“The terrorists know this. That is why they keep attacking schools, like in Garissa, Kenya and Peshawar, Pakistan. They target girls with books, like Malala Yousafzai and her friends as well as the girls in Chibok, Nigeria,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke to the World Education Forum (WEF.) in South Korea. The WEF seeks to establish a “roadmap” for education through 2030, particularly addressing the neglected and inadequately addressed needs of future global citizens: “I urge action to focus on girls and women, ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities and children living in conflict-affected areas, rural areas and urban slums.”
Education is Good Economics!
Studies show that one dollar invested in education can generate up to $15 in economic gain, he said. If all students in low-income countries learned basic reading skills, more than 170 million people could be lifted out of poverty, according to UN News Centre.
The Declaration on Education 2030, the expected outcome of the WEF, aims to mobilize countries to implement the new agenda, and propose ways for its financing. The Forum also sets a new course for education as the UN is preparing now to adopt a revised agenda for sustainable development during this September’s UNGA gathering in New York. As UNSG Ban emphasized, “Education must do more than produce individuals who can read, write and count. It must nurture global citizens who can rise to the challenges of the 21st Century,”
Student-Diplomats Extend their Voice on Education as Human Right
Two years earlier, Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey’s class at Montclair State University produced this video asking then what has now become the key to the answer: “Is Education a Human Right?”
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