Delegate: Mr. Noura Berrouba
44. Ms. Berrouba (Sweden), speaking as a youth delegate, said that education was a human right, a cornerstone of critical thinking and self-realization, and a catalyst for gender equality, health, peace, poverty eradication and sustainable development. Every society should prioritize education by ensuring that every child and young person went to school, and also by dedicating special methods and resources to reaching young people whose access to education had previously been limited, such as those in extreme poverty and young migrants and refugees. Genderbased differences in access to education must be eliminated. Everyone must have access to all levels of education and lifelong learning.
45. Children and youth comprised half of the current refugee population, making the refugee crisis a generational one. The conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan and climate change were displacing large numbers of people and creating new migration patterns. With living as a refugee becoming increasingly common, legal routes for refugees, as well as their human rights, security, health, and opportunities for self-fulfilment and self-reliance were of growing importance. The right to asylum must be unanimously upheld. Human rights were inalienable; urgent action was needed to ensure refugees’ rights to shelter, employment, education and safe passage. If young refugees did not have access to education, there was a risk that an entire generation would be lost.
46. Inclusive social, political and economic platforms were needed to address those challenges, and young people must be allowed to have the necessary information to take part. Education would make that awareness possible. Partnerships for change both between and within countries, and specifically intergenerational dialogue, were needed for the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
UN Doc.: A/C.3/71/SR.3
Cite as:
UN Doc.: A/C.3/71/SR.3, 5 October 2016, p. 6, Youth Delegate Search: https://youthdelegatesearch.org/sweden-2016/, doi: 10.17176/20221018-192936-0.