Media Update: United Nations Pakistan, 13 September 2022

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

MESSAGE ON THE INTERNATIONAL DAY

FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE OZONE LAYER

16 September 2022

Today, we celebrate 35 years of the Montreal Protocol’s success in protecting the stratospheric ozone layer against synthetic chemicals that also cause climate heating.  Thanks to a global agreement, humanity has averted a major health catastrophe due to ultraviolet radiation pouring through a massive hole in the ozone layer.

The Montreal Protocol is a success because, when science discovered the threat we all faced, governments and their partners acted.  We adopted a global environmental agreement that has been universally ratified and decisively implemented.

The Montreal Protocol is a powerful example of multilateralism in action.  With the many problems facing the world – from conflicts to growing poverty, deepening inequality and the climate emergency – it is a reminder that we can succeed in working together for the common good.

The Montreal Protocol has already contributed to tackling the climate crisis.  By protecting plants from ultraviolet radiation, allowing them to live and store carbon, it has avoided up to an extra 1 degree Celsius of global warming.  The Protocol’s work to phase out climate-heating gases and improve energy efficiency through its Kigali Amendment can further slow climate disruption.

But, only by mirroring the cooperation and speedy action of the Montreal Protocol elsewhere can we stop the carbon pollution that is dangerously heating our world.  We have a choice: collective action or collective suicide. 

On this International Day, let us pledge to emulate the cooperation shown by the Montreal Protocol to end the climate crisis and all our common challenges.  And let us continue to back the Montreal Protocol’s essential work.

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UNITED NATIONS

MEDIA ADVISORY

World Leaders to Make Ambitious Commitments to Transform Education at UN Summit

New York, 9 September – The UN Secretary-General is convening Heads of State and Government, together with youth, non-governmental actors and the private sector to a Summit on Transforming Education on 16, 17 and 19 September 2022, during the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. The Summit is a key initiative of Our Common Agenda launched by the Secretary-General in September 2021.

WHY:

More than 90% of the world’s children have had their education interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Other crises — conflicts, a shrinking economy, the energy crunch and food insecurity — have deepened the global education crisis, which in turn, is provoking severely negative consequences on many fronts. It is also threatening gains in the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals and in particular, Goal 4 on Education. The Transforming Education Summit will seek to regain lost time and renew the collective commitment to education and lifelong learning as a pre-eminent public good. The Summit will be approached through 5 key topics: Schools, Curricula and Lifelong Learning, Teachers, Digital Transformation and Education Finance.

OUTCOMES:

Key outcomes will include the UN Secretary-General’s Vision Statement on Transforming Education, as well as a Global Youth Declaration. In addition, and following months of consultations, Heads of State and Government will make national commitments on 19 September.

WHO:

• UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres
• UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed
• Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on TES, Leonardo Garnier
• TES Advisory Committee co-chair, Minister of Education of Sierra Leone, David Sengeh
• UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Jayathma Wickramanayake
• UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility, Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes
• UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Stefania Giannini
• UNICEF Global Director of Education, Robert Jenkins
• Youth champions and other experts (list available)

All voices will be heard

The Leaders Day on 19 September will be preceded by engagements on Mobilization and Solutions on Friday, 16 and Saturday, 17 September respectively. The Mobilization Day on 16 September will be youth-led and youth-organized and will serve to convey the collective recommendations of youth on transforming education to decision and policymakers, informed by the Summit Youth Declaration. The Solutions Day on 17 September will provide a platform for partners, including UN agencies, NGOs, civil society organizations and private sector partners, to mobilize collective support to launch or scale up initiatives connected to the 5 Thematic Action Tracks. During the Leaders Day, a limited number of thematic sessions will be held to place a focus on cross-cutting priorities for transforming education.

WHEN:

16 September (9:30-18:00 EDT) The Mobilization Day

17 September (9:00-18:00 EDT) The Solutions Day

19 September (10:00 to 19:00 EDT) The Leaders Day

WHERE: UN Headquarters, New York or live through webtv.un.org

Media Accreditation: Please Pre-Register here before 16 September

Watch Live: The event will be livestreamed on UN Web TV

Key media moments

Thursday 15 September, 12.10-12.50pm

Curtain-raiser press briefing with Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, Special Adviser to the SG on the Summit, Leonardo Garnier and UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Stefania Giannini.

Friday 16 September

• Performance by Sara Marley, singer
• Youth Declaration presentation to UN Secretary-General
• Delivery of a call to expand the international right to education from Avaaz to UN Secretary-General, backed by more than 60 Nobel Peace Prize winners, current and former UN Special Rapporteurs, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and other leading experts.
• Arrival to the UN premises of Little Amal, the twelve-foot tall puppet depicting a refugee child, after her long journey from the Syria-Turkish border, calling for her right to learn.

Monday 19 September

SDG Moment leading to TES opening session, featuring:

• Summit Global Leaders session, featuring Nobel Peace Prize laureate and UN Messenger of Peace Malala Yousufzai
• Angelique Kidjo, Grammy award winning musician, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Co-Founder of Batonga

Press briefing: United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, on the new International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd) (tbc)

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Key links for the Summit

• Summit Website: https://www.un.org/en/transforming-education-summit
• Transforming Education Knowledge Hub: https://transformingeducationsummit.sdg4education2030.org/
• Watch Live: UN Web TV | UN Web TV
• Press kit

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For media enquiries or to arrange interviews, please contact:

• Abdel-Rahman Ghandour, Head of Communications and Advocacy, Transforming Education Summit Secretariat, ar.ghandour@unesco.org
• Langqi Zhao, Media Coordination, Transforming Education Summit Secretariat, l.zhao@unesco.org
• Francyne Harrigan, Chief, Sustainable Development and Human Rights, UN Department of Global Communications, harriganf@un.org

For media accreditation, please contact:

• Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit, UN Department of Global Communications, malu@un.org