Rihanna took a break from being one of the biggest pop stars in the world to get serious about education with French President Emmanuel Macron.
The “Umbrella” singer, an ambassador for Global Partnership for Education and founder of the non-profit, Clara Lionel Foundation, met with the politician on Wednesday, July 26 with the goal of educating millions of children.
“264M children are out of school: let’s take up this challenge!” Macron tweeted along with an image of he and Rihanna.
Committed with @GlblCtzn, @ClaraLionelFdn and @rihanna to #FundEducation. 264M children are out of school : let’s take up this challenge! pic.twitter.com/tzvo5EBIPl
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 26, 2017
Rihanna spoke to journalists outside of the Elysee palace in Paris shortly after the meeting saying, “We focused on the topic of education from global aspects, and we will make a very big announcement this coming September.”
The singer also expressed her gratitude toward Macron and his wife, Brigitte, on Twitter.
Thank you Mr. President @EmmanuelMacron and Madame First Lady for the incredible meeting and passion for global and girls education! 🇫🇷
— Rihanna (@rihanna) July 26, 2017
Rihanna previously reached out to Macron in June, while also tweeting to leaders in Canada, Argentina, and Germany in hopes that the countries will commit to funding education.
🇫🇷 bonjour @EmmanuelMacron, will France commit to #FundEducation?
— Rihanna (@rihanna) June 23, 2017
🇨🇦 @JustinTrudeau I know you had our backs during the #GlobalCitizen Festival, will you recommit Canada to #FundEducation?
— Rihanna (@rihanna) June 23, 2017
hey there @mauriciomacri, what’s your plan for Argentina to commit to #FundEducation? 🇦🇷
— Rihanna (@rihanna) June 23, 2017
Germany, I’m checking in to see where we are on the commitment to #FundEducation w/ @GPforEducation? @regsprecher, I’m depending on you!😊 🇩🇪
— Rihanna (@rihanna) June 23, 2017
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The “Work” singer has been busying doing just that, as she visited Malawi in January 2017 as part of a collaboration with Clara Lionel, Global Partnership, and Global Citizen to advocate for strong education.
Rihanna’s philanthropy hasn’t gone unnoticed. In March of this year, Harvard selected her as their Humanitarian of the Year.
In her acceptance speech, the Barbados-born singer recounted seeing commercials as a child that encouraged viewers to donate 25 cents to help save a life of a child in an underprivileged country.
“All you need to do is help one person, expecting nothing in return,” Rihanna said. “To me, that is a humanitarian. People make it seem way too hard, man. The truth is — and what the little girl watching those commercials didn’t know — is that you don’t have to be rich to be a humanitarian, to help somebody. You don’t have to be famous. You don’t have to be college-educated.”
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(Photo Credit: Twitter/@EmmanuelMacron)