It is unacceptable that in our modern world of driverless cars, sophisticated medicine and an ability to print any object, that girls and women are still treated like second class citizens in many countries. If women were given the opportunity to achieve their full potential, it would not simply benefit the recipients but also their families, communities and ultimately the entire world.

Arguably the ripple effect is even stronger than if the same assistance was provided to their male counterparts when you consider that 90% of income generated by women is reinvested in their homes and communities, compared to just 30%-40% of income generated by men.

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Thus it is not surprising that the benefits of educating women are manifold and a core part of our mission to ending poverty by 2030 as laid out by the UN’s Global Goals. Moreover, if we were to achieve both Goal 4 — quality education for all — and Goal 5 — for gender equality — these would combine powerfully to produce positive impacts on virtually all other development indicators including economic growth, good health and poverty reduction.

Which is why we have been putting the pressure on governments to step up for a more equal world.

Denmark is one of those governments that has certainly been feeling the heat. Since August, they have received over 20,000 tweets from Global Citizens demanding them to provide education for all. And last week, thousands of Global Citizens picked up the phone to make sure they heard our collective cry.

It's official: we were heard. Within hours of the calls coming in, the Danish Mission to the UN responded, agreeing with Global Citizens that every girl has a right to an education:

Thanks @GlblCtzn for your calls. Denmark agrees, every
girl deserves the chance to go to school. We look forward to seeing you at#GCFest

— Denmark in UN NY🇩🇰 (@Denmark_UN) August 29, 2017

Just days later, Global Citizen managed to secure a high level meeting with the Danish representatives to the UN to discuss announcing their support for girls’ education at the Global Citizen Festival stage on Sept 23. Global Citizen attendees also took the opportunity to remind Denmark of how many of you had signed our Global Partnership for Education petition.

After leaving, the Danish Mission issued this tweet, which is a promising result for girls and women everywhere:

Great meeting with @GlblCtzn on promoting women's rights and #SRHR. See you at #GCFest ! pic.twitter.com/Z6FWRJLByD

— Denmark in UN NY🇩🇰 (@Denmark_UN) August 31, 2017

Denmark, we look forward to seeing you at Global Citizen Festival. Thank you for joining us in our fight to level the playing field, and thank you Global Citizens— together we are always louder.