UNIS/SGSM/1430
4 September 2024
Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in attacks on students, teachers, educational personnel and schools around the world — from Gaza, to Sudan, Myanmar, Ukraine, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere.
Every conflict exacts a cruel human toll. But for the children and young people caught up in the hell of conflict, the cost is incalculable.
This important day reminds us of the damage of war on young learners’ bodies, minds and spirits. From injuries and loss of life, to abduction, forced displacement, sexual violence, recruitment to the fighting, and lost opportunities, the risks are enormous.
Education is not only a basic human right in itself — it’s essential to the fulfilment of all human rights.
I call on all countries to invest in education and spare no effort to safeguard education and places of learning, protect students and teachers alike, and hold accountable perpetrators of attacks on places of learning.
I also urge all countries to fully endorse and implement the Safe Schools Declaration, support the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, and stand with all efforts to ensure that children and young people can continue their learning — both in times of crisis and after the fighting stops.
Let’s protect education from attack, and safeguard the fundamental right to education that belongs to every child and young person, everywhere.
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The new Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations (Vienna), Olga Marta Sauma Uribe, presented her credentials today to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), Ghada Waly.
The new Permanent Representative of Madagascar to the United Nations (Vienna), Djacoba Andry Solofonirina Oliva Tehindrazanarivelo, presented his credentials today to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), Ghada Waly.
The new Permanent Representative of Mozambique to the United Nations (Vienna), Geraldo Gonçalves Miguel Saranga, presented his credentials today to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), Ghada Waly.
Child trafficking, trafficking for forced labour and forced criminality are rising as poverty, conflict and climate leave more people vulnerable to exploitation, according to the 2024 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons published today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
