The Right to Accessible, Safe and Inclusive Learning Spaces
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Monday, 30 May – 13:30 – 15:00
Education must leave no one behind, and be accessible to all throughout life through quality learning opportunities. Too many of the world’s students and potential learners are explicitly denied, or subtly pushed away from, educational and training opportunities for reasons including their gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, language, location, religion, sexual orientation, age, ability (or disability), or poverty. A combination of factors including bullying, discrimination, micro aggressions, gender-based violence and lack of facilities such as classrooms, teaching and learning materials, water and sanitation, and lack of financing deny education and learning opportunities to many students, including 775 million adults, a disproportionate number of them women, who lack minimum literacy skills. This session will explore how the education community can ensure that all individuals have the opportunity to learn and grow to their maximum potential as stated in Sustainable Development Goal 4, and why this is crucial to achieving all of the SDGs. The roundtable will recommend concrete formal actions, such as through national education plans and international frameworks for policies and cooperation to improve education, and offer informal approaches including training, mentoring, social mobilization, building public awareness, and public and private partnerships to narrow access and quality gaps in education.
Moderator
Mr. Marco Roncarati
Social Affairs Officer, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)
Confirmed Speakers
Mr. Robert Ogburn
Foreign Service Officer, US State Department
H.E Ambassador Omrie Michael Golley
Ambassador of Sierra Leone to the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone Embassy to the Republic of Korea
Mr. Bruce Knotts
Representative to the United Nations of the Unitarian Universalist Association; Chair, NGO/DPI Executive Committee
Ms. Myungsook Cho
Vice-Principal, Yeomyung School for North Korean Defectors
Dr. Chaechun Gim
President, Korean Education Development Institute
Ms. Rasheda Choudhury
Vice President, Global Campaign for Education
Ms. Daniela Bas
Director, Division for Social Policy and Development, UN DESA