H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Education Above All Foundation; Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of Unesco; and other dignitaries at the Unesco headquarters, in Paris, yesterday.
Paris: H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, participated in a high-level panel discussion entitled “Act Now to Protect Education from Attack” at Unesco headquarters in Paris yesterday, on the occasion of the International Day to Protect Education from Attack.
Sheikha Moza, who is also a UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocate, delivered a speech emphasising the importance of mobilising immediately to find creative solutions to put a stop to attacks on education worldwide.
Drawing a comparison with the speed and creativity employed by the international community during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that education continued, she asked why the same ingenuity cannot be directed to find solutions for the persistent problem of attacks on education.
She called on the international community to recognise that as children returned to their schooling this past week, across the world millions of children were unable to do so due to attacks on their education.
Sheikha Moza implored the international community not to ignore the “millions whose school buildings were destroyed or damaged, or occupied by soldiers. Millions who simply do not have access to education because of conflict”. “Why are we not responding now, with solutions to another great crisis: the crisis of attacks on education,” she asked.
Her Highness addressed the challenges she faced over the years of her long commitment as an advocate for education. “For nearly a quarter of a century, I and my team have tried to convince the international community that educating children matters and this includes all children. All children matter. Poor children, isolated children and children who live in, or flee war zones.”
“For years we have chipped away at the apathy displayed by world leaders and policymakers. We have made incremental steps in achieving a global norm condemning attacks on education. Last October, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2601. And yet, since then thousands of attacks have taken place.”
During her speech, she underlined the importance of education “as the very weapon, children use to overcome the challenges they face,” emphasising that “through education, our young people learn the skills they need to find a job, to contribute to their communities, to feed themselves and their families.”
Meanwhile, H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser met with HRH Grand Duchess of Luxembourg Maria Teresa, at the Unesco headquarters. During the meeting, a number of topics of mutual interest related to children’s education in times of crisis were discussed.
Sheikha Moza also met with HRH Princess Caroline of Hanover at the Unesco headquarters. During the meeting, they discussed ways of joint cooperation to ensure the right to education for children in marginalised and conflict areas.