Better Angels with Sarah Brown – Details, episodes & analysis

This year, Theirworld launched the Act For Early Years campaign, calling on world leaders and global institutions to act to support the world’s youngest children. 

In March, Theirworld brought together a panel of experts to discuss at the critical issues around providing quality care and early learning for young children - and the burden that falls unfairly on women to plug the gap. 

Sarah Brown, Theirworld Chair, was joined on an Instagram Live by Professor Dame Leslie Regan, the first women's health ambassador for England; Janet Mbugua, Kenyan media personality and gender equality advocate; Sara Pascoe, a comedian, writer and actor, and Sanjana Sanghi, an Indian actor and Save the Children India’s Youth Advocate for Education. 

In this episode, the panellists share their own experiences balancing their careers with motherhood and discuss why affordable high-quality childcare is more important than ever.  

To celebrate the 100th episode of Better Angels on World Children’s Day, Sarah handed over her hosting microphone to Andrew Jack, global education editor of the Financial Times, for a wide-ranging interview with her and her husband, Gordon Brown, about the state of global education.  

Andrew asked Sarah and Gordon, the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, about their motivations for advocating for children’s education and what actions world leaders need to take to give all children around the world a quality education.  

“If we could become the first generation in history where every single child had an education and where instead of developing some of the potential of some of the children in some countries, we developed all the potential of all children in all countries, then that would, in my view, make the biggest difference to our prospects and possibilities as a world,” said Gordon.  

Sarah reflects on her career as an activist and shares her insights from working with youth activists, displaced families and global movements for change during her 20 years as founder of the global children’s charity Theirworld.  

Rangina Hamidi, the Minister of Education in Afghanistan, talks to Sarah Brown about growing up as a child refugee in Pakistan.

She says she was faced with threats of acid attacks just because she went to school.

Her parents decided to flee to America to enable her and her sister to have an education.  

She says the struggles she faced as a child made her determined to fight against the injustices in the world.  

Sarah Brown chats to Graça Machel, Kailash Satyarthi, and Larry Summers. Hear about the special people who've inspired others to do good.

Featuring Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi, world-renowned economist Larry Summers and the former First Lady of South Africa and widow of Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel. 

Short extract from a Wangari Mathaai speech, courtesy of Botanic Gardens Conservation International. 

Sanda Ojiambo, Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, talks to Sarah Brown about how businesses can take positive action to address some of the world's biggest challenges.

Talking about climate change, she says that businesses have a choice: they can grow in a "GDP-led way" or follow "a green model of growth".

"If [these decisions] are made correctly, we can avert what looks like a very bleak future in terms of climate," she says.

She says that the Covid-19 pandemic has presented businesses and the United Nations with “a point of reflection” and an opportunity to reevaluate their priorities.

Danielle Green, a Theirworld Global Youth Ambassador from the United Kingdom, speaks to Sarah Brown about the importance of children receiving a good quality education.

Danielle says: “It really matters that children have not just an education or appear in an educational space, but that what they're being taught is really, really relevant and important.”

She tells Sarah that a good quality education helps children “take charge of their own destiny.”

Palak Sharma, a Theirworld Global Youth Ambassador from India, talks to Sarah Brown about the challenges facing the education system in her country.

She says that if the country is serious about advancing education for children, they must address issues around sanitation at the same time. 

“The important task right now is to ensure that these two goals of education and sanitisation start working together in collaboration," she says.

Marianne Bitar Karam, Country Director at DOT Lebanon, a non-governmental organisation, speaks to Sarah Brown about the challenges facing children in her country during Covid-19.

She says that the digital divide in Lebanon meant that many children were excluded from education because they were unable to access online learning materials during the pandemic.

She also says that children in Lebanon were missing out on important lessons in social cohesion.

"We've lost something important," she says. "School or the formal education setting was a reason for students and adults to come together and to accept each other, to listen to each other, to create connectors between refugees."

Asked what motivates her, Marianne said it is her passion for her job, country and people that drives her to do what she does.

Obakeng Leseyane, a Theirworld Global Youth Ambassador, talks to Sarah Brown about the transformational impact of education on others.

He says that educating even just one child has a "ripple effect" on their community. 

Growing up in Rustenburg, South Africa, Obakeng was told that the only way to be successful was to become a platinum miner.

He changed his fortune after receiving the highest educational scholarship in South Africa, something his family could have never dreamed of. 

He now works in his community to help other children access education opportunities.

Theo Sowa, CEO, The African Women's Development Fund, talks to Sarah Brown about the rampant inequalities around the world which are depriving children of a better future.  

She says that in the current situation, children who have benefited the most are those "who are wealthier and who are in economically secure situations."

To help the most marginalised children across the globe, she says it is time to get  "radical about our inclusiveness.”

 Theo says that good quality education for all children should be seen as just as important as basic needs like food, sanitation and shelter.