Address by the Director-General of unesco, Audrey Azoulay

Address by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, for the China World Digital Education Conference 2-3 December 2022

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

“Education is a human right and an essential tool for achieving the goals of equality, development and peace.”

These simple yet powerful words were enshrined in the Beijing Declaration for women's rights in 1995.

They tell us that education has no equal when it comes to transforming the world.

But the world of 1995 is not the world of 2022.

And as our societies evolve, as they embrace innovations such as digital technologies, education must also adapt.

That is what this event is all about: bringing about the education of the 21^st century, education that is in step with the digital age.

This means ensuring that digital technologies truly serve the common good, without leaving anyone behind.

For these technologies hold much promise – but also many pitfalls.

On the one hand, distance learning is an essential tool in supporting educational continuity – as we saw over the past three years.

But on the other hand, gaps in digital access – and in the skills needed to navigate the digital world – are widening learning inequalities across the globe.

In short, we should approach the digital era with a critical mindset – and always remember that technologies can help teachers, but never replace them.

At the Transforming Education Summit, during the United Nations General Assembly last September, the international community reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that digital technology truly represents progress for all regions of the world.

To address this issue, UNESCO has developed important programmes and normative tools, like our recommendations on Open Educational Resources and Open Science, to support equitable access to quality educational and research materials across the globe.

But we need to speed up this process and strengthen cooperation on digital education – and that is precisely the aim of this Conference.

I would therefore like to sincerely thank the People’s Republic of China for this initiative, and for its strong support for UNESCO’s priorities.

Now more than ever, in the real world, online or offline, let us remember one thing: education is a fundamental and universal right.

I thank you very much for your attention. 谢谢

DG/2022/92

Original: English

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