At UNESCO Breakfast Meeting….

President Bio calls for Political Will & Scale-up Investments in Education.

By Betty Milton, Information Attaché, Brussels, Belgium

In his opening remarks at the SDG 4 High-Level Steering Committee Meeting on the margins of the Transforming Education Pre- Summit in Paris, President Julius Maada Bio who doubles as Co-Chair of the SDG 4 High-Level Steering Committee, has urged all governments that “there is the real risk of a generational catastrophe if we do not enkindle the necessary political will and scale up investments in education”.

He added: “We must generate the necessary political will and muster a committed global movement to make the desired change happen”.

President Bio maintained that the meeting provided a valuable opportunity to respond to the call for stronger leadership, greater political will, and bolder action in favour of education and lifelong learning.

The Sierra Leone President and Co- Chair recognised that education is the most powerful investment for sustainable future. He also spoke about the urgency of the global learning crisis, and the need to transform education systems. He continued: “we therefore urge the need for a genuine shift in mindsets towards the HLSC’s Call for Action for the Transforming Education Summit.”

On the Draft Message by the SDG 4 High-Level Steering Committee, President Bio described it as a message of warning and hope, adding: “a message of warning, because the cost of inaction is intolerable; a message of hope, because the opportunities for genuine transformation are considerable”.

As a strong believer of quality education especially at an early stage the President emphased that education provided the essential pillars for building peaceful, democratic, and inclusive societies where there was respect for human rights, a healthy planet, and a sustainable future for humanity.

The President called on members of the SDG 4 High-Level Steering Committee that they have a collective responsibility to seize the momentum created by the UN Secretary General’s Summit to make the case for transformation in education and as representatives of our respective regions and constituencies, they have a duty to mobilise their countries and all key stakeholders.

“All actors must urgently pursue both inclusive and equitable education and lifelong learning for all. This is the very essence of the HLSC’s Call for Action. We must therefore strategically use that as a wake-up call,” President Bio stated.

Co- Chair of the SDG4 HLSC, Madam Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, in her statement said looking beyond the crisis of the COVID, there were other challenges before the COVID-19 and were still prevailing which had affected the world and the educational sector especially the technological disruption and the climate change.

She added that, to guide their efforts they needed to look at the coordinated work done by UNESCO on the future of education which offered solid and shared foundation for global education.

Audrey Azoulay further stated that the role of the Committee was essential as it mobilised leaders of the world to defend and define their nations’ priorities and to better align the financing of these priorities.