2017 Conference on Child Rights & Sight

Every child no matter where they are borndeserves the opportunity to live a happy, healthy and productive life. Unfortunately, both here and abroad, poverty, inability to access modern healthcare and educational inequality continue to erect barriers that stand in the way of children meeting their full potential. I applaud the efforts of Distressed Children & Infants International for their sustained commitment to improving the lives of children worldwide, including efforts to ensure that all is being done to protect and promote child vision and eye health. I was grateful to participate in DCI’s conference and look forward to following and supporting their continued efforts.

As Yale's president, I am proud that our campus is home to this significant forum for advancing the cause of child rights. The partnership between Distressed Children & Infants International and Yale is built on shared values, and has proven to be deeply and reciprocally fruitful. The organization's core mission, much like the university's, is one founded on service and leadership.

At Save the Children, we join DCI in its mission of fighting poverty, hunger, child labor, and preventable blindness. Congratulations on this impressive convening. I know that it will lead to better outcomes and brighter futures for children everywhere.

The work that you all are doing is really, really super incredible, and it’s so in line with what we hope to do at Khan Academy. Obviously, education is one of those foundational things that we need to make broader if we really care about empowering as many people, especially children around the globe. I wish every success of DCI and strongly believe that the initiative will change the world.