Ahead of International Women's Day tomorrow, a troop of influential entertainers have signed an open letter urging world leaders to fight for gender equality. Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep and Charlize Theron are among the high-profile figures to have endorsed the letter, organised by the ONE campaign, which points out that 62 million girls around the world are denied the right to education, 500 million girls are unable to read and 155 countries have laws that discriminate against women.

"Nowhere on earth do women have as many opportunities as men. Nowhere. The fight for gender equality is global," the letter states. Other public figures to have signed the letter include Tina Fey, Mary J. Blige, Robert Redford, Shonda Rhimes, Ashley Judd, Amy Poehler, Colin Farrell, Danai Gurira, Connie Britton, Elton John, Patricia Arquette, Muhammad Ali, Sheryl Sandberg and Sean Parker. Playwright and The Walking Dead actress Gurira said in an accompanying interview: "We are still living in a time period where the most impoverished and disadvantaged people in the world are, without question, women and girls. The light and the potential of women and girls in the world today is being blocked." The letter's message echoes the theme of International Women's Day 2016, which is #PledgeForParity.