Statement by H.E. Tijjani Muhammad Bande, President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly<\/h3>\n
17 February 2020<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Ms. Gabriela Cuevas Barron, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,<\/p>\n Ms. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, Chef de Cabinet, Office of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Secretary General,<\/p>\n Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, Assistant Secretary-General, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDP,<\/p>\n Distinguished Members of Parliament,<\/p>\n Excellencies,<\/p>\n I am delighted to welcome you to the United Nations Headquarters for the Annual Parliamentary Hearing.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Education is a key priority of the 74th<\/sup> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Excellencies,<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Excellencies,<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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\u2019 education and technical and vocational training throughout your national budgetary processes.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” _i=”1″ _address=”0.1″][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” _i=”0″ _address=”0.1.0″ custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.3.2″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.1.0.0″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” 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A strong curriculum taught by well-trained teachers is essential to ensuring a high level of learning which meets the needs of students, indeed the needs of society.<\/p>\n The Fourth Industrial Revolution challenges us to re-commit our promise to leave no one behind. To equip young people with the skills they require for a rapidly developing world we need to integrate Information and Communications Technology (ICT) into curricula in order to bridge the digital divide.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” _i=”1″ _address=”0.1.1″ custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_code _i=”0″ _address=”0.1.1.0″ _builder_version=”4.3.2″ vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″]\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/74\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/99\/2020\/02\/Capture18-300x167.jpg\")
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