The President of Mongolia Ts.Elbegdorj has attended
“Education First”, a global initiative by United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki-Moon.

The Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon noted “I am encouraged and grateful for all
the generous commitments made today, which gives Education First a boost
towards achieving its goals. We are committed to ensure quality, relevant and
transformative education for everyone. Dozens of top companies and private
foundations have mobilized over US$1.5 billion in new financing to ensure all
children and young people have a quality, relevant and transformative
education”.

In the next five years, Education First will focus on three priorities: putting
every child in school, improving the quality of learning and fostering global
citizenship.
“We must not deny the promise of quality education to any child. The stakes are
too high. When we put education first, we can end wasted potential – and
foresee stronger and better societies for all,” Secretary-General BAN said.

At the end of the 1990s, 108 million children of primary school age were not
enrolled in schools. That number has fallen to 61 million today, according to
UNESCO’s forthcoming Global Monitoring Report. The gap between boy and girl
enrolment has also been greatly reduced. These are significant achievements,
largely due to national and international resolve to act on shared goals for
education.

The launch was followed by a discussion of the goals of initiative and the
critical need to put education on top of the global agenda. The panel
discussion was chaired by UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson and
panelists were Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan, Daw Aung Sang Suu
Kyi of Myanmar, teacher representative Teopista Birungi Mayanja of Uganda and
youth representative Charles Young of Jamaica.