Former British prime minister Gordon Brown has said debt relief and a new financing system should be used to increase funding for education.
“Education is the best route out of poverty for every child," Mr Brown told a Theirworld and the Global Business Coalition for Education event at the 75th UN General Assembly.
"What we were suggesting was the world comes together. We use the money that is available from debt relief ... about $80 billion of debt relief."
"We will give countries debt relief, but [they] spend the money on health and education," he explained.
The former UK prime minister highlighted how the Special Drawing Right (SDR), an international reserve asset created by the International Monetary Fund could be used to fund new education measures.
Mr Brown said over the next three years $1.2 trillion could be available for countries to draw on to spend on initiatives like education.
The UN General Assembly is meeting online for the first time because of Covid-19 restrictions.
The effect of the pandemic and the climate change emergency threatening the globe are high on the agenda for the word summit.
Mr Brown said the world already faced a crisis in education before the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said 400 million children around the globe are leaving school before the age of 11 and that 800 million children would leave without any qualifications.
“Don't ever forget, education is how we bridge the gap between what we are and what we have in ourselves to become, realising talent and potential,” Mr Brown said.
“And our children are more talented than the underfunded and pre-digital schools that we've condemned them to. We have got to do better."
Opening the event, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the world could not afford a generation lost to the pandemic.
“As a new academic year begins in much of the world, two thirds of the global student population are not expected to attend classes,” Mr Guterres said
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Secretary-General António Guterres (left) and Volkan Bozkir, President of the seventy-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly, speak ahead of the start of the General Assembly high-level meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations. UN Photo -
Shaping Peace Together: Celebrating 75 Years of the United Nations. In observance of the International Day of Peace, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) is co-hosting a musical commemoration. -
Stephane Dujarric de la Riviere, left, spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, takes a question from a reporter, right, via video link as others observe social distancing during the noon briefing, on Monday, September 21, 2020 at United Nations headquarters. AP Photo -
Members of the media observe social distancing as they listen to Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez deliver an address via video link in the United Nations Correspondents Association office at United Nations headquarters. AP Photo -
A sign sits in the empty North entrance plaza at United Nations headquarters during the 75th annual UN General Assembly high-level debate, which is being held mostly virtually. Reuters -
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Abdou Abarry, Permanent Representative of Republic of Niger to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of September, addresses the high-level meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations. UN Photo -
Munir Akram, seventy-sixth President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and Premanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, addresses the high-level meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations. UN Photo -
Secretary-General António Guterres makes remarks to the high-level meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations. UN Photo -
Secretary-General António Guterres (right) and Volkan Bozkir, President of the seventy-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly, are seated at the dais at the start of the General Assembly high-level meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations. UN Photo / Manuel Elías -
Metal barricades line the shuttered main entrance to the United Nations headquarters, on Friday, September 18, 2020, in New York. AP Photo -
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A woman sits next to metal barricades lining the sidewalk outside the shuttered main entrance to the United Nations headquarters in New York. AP Photo -
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Member state flags fly outside the United Nations headquarters in New York. AP Photo -
Police barricades outside the United Nations in New York. AFP -
A view of the city from the United Nations in New York on September 18, 2020. AFP -
The closed entrance to the United Nations, in New York on September 18, 2020. AFP -
The entrance to the United Nations, in New York on September 18, 2020. AFP -
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The United Nations GA Hall is seen empty in New York on September 18, 2020. AFP
“This situation will have a disproportionate impact on the most marginalised and vulnerable students, many of whom may never return to school.
“Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, this has been a year of unprecedented disruptions.
“To rebuild from this pandemic, education is the key to unlocking the big change we need.
"Education can promote equality, great opportunities and jobs and build lasting peace.
“Education is central to sustainable development and helps to build resilience to future shocks.”
Unicef executive director Henrietta Fore said it was her goal to get every school, teacher and student online in the face of the global pandemic.
“We want to connect every school in the world to the internet," Ms Fore said.
"We can now do this because we have a world in which there is excellent technology, from low-Earth satellites, from fibre-optic cables, from Wi-Fi.
“And then we need to connect every learner and every teacher to the internet.
“We could, in the next four to five years, connect every school to the internet."
