Across the globe, 15 year olds came together recently to stand up for an issue that impacts the education of kids around the world: poverty. As I’ve discussed here before, students with underlying issues like poverty, hunger or neglect are often unable to function at a necessary level in K-12 classrooms. All of the best academic initiatives in the world cannot fix a broken home or an empty stomach, which is why these issues must be addressed inside schools for academics to improve too.

The “action/2015” initiative shares my sentiments. Students who are 15 years old today are calling on world leaders to put policies in place to eradicate hunger, violence against women and children, and poverty in order to make the world a better place by 2030. This global group of students recently made their case to the U.S. State Department, calling for everything from clean drinking water to better educational opportunities for children across the globe.

In an interview with National Public Radio, Toluwanimi Sola-Adeyemi of Lagos said that she is petitioning for more reliable electricity in her home country of Nigeria and that when the power goes out, it affects everything from safe drinking water to ability to go to school. Other students are asking for things like better opportunities for education in third-world countries, particularly for women.

It is great to see these young people taking such ownership of these world issues, particularly access to education. With their determination and the help of the world leaders today hopefully we will be closer to equal access to education and eliminating poverty across the globe by 2030.