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24 January 2023<\/b><\/p>\n
Thank you very much, Arora.<\/p>\n
I will be very, very happy to take it myself and share it with Member States in different forms.<\/p>\n
Dear Colleagues, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/p>\n
I heard you had a very rich and very moving discussions today so I understand that you need two PGAs to close it down.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn,\u201d as the saying goes.<\/p>\n
I thank Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵESCO and the Group of Friends for Education for involving us in today\u2019s observance \u2013 and keeping the door open for our collective learning.<\/p>\n
Your commitment to education today is more important than ever, as we prepare for the SDG Summit in September on the theme of investing in people.<\/p>\n
Dear Friends,<\/p>\n
Today, we could hear your calls to prioritize investment in education, as we just heard from Arora, and strengthen the capacities to collect and use educational data for evidence-based policymaking.<\/p>\n
To ensure that education systems are more inclusive and resilient.<\/p>\n
We heard your agreement that all children have the right to education \u2013 whether they live in peace, in conflict areas or in displacement settings.<\/p>\n
It saddens me to acknowledge that the state of education today is far from acceptable:<\/p>\n
Six out of 10 children around the world cannot read at age 10.<\/p>\n
Millions of children affected by conflict are deprived of schooling.<\/p>\n
As we heard today, in many instances, in Afghanistan, 80% of young women and girls are out of school, banned by the Taliban from receiving an education.<\/p>\n
With their human rights denied, their futures destroyed, their dreams shattered, there are no more freedoms left to take from them.<\/p>\n
I repeat the Secretary-General\u2019s warning that this conduct risks turning Afghanistan into a \u201cgender apartheid society.\u201d<\/p>\n
Are we to stand by and watch?<\/p>\n
Last week, DSG Amina Mohamed, my good friend, visited Kabul, assuring the women and girls of Afghanistan that we are doing all we can to support the fulfilment of their right to education.<\/p>\n
It is a message I strongly affirm today.<\/p>\n
More broadly, I encourage Member States to ensure that humanitarian and development assistance includes the education of children and adolescents.<\/p>\n
Dear Colleagues, Excellencies,<\/p>\n
SDG 4 sets the bar high for achieving quality education for all children and youth by 2030.<\/p>\n
As the midpoint approaches, we should accurately know how our societies are faring.<\/p>\n
This is why I welcome the launch today of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵESCO\u2019s Global Education Monitoring Report.<\/p>\n
It measures country progress in meeting SDG 4 benchmarks, including those discussed at the Transformation Education Summit last September.<\/p>\n
I look back to the Summit\u2019s Youth Mobilization Day as one of the most inspiring events of my Presidency.<\/p>\n
Young people came up with many ideas how to find new pathways for learning.<\/p>\n
The Youth Declaration established their ownership of efforts to transform education in a rapidly changing world.<\/p>\n
Today, I am really honoured to receive the Open Letter from Youth Leaders.<\/p>\n
I echo their call for the decision-makers of the world to urgently \u201cwalk the talk\u201d and invest in global education transformation.<\/p>\n
Youth Advocate Arora announced today the launch of the Global Youth Initiative.<\/p>\n
It will bring young people together to advance the recommendations of the Youth Declaration and serve as an engine for maintaining transformative change.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are facing an education emergency,\u201d Malala reminded us in the General Assembly last year. \u201cYou must use the power you have to take action.\u201d<\/p>\n
I will.<\/p>\n
Let us take this to heart.<\/p>\n
Let us all support teachers and politicians in making education truly transformative.<\/p>\n
Thank you, Arora. Thank you all, Ladies and Gentlemen.<\/p>\n
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24 January 2023 Thank you very much, Arora. I will be very, very happy to take it myself and share it with Member States in different forms. Dear Colleagues, Excellencies, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":361,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"
10 November 2022<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\r\n Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/p>\r\n Afghanistan is in crisis. It is in many crises.<\/p>\r\n It has been 15 months since the Taliban consolidated control over the country.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Its economy is in ruins. The humanitarian situation is disastrous.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span>Two-thirds of the population is hungry.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span>Girls and women are banned from learning, having a job or getting proper medical care.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The country is awash with heroin and opium.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Organized crime and terrorist organizations are thriving once again.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Afghanistan is facing complex and interlinked challenges that the Taliban have shown they cannot \u2013 or would not \u2013 solve.<\/u><\/span><\/p>\r\n It is time to support the Afghan people with concrete solutions that place their needs front and center.<\/p>\r\n It is true that some problems will require some time to resolve.<\/p>\r\n But there are actions the Assembly can take to change the paradigm now.<\/p>\r\n I would like you to consider one solution through solidarity.<\/p>\r\n The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan \u2013 which requires $4.4 billion US dollars \u2013 is only half funded.<\/p>\r\n With winter weather just weeks away, I encourage Member States to provide urgent support to help reduce the $2.3 billion dollar shortfall.<\/p>\r\n Let\u2019s remind ourselves of the old saying from Afghanistan: \u201cA real friend is one who takes the hand of his friend in times of distress and helplessness.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Excellencies,<\/p>\r\n Afghanistan has a rich history of scientific achievement.<\/p>\r\n I encourage the country\u2019s reengagement with the international science community.<\/p>\r\n And\u00a0to allow women who used to be respected members of the country\u2019s science community to resume their research and their studies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span>Afghanistan is now the only state in the world that would deny girls their full right to education.<\/p>\r\n The prospect of girls\u2019 education has been left to uncertainty amid seemingly random edicts from the Taliban.<\/p>\r\n This time last year, Fawzia Koofi, the first woman Deputy Speaker of the Afghan Parliament, recalled her dream of one day addressing the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ as the President of Afghanistan.<\/p>\r\n She said:\u00a0\u201cWith me, millions of girls and women in Afghanistan had this dream that now they think will never come true.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Dreams of becoming President have been replaced by the reality of child marriage. Arrests if women and girls leave their home without a male chaperone.<\/p>\r\n I reiterate my call for the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of all Afghans, especially women and girls.<\/p>\r\n Similarly, I urge the Taliban to ensure the safety of all Afghans, regardless of gender, ethnic background, religious belief or political affiliation.<\/p>\r\n To protect journalists and civil society members.<\/p>\r\n To allow unhindered humanitarian aid, and to cooperate with humanitarian workers.<\/p>\r\n We expect the Taliban to make good on the commitments they made to the international community.\u00a0To show honesty through\u00a0concrete action.<\/p>\r\n Excellencies,<\/p>\r\n The dramatic changes of 2021 have taken a massive toll on Afghanistan\u2019s economy and profoundly widened many security risks.<\/p>\r\n