Executive Director addresses IPU Assembly

IPNEd, which is a Permanent Observer of the Inter Parliamentary Union, was given the opportunity to speak during the 148th Assembly’s General Debate, the theme of which was the role of parliaments in supporting peace.

The Assembly was one of the most well-attended on record with over 700 MPs in Geneva, including over 50 Speakers of Parliament.

The Executive Director of the International Parliamentary Network for Education Mr Joseph Nhan-O’Reilly urged parliamentarians to put education at the centre of their efforts to promote peace.

Education’s triple crisis

“Education confronts a dramatic triple crisis: a crisis of equity and inclusion, as millions of children are still out of school; a crisis of quality, as many of those who are in school are not even learning the basics; and a crisis of relevance, as many educational systems are not equipping learners with the values, knowledge, and skills they need to thrive in today’s complex world,” said Mr Nhan-O’Reilly.

“Conflicts make matters worse. According to Education Cannot Wait, the global fund for education in emergencies, 222 million children around the world are caught up in crises and are in urgent need of educational support. 

“Sadly we fail these children because we deny them the support and funding needed to get them back into education.

“But we know that well-resourced education system can be an effective long-term preventative tool that protects, builds and sustains peace before, after and during conflict.

“Parliamentary action for peace must prioritise parliamentary action for education”.

To conclude, Mr Nhan-O’Reilly urged MPs to support two priorities:

• Ensuring that all children are in school and learning; and

• Have the opportunity to receive a healthy meal at school every day.

“These actions contribute directly to a country’s human capital - the population of healthy and skilled citizens of a country - which is central to a country’s development,” said Mr Nhan-O’Reilly.

“Central to a nation’s ability to guarantee its citizens their rights and to offer them the opportunity to live in peace and harmony.

“Parliamentarians are central to achieving this, to representing the aspirations of their communities for these things, to making laws that enable them, for directing public monies to services that deliver them and to holding governments to account for making these things happen.

”Be in no doubt that you, members of parliament from across the world, hold the keys to peace. That by growing and improving educational opportunity you will be laying the foundations of peace, progress and development.”

Download a copy of Mr. Nhan-O’Reilly’s speech.