World leaders to Oslo for Summit on Education for Development
Historical archive
Published under: Solberg's Government
Publisher: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Press release | Date: 01/07/2015 | Last updated: 02/07/2015
Leaders from all over the world will meet in Oslo on 6–7 July to garner support for a joint effort to promote education in countries affected by conflict, crisis and poverty. Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende will open the Oslo Summit on Education for Development, together with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai. Crown Prince Haakon will attend the opening of the Summit.
‘For the first time, heads of state and government, ministers, the leaders of a number of UN organisations and representatives of civil society, international organisations and the private sector will be gathered together to make a concerted effort to promote global education. Over 120 million children and young people are currently out of school. They risk becoming a lost generation if we don’t secure increased funding for education and teachers’ salaries, and if we fail to protect children in areas affected by war and conflict, to include children with disabilities, and to increase the number of girls who complete an education,’ said Mr Brende.
Around 400 key actors will attend the Oslo Summit on Education for Development. Participants include Rwandan President Paul Kagame, the prime ministers of Haiti, Niger and Pakistan, the foreign ministers of Niger and Palestine, and the education ministers of around 10 countries. In addition to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, leaders of UNHCR, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNFPA and the ILO will take part in the Summit, as well as UN Special Envoy for Global Education and co-host of the Summit Gordon Brown. Graça Machel from the UN MDG Advocacy Group will also attend, as will Julia Gillard, chair of the board of the Global Partnership for Education, and representatives of the private sector, including Telenor and the Minecraft in Education initiative. The secretary generals of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children Norway and other civil society organisations will be at the Summit, as will representatives of the World Bank, the African Union, and the African Development Bank.
‘By gathering all these actors in Oslo, we aim to mobilise more resources for reaching the MDGs and the new sustainable development goals for inclusive and quality education. Our ambition is that the Summit will strengthen global efforts to secure the universal right to education. I believe that we have every chance of achieving this, given the fact that there will be so many key decision-makers and champions of education for all in Oslo next week,’ said Mr Brende.
See the Summit website for more information, including the programme: http://www.osloeducationsummit.no/
Press contact: Astrid Sehl, mobile phone + 47 92284752, email: asse@mfa.no
***