UN Secretary-General highlights UNESCO’s global leadership in education at Organization’s 40th General Conference

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, stressed UNESCO’s essential mandate in education and pleaded in favour of multilateralism as he opened UNESCO’s 40th General Conference addressing representatives of the Organization’s 193 Member States and 11 Associate Members.

“Education is an essential pillar to achieve our objectives for 2030. And we are late,” said the Secretary-General. “UNESCO has a fundamental role to play to coordinate and monitor global efforts in this regard. I commend the initiative launched by the Director-General at the UN General Assembly last September on the futures of education.”

Warning against the splintering of the international community along economic, social, and environmental divides, growing hate and discrimination, the Secretary-General declared:

“We must do everything to maintain a universal system based on international law and preserve a multipolar world with strong multilateral institutions.”

He also welcomed UNESCO’s contribution to ethical issues in science and technology and “the fact that this General Conference seems to be close to launching a process towards a global normative instrument about the ethics of artificial intelligence.”

UNESCO’s vocation to serve as a laboratory of ideas was highlighted in the introduction to the policy debate by the Organization’s Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, who denounced the multiple divides that are eroding national and international governance as well as the planet itself.

Ms. Azoulay also stressed the importance of education, “the keystone of peace. We must not only correct the insufficiencies and inequalities that education is suffering from but also improve our guidance of the world’s educational systems in the future, to lay the best foundations of effective, real sustainable development.”

The General Conference, the governing body of UNESCO which meets every other year to determine the Organization’s programme and budget, also placed multilateralism high on its agenda with a debate between youth and government leaders, (RE)GENERATION, Rethinking multilateralism with young change-makers, on its opening day.

In a lively exchange the young participants urged far greater governmental mobilization to contain climate change, more investment in education, and concerted efforts to ensure that technology is placed at the service of people and their rights.

During its 40th session which ends on 27 November, Member States are also set to adopt an international convention destined to facilitate the international recognition of higher education diploma and the free movement of students and faculty.

Original source: UNESCO
Published on 12 November 2019