggested we should aim for 58 million signatures on the petition, joking that “Those of you who know me know I don’t do modesty!”

One of my favorite moments from the rally was when Chernor invited people from the crowd to come up and share what they were personally going to do to get people “up for school.”

Coincidentally, two young women in attendance worked as television presenters in Nigeria and Botswana. Each of them pledged to use their celebrity and television program to promote education.

A local student came forward as well. He said that he planned to “educate my peers using social media.”

Then, something pretty cool happened. A group of young people, from all over the world, came together and performed a song in Portuguese.

Increasing access to education is one of Global Citizen’s top priorities, but this rally was especially meaningful to us because it is led by youth. All summer long, my colleague Leticia Pfeffer and her team have been building support for #showyourselfie, a visual petition led by young people around the world that calls on world leaders to invest in our rights and needs- like education. To see youth come together like this was both inspiring and empowering.

Every child has the right to go to school, without danger or discrimination. Want to join the movement to help make that happen? Sign the petition, #UpForSchool, and help get the word out.

Then, join Gordon Brown and #showyourselfie by uploading your picture to let world leaders know you care about the rights of young people.

#showyourselfie at the UNGA with .@gordonbrownpic.twitter.com/QmoXonWNAU

— stacey cram (@staceysc56) September 22, 2014