Secretary-General Guterres made it clear in “Our Common Agenda”: “the choices we make or fail to make, could result in breakdown or breakthrough to a greener, better and safer future”. The 2022 Transforming Education Summit sketched the way forward on Education.

Europe has made a choice. We remain the largest contributor to global education efforts, to increase the knowledge and skills necessary to cope and find creative solutions to thrive in a much different world.

The EU has placed teachers and the quality of learning and teaching at the heart of its action with – in particular the Regional Teacher Initiative for Africa and Strengthening teaching in the Sahel.

We continue to invest considerably in fragile states. This is important with respect to stability, security, inclusion and access to education, notably for girls, and youth empowerment.

Education and lifelong learning must be at the center of these choices.  Under its Global Gateway strategy, the EU is increasingly investing in critical green and digital skills in our partner countries, building bridges with the private sector and businesses. Closely linked to value chains, those investments aim at preparing the youth for the job market with opportunity-driven skills and decent employment.

Let me reiterate at the end, that education is an essential investment to build stable and prosperous societies.