UN deputy chief calls for making 2024 ‘turning point’ for education

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has called for a transformation in education as she addressed a high-level education event organized by the European Union during a visit to Brussels on Thursday.

With education in crisis around the world leaving many children behind, there needs to be a commitment to “bring them back into the fold,” the Deputy Chief stressed at the EU’s Global Gateway High-Level Event on Education.

The UN senior officer called for two specific outcomes on education at the summit: a clear recognition from world leaders of the urgent need to transform and invest in education as a global imperative, as well as major breakthroughs on issues that are critical for education, including reform of the international financial architecture, strengthened digital cooperation and a new agenda for peace.

She stresses that, without additional measures, an estimated 84 million children and young people will stay out of school by 2030 and approximately 300 million students will lack the basic numeracy and literacy skills necessary for success in life.