The mothers of Bihar who kept a million girls learning are finalists for a UN award

In Bihar’s villages, mothers and mothers-in-law are quietly defying custom — keeping their daughters and daughters-in-law in school. Their movement, captured in the film ‘Mothers of Courage’ by the Shikshagraha education initiative, has mobilized more than 1.19 million (1,190,000) citizens across 14 districts. It’s now a finalist in the Creativity category of the UN SDG Action Awards 2026, with the ceremony in Rome on October 29 — and was India’s only entry shortlisted in the SDG category at Cannes Lions 2026. Proof that the most powerful school reformers sometimes carry no titles at all.