Press Releases

There is an African proverb that says, "If we educate a boy, we educate one person. If we educate a girl, we educate a family – and a whole nation."

More than five years after the horrifying kidnapping of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls captured the world's attention, 112 of the young women are still unaccounted for. And, as Boko Haram's ten-year reign of terror continues to wreak havoc in Nigeria and its neighboring nations, countless girls and women are being robbed of the educational and other opportunities that would enable them to invest in themselves, their families and their communities.

On Thursday, December 5, Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson will host a forum titled "Educate a Girl, Empower a Nation," featuring Isha Sesay, award-winning former journalist and author of Beneath the Tamarind Tree: A Story of Courage, Family, and the Lost Schoolgirls of Boko Haram; Patience Bulus, a former Chibok girl who has not allowed the traumatic ordeal to diminish her determination to go as far as her desire to learn will take her; Dr. Jacob Udo Udo Jacob, visiting international scholar at Dickinson College and director of the institution's college bridge program; and Oge Onubogu, senior program officer for Africa Programs at the United States Institute of Peace.

Reps. Lois Frankel, Brenda Lawrence; Karen Bass, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Carolyn Maloney have been invited to participate.

This event is an unparalleled opportunity to hear from a group of people with unique experiences and perspectives that center around issues they collectively care about. Attendees will learn why, more than five years later, the Chibok girls kidnapping still matters and the challenges and rewards of providing educational, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities to girls and women across the African continent.

"We may soon mark six years since the kidnapping and while the headlines have died down, my commitment to the #BringBackOurGirls movement burns as brightly today as it did in 2014," says Congresswoman Wilson. "I am excited to hear from this extraordinary group of people and colleagues who share that commitment."

The forum will take place in the Members Room at the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St., SE, from 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Please RSVP to Joyce Jones by email at joyce.jones@mail.house.gov or call 202.225.4506/202.578.0634. Media can begin set up at 1:00. Note: Requests for interviews with Patience Bulus must be pre-approved.