Young learners enjoying a class session.
Today, 250 million children and adolescents are out of school and 763 million adults are illiterate, according to UNESCO.
Photo:© UNESCO/Emily Pinna

Learning for lasting peace

Learning for peace must be a transformative process, enabling learners to gain essential knowledge, values, attitudes, skills, and behaviors, thereby empowering them to serve as catalysts for peace in their communities. The foundation of more peaceful, just, and sustainable societies is laid through education, a force that permeates every facet of our daily lives and overall prospects. In the face of escalating climate change, democratic erosion, persistent inequalities, growing discrimination, hate speech, violence, and conflict on a global scale, education emerges as a powerful tool to both address and prevent these challenges in the future. Moreover, when effectively shaped and implemented, education becomes a long-term investment with increasing returns.

An active commitment to peace is more urgent today than ever: Education is central to this endeavor.

Find our more on UNESCO's website. Read UNESCO’s concept note.

International Day of Education "Learning for Lasting Peace"

24 January 2024: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Location: ECOSOC Chamber, UNHQ, New York, United States of America
Type: Non-governmental conference
Arrangement type: In-person
Contact: Elisabetta Caporaso

Raise your hand!

24 January 2024: 9:30 am | 14:30 GMT

Hosted by GPE Youth Leader Heela Yoon, a peace and education activist based in the UK and founder of Afghan Youth Ambassadors for Peace, this Raise Your Hand LIVE! aims to highlight the critical link between education and peace, emphasizing how education has a multiplier effect, with the potential to reduce global inequities, drive economic progress and build a more peaceful and stable world.

The event will be broadcast live on Youtube.

 

Background

Education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility.

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development.

Education is a human right

The right to education is enshrined in article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration calls for free and compulsory elementary education. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, goes further to stipulate that countries shall make higher education accessible to all.

Education is key to sustainable development

When it adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015, the international community recognized that education is essential for the success of all 17 of its goals. Sustainable Development Goal 4, in particular, aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030.

Challenges to achieving universal education

Education offers children a ladder out of poverty and a path to a promising future. But about 244 million children and adolescents around the world are out of school; 617 million children and adolescents cannot read and do basic math; less than 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school and some four million children and youth refugees are out of school. Their right to education is being violated and it is unacceptable. 

Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind.

Children drawing on a board

The Transforming Education Summit was convened in response to a global crisis in education – one of equity and inclusion, quality and relevance. Often slow and unseen, this crisis is having a devastating impact on the futures of children and youth worldwide. The Summit provided a unique opportunity to elevate education to the top of the global political agenda and to mobilize action, ambition, solidarity and solutions to recover pandemic-related learning losses and sow the seeds to transform education in a rapidly changing world.

A young girl writing on a blackboard in class.

Sociological, ecological, and technological trends are reshaping education systems, demanding adaptation. Despite the challenges, education possesses unparalleled transformative potential to mold equitable and sustainable futures. UNESCO takes the lead in generating ideas, sparking public discourse, and catalyzing research and action to revitalize education. This effort seeks to construct a new social contract for education, rooted in principles of human rights, social justice, human dignity, and cultural diversity. It steadfastly declares education as a public undertaking and a shared asset.

an abstract illustration of people engaged in an event

International days and weeks are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. We also mark other UN observances.