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– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Tijjani Muhammad Bande, President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

17 February 2020

Ms. Gabriela Cuevas Barron, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Ms. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, Chef de Cabinet, Office of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Secretary General,

Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, Assistant Secretary-General, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDP,

Distinguished Members of Parliament,

Excellencies,

I am delighted to welcome you to the United Nations Headquarters for the Annual Parliamentary Hearing.

I thank the Inter-Parliamentary Union for their continuous work providing policy guidance, best practices, needs assessments, and direct assistance to national parliaments with implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.?

Education is a key priority of the 74^th session of the General Assembly, and I am encouraged that the Inter-Parliamentary Union has taken this opportunity to highlight the importance of implementing Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education.

As with all of the SDGs, we must approach SDG 4 as both a stand-alone, and cross-cutting Goal, to ensure a peaceful and prosperous world for all.

Excellencies,

Many of you are champions of education in your parliaments, and I thank you for your continued commitment to providing adequate resources for all issues relating to education. In particular, I commend all Member States who have presented their Voluntary National Reviews on SDG 4; and those who have developed National Implementation Plans for Agenda 2030. There is, however, much more to be done.

Excellencies,

To provide our youth with the best possible start in life we must implement SDG 4, and to do so we must adequately finance our efforts.

At least one in four countries do not meet the two benchmarks set in 2015 calling for at least 4% of GDP and at least 15% of public expenditure to be allocated to education.?

Parliaments have a major role to play in scaling up action in this vital area. I urge you to ensure that adequate financial resources are allocated to education, girls¡¯ education and technical and vocational training throughout your national budgetary processes.

If we are to address the learning crisis and for students to meet the minimum levels of literacy and basic proficiency in mathematics globally, we must invest in our people, in particular our youth.

We must invest in teacher training in order to provide students with the highest quality education. The current trend of having untrained teachers in many schools is worrying. I call on all Member States to provide quality training for trainee teachers.

In order to learn, students require a safe learning environment, free from bullying as well as: adequate sanitation facilities and clean running water; a safe path to school; electricity; and internet connectivity. It is therefore clear that we can only make gains on implementing SDG 4 if we approach it as a cross-cutting area which spans multiple government portfolios.

Furthermore, we need to provide every student with equal opportunities to engage in all subjects. In a recent survey, 124 States reported initiatives to eliminate bias and make curricula gender-responsive. Ninety-nine (99) of these Member States are taking specific steps to increase the number of girls and women studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

I urge all Member States to emulate these initiatives, as today only 35% of students in STEM are female. Indeed, we need to encourage our best and brightest girls and boys to pursue careers in STEM if we are to succeed in building a resilient, climate-smart world.

In addition, we must also promote vocational training and lifelong learning as viable paths in an evolving economy and labour market. I trust that in your discussions tomorrow, you will consider how we can re-frame the narrative around vocational training so that every student has the opportunity to reach their full potential throughout their education journey.

Excellencies,

Well-rounded curricula are an effective means of ensuring inclusive, peaceful societies. Global citizenship education and the promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, tolerance, and appreciation of cultural diversity allows for young people to navigate an intricately connected and diverse world.

For children trapped in conflict, school provides stability and hope for a brighter future. Indeed, each year of education reduces the risk of a youth¡¯s involvement in conflict by 20%. Moreover, people with a second-level education exhibit more tolerance towards people of a different race, religion, and migration status than their peers with only a primary-level education.

We must provide young people with the tools they need to become peacebuilders. It is critical that we work together to guarantee these children equal access to a holistic quality education. To fail to do so, would be to fail a generation. ?????????????????

Excellencies,

As we begin the Decade of Action and Delivery to implement the Sustainable Development Goals I call on you, as elected representatives of the people, to take action to implement SDG 4.? There is no justifiable reason for 265 million children to be out of school at this very moment.?

There can be no barriers to entry into education. We must guarantee at a minimum, universal access to basic education for every child, everywhere.

Education is the great equalizer and if we fail to invest in our people, especially our youth, we will fail in implementing the primary mandate of the United Nations, which is to uphold peace and security for all.

I leave you with a quote from Kofi Annan,

¡°Education is, quite simply, peacebuilding by a different name.¡±

I thank you. ????