Messages for UN Women in Pictures

These photographs were featured in The Guardian. The first photograph is of a woman holding a handwritten sign that says: 'Let me spell it out: Literacy is the key to gender equality'. The last photograph is a handwritten sign that says: 'Education is the ultimate weapon'.

Although these photographs are part of a campaign related to the launch of UN Women, it should be noted that these two quotes hold true for both men and women. The Shouichi Memorial Fund believes that higher education is the real key to opening-up opportunities for those who come from economically challenged families.

We believe this to be true, especially in view of the recent increases in tuition for universities, in a world where salaries especially in lower income households have remained frozen or have even decreased. There was rioting in the streets of London in December 2010, and more than 150 people were arrested. Sweden declared that starting in autumn of this 2011, non-EU citizens must pay tuition to attend university in Sweden. The sum went from nothing to 100,000 Kronor ($15,625).