Open Working Group 4 (Day 2: Education and Youth)
Tuesday, June 25, 2013 at 12:49PM Youth and education were among the topics for consideration during the morning meeting of the Open Working Group (OWG) Session 4. Below are some of the comments made by different delegations. These provide an indication as to the support that different countries might give to potential goals and targets.
Tuesday 18 June
Many countries commented on youth and education, for example, Zambia (on behalf of SADEC and Zimbabwe), said that the Post-2015 Development Agenda should prioritize youth and women and that education improves health indicators as well as preparing young people for employment opportunities. France (and Switzerland) emphasized issues around young people and employment. A young girl (on behalf of the Netherlands, Australia and the United Kingdom) said that a specific youth goal should be considered, noting unemployment among young people and that investment in quality education should be a high priority. India stressed that the aspirations of young people were important for the post-2015 agenda and the importance of universal access to education. Rights to education for all and inclusive education policies and development of non-formal and formal education for sustainable development were echoed by Belarus and Serbia. Colombia, also speaking for Guatemala talked about the need to address what is not ‘goalable’ in the work of the OWG and that health and education should have life-cycle approaches.
Unemployment among youth was a concern for Bulgaria saying that youth should be a subtheme in all SDGs. Romania, on the other hand, stressed life-long learning and education for all. Investing in pre-school was highlighted by Israel, together with making sure that the voices of youth are heard and acknowledged.
The United Kingdom, (for the Netherlands and Australia) in saying that young people are the world's greatest assets, stressed that their capacity must be harnessed and that their education should include comprehensive sexual education to help them make sensible choices. In addition good quality human right education should be included. Japan also emphasized that employment and youth are priorities for SDG agenda, pointing out that the challenge will be how to set new goals, targets and indicators for social protection and youth. Bangladesh made the links between youth, employment, education, while Saudi Arabia focused on access to secondary and tertiary education, as well as technical training.
Tunisia, (for Djibouti, G77 and the African countries) spoke on youth access to quality work and the increasing unemployment among young graduates. China, on the other hand, referred to the remaining challenges for achieving basic education for all, while also stressing vocational guidance for youth. The Republic of Korea supported the Secretary General’s initiative on Education.
South Africa called for comprehensive sexuality education for all young people, as part of the education goal, as well as legal and policy reform and sexual and reproductive rights for all. They supported the elimination of illiteracy among women, adolescents and young people, together with access to secondary education for all children without discrimination and improving quality of education and facilitating transition. They also spoke on the needs of pregnant schoolgirls.
Ethiopia referred to the 73 million unemployed young people worldwide, stressing the importance of education, particularly expansion of technical and vocational education to support young people to gain working skills. Ecuador (also speaking for Argentina and Bolivia) said that youth required particular attention. Meanwhile, Uganda focused on the need for a balance in education between tertiary-level education and skills training. In its intervention Jordan referred to the demographic opportunities through increased effectiveness of reproductive health and family planning programmes and promoting healthy behaviours in adolescents and youth, taking into account cultural specificities. Young people, technology and the right to education were included in the intervention by Rwanda.
Webcasts of Day 2 are availalbe here: