Folly Bah Thibault, a native of Guinea and a star journalist for Al Jazeera TV, launched her foundation “Elle Ira à l’Ecole, Fondation Kesso Bah” in 2019 to help young girls in Guinea gain access to quality education.
“Education Cannot Wait” is the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. The fund supports quality education for girls and boys who are refugees, internally displaced or affected by other crises, so that no one is left behind.
As Global Champion of the Fund, Folly Bah Thibault will advocate for increased funding and support for the 222 million crisis-affected children and adolescents around the world who urgently need quality education as part of ECW’s global effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular MDG 4, inclusive and equitable quality education for all. Folly Bah Thibault was the Master of Ceremonies at the High-Level Conference on Financing Education for All in February in Geneva, Switzerland, where world leaders gathered to announce an unprecedented US$826 million for ECW. Together with its strategic partners, ECW seeks to mobilise more than $1.5 billion for the strategic period 2023-2026.
Advocating for children’s education worldwide, especially in Africa
Folly Bah Thibault said: “ It is truly an honour for me to have been selected as an Education Cannot Wait Global Champion. I’ve spent many years advocating and fighting for the welfare and education of children around the world – especially in Africa. I truly believe education is the only way we can build a sustainable and rewarding future for millions of children who would otherwise be left behind. I strongly believe my new role as Education Cannot Wait Global Champion will allow me to continue that work and reach even more children who need and deserve to have access to quality education”.
Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, said: “ Folly Bah Thibault is a visionary journalist and humanitarian. As one of the world’s leading advocates for education, we are delighted to announce her as our new Education Cannot Wait Global Champion. With champions like Folly, we continue to build a global movement to ensure children affected by armed conflict, climate change, forced displacement can access the safety, hope and opportunity that only a quality education can provide”.
Over 20 years’ experience as a journalist
Folly Bah Thibault was born in Conakry where she spent her early childhood until her family moved to Nairobi, Kenya in 1987. She graduated with honours in French literature before moving to the United States to study at Howard University and the American University in Washington, D.C., earning a Bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and a Master’s degree in international communication. She is fluent in French, English and Peuhl and has a good understanding of Spanish and Swahili.
Folly Bah Thibault has over 20 years of experience as a journalist. She began her career at Voice of America radio in Washington D.C., where she hosted a programme aimed at reuniting families separated by the conflict in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Her passion for storytelling and reporting soon led her to Paris and Radio France International, where she hosted the morning show on the English version of the station. She later became a presenter on the France24 television channel, before joining Al Jazeera English in 2010 and moving to Qatar.
Folly Bah Thibault’s arrival at Al Jazeera coincided with some of the biggest events to hit the Middle East in decades. As lead presenter, she has reported on the protests that took place in several countries as part of the Arab revolutions of 2011 or the war in Syria, Yemen and Libya. A crucial period for the region and the geopolitical fallout that it brought.
Folly Bah Thibault has also hosted some of Al Jazeera’s most memorable specials. These include the first-ever debate of the candidates for UN Secretary-General in July 2016. As co-host of the Nobel Interview special, she interviewed peace prize winners including former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Congolese doctor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, and Iraqi activist Nadia Murad, also a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Folly Bah Thibault’s long career has also taken her around the world to speak to decision-makers and influencers, including French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, Nigerian playwright and activist Wole Soyinka and Senegalese-American musician Akon.
“Elle ira à l’école”
“Elle ira à l’école, la Fondation Kesso Bah” was created by Folly Bah Thibault and his family to honour the memory of their sister and daughter, Kesso Bah, who died in Dakar, Senegal, in 2014, and was an activist for the education of young girls. After starting her career with UNAIDS in Benin in 2011, Kesso Bah, it is explained, supported many members of her community by paying school fees for children whose parents worked as domestic servants in the neighbourhood where she lived in Cotonou. Through this foundation, the Bah family hopes to continue Kesso’s commitment to girls’ education and, in so doing, honour her memory.
“ I come from a family of five girls. Born into a culture and society which for a long time did not believe in the value of having a girl; and it did not see women as equal members of society. My mother’s lifelong goal has been to change that perception and she did that by ensuring that my sisters and I had a good education. After all, it all starts with an education. I’m committed to girls’ education because they should have access to a better future and I hope they can be as free and independent as I am.,” says Folly Bah Thibault.
