Below quotes are selected based on the given speeches by the member states on the “MDGs#2: “Achieve Universal Primary Education” within the context of the MDGs Summit-2010 at the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City on September 20, 2010.
GUATEMALA
-High-level Plenary Meeting of the Sixty-Fifth Session of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals Statement by H.E. Mr. Alvaro Colom Caballeros, President of the Republic of Guatemala
“My Government has focused its priority programs on those variables related with the achievement of the MDGs. In particular, I would like to highlight: the Program on Conditioned Monetary Transfers (Mi Familia Progresa), the policy of not charging for the public services of health and education and the program of solidarity grants.
Thanks to these program, Guatemala is experiencing the largest growth in the last 15 years in the are of school enrollment for elementary education for boys and girls, as well as expanding access to mid-level education.”
NEPAL
-Hon. Bhim Bahadur Rawal, Minister for Home Affairs and the Leader of the Nepalese Delegation at the High-level Plenary Meeting of the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
“Some of our successful national programs include, partnership for poverty eradication, community management of schools and forests; education related incentives for girl children from poor, marginalized and disadvantaged communities; adult literacy campaigns; provisions of social security; targeted development programs, immunization and maternal health related programs and progressive realization of the rights of women, including right to reproductive health.”
SWAZILAND
-His Majesty King Mswati III Head of State of the Kingdom of Swaziland to the 65th Session of the United Nations High-level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals
“We believe that children should be protected and have unlimited access to education irrespective of their socio-economic status of gender.
Our education curriculum aims at providing innovative life skills that will empower our children with business skills so they can start their own enterprises.
We realize that our lives are controlled by technology from day to day. As a developing country we are determined to equip our children with information communication technology (ICT) education because today’s industries require human capital that is ICT compliant.
Our objective is to ensure that our children are not left out from the ICT such that they are at par with their peers from the developed world.
On this note, I am pleased to inform this plenary that the Kingdom has started the roll-out of free primary education. This is to ensure that every child will have access to basic education by 2015. This year our enrolment increased by over 15.3%.”
NIGERIA
- Statement On Behalf of: H.E. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, On the Nigeria and the Millennium Development Goals: Progress Towards 2015 By Professor C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Honourable Minister of Health, At the High Level Plenary Meeting of the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly to review the Millennium Development Goals
“It is heartening to note that nearly 9 out 10 children (88.8%) are now enrolled in school, but also to acknowledge that significant variation exists at sub-national (states and local governments) levels in Primary school completion rates. Tangentially, there has been a gradual improvement in the proportion of girls enrolled in primary school, but not enough to meet set targets.”
- Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathna, GCON, GCFR, President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the General Debate of the 65th Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly
New York 24 September 2010
“On the positive side, Nigeria has recorded remarkable progress in the provision of universal basic education and we are also in the process of harmonizing baseline data that would assist us in the proper monitoring and evaluation of all MDG projects.”
REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
- H.E. Mr. Victor Bodiu, Minister of State, at the High-level Plenary Meeting of the Sixty-Fifth Session of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals
New York, 20 September 2010
“Our key priorities are: improve health education in schools, ensure wider coverage of the social protection network, expand environmental sustainability programmes, optimize the school and hospital infrastructure and ensure better social inclusion of vulnerable groups, expand multi-sectoral partnership and intensify concrete actions to fight HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, improver water and sanitation infrastructure.”
ISRAEL
H.E. Mr. Shimon Peres, President of the State of Israel
New York, 20 September 2010
“So we introduced free compulsory education for all, from age 5 to 18. It brought an end to illiteracy and provided us with the highest rate of scientists per square mile in the world.”
UZBEKISTAN
-H.E. Mr. Islam Karimov, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, at the Plenary Session of the UN Millennium Development Goals Summit
“I would like to especially underscore an enormous role and significance, which the educational process and growth of people’s consciousness are acquiring in all these transformations.
In Uzbekistan the annual expenditures for education make up 10-12 percent of the GDP, while this indicator does not exceed 3-5 percent in the world practice. The unique National program for personnel training has been implemented in the country. From 2009 mandatory 12-year education was introduced.”
JORDAN
-His Majesty King Abdullah II, High Level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals, UN General Assembly
“Today, due to work of thousands of Jordanians in schools, in health care, in communities across the country we are in the process of achieving many of our millennium goals. Goal 2, for example, has effectively been achieved: ensuring that all children enroll in primary school and stay in school ending youth illiteracy and giving our students the foundation they need to advance in life.”
THAILAND
- by His Excellency Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand at the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals
“On the human development, we have focused on education and skills, development training. The education system has been reformed to ensure a life-long learning process and all people’s access to equal education, which is cost-free from kindergarten to high school. In addition, the Government has also raised the vocational and tertiary education standards and also developed and trained all levels of workers to broaden their knowledge and skills to meet technological changes and market demand.”
General Assembly
- by His Excellency Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand at the General Debate of the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly - New York 29 September 2010
“We are creating social safety nets through our universal healthcare schemes, 15 years of free education, training programmes for the unemployed, and support for low-income earners, farmers, the elderly, and people with disabilities.”
COLOMBIA
- by the Vice Minister of Multilateral Affairs of Colombia, H.E. Ms. Patti Londono-Jaramillo, High-Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals, Sixty-Fifth Session of the General Assembly
“I will limit myself to only mentioning the increase of more than 2.5 million students in the basic educational system, allowing us to reach universal coverage, within the last seven years.”
QATAR
- by His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, the High-Level of the United Nations General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals
“The leaders of the Group of Eight developed countries agreed in 2005 to provide by 2010 additional aid worth 50 billion U.S. dollars, 25 billion of which goes to Africa. They identified new targets for universal access to treatment of AIDS, universal primary education and free basic healthcare.
The State has provided free basic education opportunities for the different groups in society, without discrimination between males and females.”
MOROCCO
- by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, King of Morocco to the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the Millennium Goals
“Concurrently, a compulsory medical insurance scheme has been set up, together with a health cover plan to assist needy people.
The policy to make primary education accessible to all has resulted in 93 percent of children ages 6 to 11 being enrolled at school. Furthermore, in 2008, we adopted an emergency response plan to speed up the reform of our education and training system.”
TAJIKISTAN
- by H.E. Mr. Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Tajikistan at the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly
“Currently about half of the government budget of the country is channeled to the social sector, predominantly to education and healthcare.
The number of children attending elementary and high schools has increased, and the quality of social services granted to the population has improved.”
TURKEY
- by H.E. Abdullah Gul, President of the Republic of Turkey to the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the 65th Session of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals
“We are on track towards reaching the hundred percent primary school enrollment ratio, thanks to the direct payments given to mothers to promote the enrollment of girls to school.
We also granted extensive scholarship programs to students with limited financial means, in all levels of education.”
LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
- by H.E. Mr. Choummaly Sayasone, President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic at the MDGs Summit 2010
“In addition, social and cultural sectors have also achieved satisfactory results namely the improved enrollment rate of primary school children from 58% in 1991 to 84% in 2005.”
MALAWI
- by His Excellency Ngwazi Professor Bingu Wa Mutharika, President of the Republic of Malawi and Chairman of the African Union on 2010 Malawi MDGs Progress Report
“The achievement of universal primary education will also be met. In Malawi, primary school education is free for more than ten years to date, but the net enrolment rate has not yet gone beyond 83 percent for reasons other than affordability. Government is continuing to expand Teacher Training Colleges and constructing additional colleges to improve on the quality and number of qualified teachers in primary schools, constructing classrooms to reduce the pupil-classroom ratio, and scaling up school feeding programs to improve on net enrolment rates and retention.”
REPUBLIC OF BOTSWANA
- by His Honor LT. General Mompati S. Merafhe, the Vice president of the Republic of Botswana
“Consequently we have achieved universal primary education, where more than 95% of the 7 to 13 year olds had enrolled in primary education by 2007.”
REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
-by H.E. Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, President of the Republic of Macedonia
“The key to individual success and social progress lies in the comprehensive education. Therefore, both primary and secondary school in the Republic of Macedonia are mandatory. We increase the opportunities and investments in further education of young people on a daily basis. In the Republic of Macedonia, the project “A computer for each student” is implemented.”
NORWAY
- MDGs His Excellency Mr. Bens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway
“More children than ever before are in school.”
THE PRINCIPALITY OF LIECHTENSTEIN
by H.E. Dr. Klaus Tschutscher, Prime Minister of The Principality of Liechtenstein
“Liechtenstein continues to support such efforts by prioritizing education projects in its bilateral development assistance, with a particular emphasis on projects empowering women.”
UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
-by Hon. Mizengo P. Pinda, Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania
“We have done well on the Education Targets. In 1990, the net enrolment ratio (NER) in primary education was 54.2 percent for Mainland Tanzania and 50.9 percent for Zanzibar. In 2000, the rates went up to 57.1 percent for Mainland Tanzania and to 67 percent for Zanzibar. In 2006, the ratio increased to 94.8 percent for Mainland Tanzania and 77 percent for Zanzibar. The enrolment ratio continued to increase reaching 95.4 percent in 2010.”
REPUBLIC OF ANGOLA
-by H.E. Georges Rebelo Chikoti, Secretary of State for External Relations of the Republic of Angola
“Nevertheless, Angola has seen improvements in all basic indicators of the Millennium Development Goals. More than 2 million children have been enrolled in primary education since 2002. The percentage of children attending school has risen sharply to 76%.”
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
- by H.E. Reem Ibrahim AI Hashimi Minister of State of the United Arab Emirates
“Dubai Care Initiative founded by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, works to provide primary education for 4 million children in 14 developing countries to fight poverty and empower them, within the frame work if the MDGs.”
TUNISIA
- by His Excellency Mr. Kamel Morjane Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs
“Tunisia has managed as well to achieve a tremendous progress in schooling at all levels of education.”
REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN
- by R.E. Mr, Elmar Mammadyarov Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan
“Education reform strategy for the term of 2003-2013, supported by the World Bank, mainly focuses on reforming general compulsory education. Within this framework, a new program on pre-school education has been adopted. 2009 has been declared the “Year of Children” in Azerbaijan that coincided with the 20th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The relevant Action Plan was adopted to address special needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable children, and envisage particular efforts aimed at the promotion of child’s rights and encouragement of their talent.”
MOZAMBIQUE - Accomplishments
- by H.E. Mr. Oldermiro Baloi, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Republic of Mozambique
“We implement programs that promote the presence of girls at school and, we would like to take the opportunity to point out that at this point in time, Mozambique has almost reached parity between boys and girls at the primary school level.”
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ESTONIA - Accomplishments:
By Mr. Urmas Paet, Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
“There are [also] success stories that I would like to touch upon – firstly, remarkable progress in overall poverty reduction. More and more children go to school and their health has improved. More people have access to clean water and remarkable success has been achieved in fighting malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS.
. . .
As for education – which is the best engine for innovation and growth – I am glad to note that significant progress has been made in Sub-Saharan Africa, where school enrolment has increased fivefold since 1990s. We supported a project for the development of the vocational training system in Georgia with a special emphasis on the management of vocational schools. We also provide yearly scholarships for students from a number of partner countries. As part of our multilateral policy, we make annual contributions to the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative. Last but not least, I would like to stress the importance of public education on the attainment of the MDGs. By improving education we not only raise awareness of the MDGs, but also strengthen the support for their funding.”
Commitments:
“From 2011 Estonia will also contribute to the strengthening of the UN system and MDG achievement agenda as a board member of the UNFPA, UNDP, and UNICEF. Estonia has, with the help of the United Nations Development Program and Open Society Institute, established a special agency for assisting governments in developing countries with advice and training on electronic governance and on the use of ICT in public services. Estonian experts are currently advising governments all over in the world. In several countries we support the development of an interoperability network for better governance and are making public services more transparent and efficient. We have also assisted computerization projects, aimed at putting contemporary ICT systems into use in educational systems.”
MEXICO
“Mexico registers significant advances in the goals related to primary education for children and the elimination of gender inequalities in primary and secondary education.”
-For the full statements of the MDGs Debate on September 20, 2010.
