Dr Mary Joy Pigozzi and other dignitaries on the occasion.

Educate A Child (EAC), a global programme of Education Above All, has been honoured with the Prix de la Fondation at the closing ceremony of an international summit for its efforts to promote the importance of education.
The prize was received by Dr Mary Joy Pigozzi, director of EAC, who also spoke at the summit organised by the Crans Montana Forum. The event took place in Geneva from recently.
Established in 1989, the prize has been awarded to notable figures who work towards advancing the values of democracy and strive towards the achievement of a better world.
Past prize winners include Lech Walesa, Nobel Prize winner and former president of Poland; José Manuel Barroso, former president of the European Commission; the late Yasser Arafat, former chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and president of the Palestinian National Authority; the late Rafik Hariri, former prime minister of Lebanon; Irina Bokova, director-general of Unesco; and the late Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan.
Commenting on the award, Dr Pigozzi said: “It is a great honour to receive this prize on behalf of Educate A Child. It is especially encouraging that advocacy efforts to promote the value of education are recognised by the international community gathered in Geneva.
“There are 59mn out-of-school children around the world at the primary level; adding these to those who cannot access secondary education and other levels of education, we have a global disaster waiting to happen.
“In September, UN member-states adopted the UN Sustainability Development Goals, including the goal of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all (SDG4). We must keep our promise to the millions of children who continue to remain out of school. We work closely with our partners around the world and invest in the methods that already work in order to reach as many children as possible.”
EAC has commitments in place to provide access to quality education to 6mn children who are out of school by 2015, and aims to reach 10mn by the end of 2016, according to a statement.