Quality Education

Photo: Youth representatives at the High-level event on “Mobilizing Generation Zero Hunger”, September 2015. Credit: UN Photo/Cia Pak

Youth Skills Development - Today's Critical Global Challenge

Analysis by Dr Palitha Kohona

Ambassador Dr Palitha Kohona is former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York- He chaired the negotiations on the Colombo Declaration on Youth.

COLOMBO (IDN) - On July 15, the United Nations observed the UN World Youth Skills Day designated by the General Assembly to highlight the need to rapidly develop marketable youth skills. On the same day, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) released the World Youth Report on Youth Civic Engagement. There were many events held around the world to mark this special day.

The UN event was an important milestone in a process that began in 2013 when the then President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his address to the General Assembly, with great foresight, called on the world body to allocate a special day to highlight the need to develop youth skills.

: Dr. Palitha Kohona; UN INSIDER; 03 August 2016

Youth Empowerment Crucial in Achieving SDGs

By Rodney Reynolds

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – The United Nations formally launched on July 11 its global campaign to help ensure the implementation of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at achieving social, economic and environmental advancement for over 7.0 billion people worldwide.

But the lingering question before the 10-day High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on SDGs was whether or not the international community will reach its targets, including the elimination of poverty and economic inequalities by 2030, as envisaged by world leaders in September 2015?

Reiterating the primary theme of the SDG Forum – “Ensuring that no one is left behind” – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the successful implementation of SDGs will depend on its inclusiveness.

: Rodney Reynolds; UN INSIDER; 19 July 2016

Photo: World Skills Day at the UN headquarters in New York on 15 July 2016. Credit: UN.

UN Turns the Spotlight on Youth to Ensure Sustainable Future

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) - The World Youth Skills Day on July 15 and the release on the same day of the World Youth Report on Youth Civic Engagement, compiled by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) have brought into focus the attention the United Nations has begun dedicating to the youth, their concerns and aspirations.

The World Youth Skills Day at UN headquarters in New York was organized by the Permanent Missions of Sri Lanka and Portugal to the United Nations, the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNESCO, and the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth.

The importance of turning the spotlight on youth is underlined by the fact that the world today is home to the largest generation of youth in its history, with 90% of young people living in developing countries and with estimates suggesting that labor markets will need to add 600 million new jobs by 2026 to accommodate changing global demographics.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 16 July 2016

NEWSBRIEF: University Scholarships for Refugees Worldwide

BERLIN (IDN) - Germany is supporting the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative (DAFI) at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees by providing 2500 additional scholarships, according to the Federal Foreign Office. The DAFI programme enables those recognised as refugees to access university education in their country of first admission.

It is particularly Syrian refugees in Syria's neighbouring countries who stand to benefit from the new student grants. Up to 1000 scholarships will be awarded in Turkey, a further 700 will be available for refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and northern Iraq.

: Opinion Editor; UN INSIDER; 08 July 2016

Photo: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon meets with winners of the Cannes Young Lions competition in France. Credit; UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

World’s ‘Big Six’ Advertisers Support UN’s 2030 Agenda

By Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN | CANNES | NEW YORK (IDN) – Nearly six months before Ban Ki-moon relinquishes his post after ten years as UN Secretary-General, his unrelenting efforts underway since January to engage corporate leaders and entrepreneurs for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are beginning to bear fruit.

Speaking at the Lions Festival of Creativity, Cannes, on June 24, Ban said the world’s six biggest advertising and marketing services groups – Dentsu, Havas, IPG, Omnicom, Publicis and WPP – had decided to launch a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Common Ground initiative.

The initiative seeks “to beat ultra-competitors, poverty, inequality and injustice” by supporting a 15-year anti-poverty, pro-planet action plan, adopted by 193 Member States in September 2015.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 24 June 2016

Photo: Participants applauding adoption of the Global Education Action Plan by the UN Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization Conference, Gyeongju. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | INPS JapanPhoto: Closing ceremony of the UN Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization Conference, Gyeongju, Republic of Korea.

Conference Adopts Global Education Action Agenda to Implement SDGs

Analysis by Ramesh Jaura and Katsuhiro Asagiri

GYEONGJU, South Korea (IDN) - Five months after the international community began implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) endorsed by world leaders in September 2015, representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academia have finalized and adopted a global education action agenda.

The agenda affirming the importance of Sustainable Development Goal 4 – ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong opportunities for all – is spelt out in the Gyeongju Action Plan.

It was agreed at the 66th United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) / NGO Conference that concluded on June 1, 2016 after three days of deliberations in Gyeongju, a city on South Korea's southeast coast.

: Ramesh Jaura and Katsuhiro Asagiri; UN INSIDER; 02 June 2016

Photo of Kenyan children provided by Bridge International Academies

Liberia Outsourcing Public Education to a U.S. Company

NEW YORK | MONROVIA (IDN | GIN) - In what might be a first in Africa, Liberia will put its entire pre-primary and primary education system in the hands of a U.S. start-up that would bring a charter school model to struggling schools on the continent.

Bridge International Academies already has a presence in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda. Despite a headquarters in Nairobi, a listing for the company shows a San Francisco address.

When Liberian Education Minister George K. Werner announced in January that all pre-primary and primary schools would be outsourced to Bridge to manage, he set off a furor among local and international education experts. The arrangement, they said in an interview with the New Dawn newspaper, would be a “blatant violation of Liberia’s international obligations under the right to education and have no justification under Liberia’s constitution.