Malala Fund and Cochlear Foundation in Partnership

THE MALALA FUND AND COCHLEAR FOUNDATION IN PARTNERSHIP to raise awareness of need for early access to ear and hearing care and the importance of equal rights to education.

The world’s youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate and co-founder of Malala Fund, Malala Yousafzai, called for societies and governments to prioritise hearing health across the life-course in a personal foreword for the World Health Organization’s first-ever World Report on Hearing, in March 2021.

According to the @WHO, 34 million children worldwide have disabling hearing loss. If children with hearing loss do not receive hearing healthcare and support early on, they often experience lower school performance, higher risk of dropping out of school, and less likelihood of accessing University. This problem is worse in many parts of the world where children — especially girls — already face significant barriers to education. Hearing loss does not have to be a barrier to life’s opportunities. @MalalaFund and Cochlear Foundation have partnered to raise awareness and help overcome barriers keeping millions of young people with hearing loss from accessing a quality education and early access to hearing healthcare and support.

CIICA supports this call for equal access to education and early hearing healthcare which is so important for us all. Watch and share this video as Malala tells her amazing story. It raises the self- confidence of children and young people with hearing loss and inspires them to achieve anything they set their minds to.

Malala Fund and Cochlear Foundation are inviting children and young people with hearing loss to share their stories of personal achievement as part of the ‘Achieve anything program.’ This new program will highlight and publicly recognise their real-world experiences of children and young people with hearing loss and promote their equal rights to an education and early access to hearing healthcare and support. Visit www.cochlearfoundation.org to learn more about the partnership and how to submit stories to the ‘Achieve anything program’.