Paris Peace Forum
The President of the General Assembly is in Paris, France where he participated in the Paris Peace Forum and spoke at a High-Level Panel on the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations.
He said that the “UN, since its creation, has championed for peace and security and we have succeeded thus far in avoiding world wars. We must now look at what the world is demanding. The 75th anniversary is the time to do so.”
He added that we might have rules that we don’t agree with, but the solution is not to live in a world without rules.
UNESCO
During the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), The President of the General Assembly delivered a speech to the Ministerial Steering Committee on Education.
He noted that current estimates show that some 265 million children are out of school. He emphasized the need to remove all barriers to education and to ensure, at a minimum, universal access to basic education for every child, everywhere.
“While access is one problem” Mr. Muhammad-Bande said that another major problem is the quality of education, pointing out that more than half of the students who are enrolled in school are not meeting minimum proficiency standards in reading and mathematics.
In an ever-changing and more complex world, The President of the General Assembly said there’s a duty to educate all children and to prepare young people to join the workforce and to equip them with the necessary analytical and critical thinking abilities.
In this context, he emphasized the need to develop strong curricula and an effective monitoring and evaluation of learning.
He assured the Committee that he will champion SDG 4 on Quality Education throughout his tenure. As part of these efforts, The President of the General Assembly will convene a High-level event to commemorate the International Day of Education on January 24th. Work is underway with Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York, UNICEF, UNESCO and all other stakeholders to celebrate this day.
ICPD
The President of the 74th session of the General Assembly sent a a video message to the Nairobi Summit to Advance the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action.
The Summit marks 25 years since the first ICPD in Cairo, Egypt.
Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande said, in his message, that “while we have made progress in the years following the adoption of the Programme of Action, a considerable amount of work needs to be done to guarantee that people around the world, particularly girls and women, have access to sexual and reproductive health.”
As we enter the Decade of Delivery for Agenda 2030 for the Sustainable Development Goals, the President of the General Assembly called on national governments to enact policies, strategies, and programmes geared towards the full and accelerated implementation of the ICPD agenda. He added that the Programme for Action and Agenda 2030 are mutually reinforcing.
