Philippines' Gwendolyne Fourniol among Top 25 finalists of Miss World's Head-to-Head Challenge

Gwendolyne Fourniol of the Philippines finished as one of the Top 25 finalists of Miss World's Head-to-Head Challenge.

The Filipina beauty queen from Negros Occidental impressed the jury with her speech in New Delhi on Friday, Feb. 23, putting the spotlight on education as part of her Beauty With A Purpose advocacy.

"Today I speak before you to advocate for the Sustainable Development Goal no. 4 which is to ensure inclusive and equitable education for all, and promote lifelong, lifetime opportunities," she said.

"This is what education is all about. It is to destroy the cycle of poverty and to open doors to opportunities to a brighter future for individuals and communities," she added. 

Fourniol proposed a solution to the gaps in education as she stressed the importance of making it accessible to children in isolated and marginalized sectors.

 "Now how can we solve this? The answer is T.I.P. Technology, Investment, and Policy."

"I have actually tried this in our learning center which I've built with the help of many people," she shared.

The finalists of the challenge were selected from 114 candidates based on the speeches they delivered under their Beauty With a Purpose project and videos they submitted about their chosen UN sustainable development goal for 2023. 

Botswana, England, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe emerged victorious in the advocacy-based challenge, securing a spot in the Miss World Finals.

Gwendolyne is vying to win the highly coveted blue crown at the 71st Miss World on March 9. 

Actress Megan Young is the first and only Pinay winner of the Miss World title. She won the competition in 2013.