On this International Day, we are celebrating education's powerful influence on action
in support of the four Ps on which our future depends: action for people, for prosperity,
for the planet and for peace.
This day thus provides an opportunity to remember that education is a valuable
resource for humanity. However, it is also a resource which is all too scarce for
millions of people around the world.
The global learning crisis, confirmed by data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics,
should be cause for major concern. Since education is the key to all the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), a learning crisis is also a crisis for prosperity, for the
planet, for peace and for people.
UNESCO, charged with coordinating the international community's efforts to achieve
SDG 4, quality education for all, has a particular responsibility in this context. It is for
this reason that we take action for each of the four Ps.
First and foremost, our Organization takes action for people, by making education an
instrument of inclusion and, therefore, of empowerment.
The major literacy campaigns on which UNESCO's history is built, and which
continue today, have thus opened up a world of opportunities for millions of men and
women. Today, it is to unlock people's potential that UNESCO is working to foster
student mobility by adopting, at the 40th session of the General Conference, the first
global convention on the recognition of qualifications in higher education.
Taking action for education also means taking action for prosperity - because
education is the best investment for the future. Education is, in the medium and long
term, the most effective means of reducing poverty and inequality and encouraging
social inclusion. It is for this reason that UNESCO places particular emphasis on the
promotion of girls' and women's education through its Her Education, Our Future
initiative.
Education also provides key solutions for a planet threatened by a climate imbalance
the consequences of which become more obvious with each passing day. Only
education has the power to sustainably change societies' behaviour, as necessitated
by the challenge of global warming. This is why UNESCO has called on all its Member
States to incorporate environmental education into their curricula, from nursery
school to university. We will share our expertise with States in order to reach this
objective.
Finally, education is the cornerstone of peace. Education is an opening up to others,
a path of intelligence which leads to intercultural understanding, to reconciliation, to
fellowship. This is the meaning of the global citizenship education promoted by
UNESCO.
Because, now more than ever, we need to mobilize, UNESCO, on the occasion of
the International Day of Education, is issuing a call for action - action for education.
High-level political authorities and citizens, States and associations, teachers and
parents of students: everyone, in their own way, has a role to play in making the right
to education a reality for all. It is our responsibility to future generations.
Message from
Ms Audrey Azoulay,
Director-General of UNESCO
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