Paris, Oct. 10, GNA – President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has charged Member States of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to ensure that education remained a priority in the common development agenda of countries.
He urged UNESCO members to work towards developing sustainable homegrown financial solutions, “so we can develop the educational system for the future we want in our various countries.”
The President made the call on Monday when he addressed the 215th Meeting of the Executive Board of UNESCO in Paris, France.
He noted that the world does not have the luxury to pick and choose which crises to fix.
“At this moment, we cannot pick and choose between funding guns and education.
“We cannot pick and choose between the interests of the present generation and the future of our girls and boys. We cannot choose geopolitical concerns over preserving our cherished cultural heritages, lest we perish universally,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo noted that education had become one of many competing priorities of domestic budgets, with development aid to the education sector also seriously under pressure due to global instability.
“Indeed, countries reduced their spending on education after the onset of the COVID-19, and, at the same time, direct aid to education by bilateral donors fell by some $359 million, which is not compatible with the objectives of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for financing sustainable development and the goals of the SDGs.
“We are further informed that prospects for reaching funding target, through voluntary contributions, are uncertain as several long-term donors have already reduced significantly their voluntary contributions to UNESCO due to a change in development cooperation priorities, thereby significantly impacting our planned programme implementation,” he said.
In spite of these challenges, President Akufo-Addo commended UNESCO for the lead role it played in ensuring the success of the Transforming Education Summit, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September this year.
He indicated that the Transforming Education Summit, and the pre-summit held in Paris, had been extremely successful in getting the world to reflect deeply on the trajectory of educational systems, and how to address present challenges.
Touching on Global Priority Africa Programme, which had been adopted by the UNESCO General Conference at its 41st Session, President Akufo-Addo was delighted that UNESCO has made Africa a Global Priority.
He said the UNESCO’s flagship programmes was relevant to achieving the objectives of the Africa Union’s Agenda 2063- the continent’s development blueprint to achieve inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development over a 50-year period.
President Akufo-Addo also urged UNESCO’s Executive Board to help win the fight against Climate Change, especially as the planet was heading towards a dangerous tipping point as a result of climate change.
He commended UNESCO for the effort to strengthen the “Man and Biosphere Programme”, whose goal was to help protect nature and biodiversity loss globally, through the Biosphere Reserve Concept.
“I urge UNESCO Member States to strengthen measures, at their respective national levels, that recognises formally the contribution of Biosphere Reserves, and designate more biosphere reserves and geoparks as a sure way for solving the climate crisis”, he added.
The President informed the Executive Board of the news that Accra has been named as the UNESCO World Book Capital for 2023, making Accra part of the prestigious World Book Capital Cities Network.
This, he stated, is an acknowledgement of the giant strides Ghana and Africa are making in developing Ghana’s book and creative arts industry.
“The year-long programme to celebrate this honor done us by UNESCO will commence from 23rd April 2023, which is celebrated globally as the World Book and Copyright Day. I wish to use this opportunity to invite you all to join Ghana in this year-long celebrations,” the President added.
GNA