World leaders today pledged to tackle the education crisis that is holding back millions of children and threatening economic development, at a high-level event at United Nations Headquarters in New York aimed at securing finance for this critical goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinancing education is indeed the best investment we can make for a better world and a better future,\u201d stressed UN\u00a0Secretary-General<\/a>\u00a0Ant\u00f3nio Guterres in his\u00a0remarks<\/a>\u00a0to the event, titled \u201cFinancing the Future: Education 2030,\u201d held on the margins of the General Assembly\u2019s annual debate.<\/p>\n \u201cI started as a teacher. I saw for myself decades ago in the schools and slums of Lisbon why education is a basic human right, a transformational force for poverty eradication, an engine for sustainability, and a force for peace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n More than 260 million children, adolescents and youth are out of school. Despite some progress in achieving gender equality in the world\u2019s poorest countries, far more girls than boys still do not have access to a quality education, according to a news release.<\/p>\n Also addressing the event was UN Messenger of É«¿âTV Malala Yousafzai, who said girls in many parts of the world are pushing back against poverty, war and child marriage to go to school.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have big goals, but we will not reach any of them unless we educate girls,\u201d she said, referring to the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by UN Member States in 2015.<\/p>\n The event \u2013 co-organized by governments, the private sector, civil society and UN agencies \u2013 was held to boost political commitment and investment in quality early-childhood, primary and secondary education.<\/p>\n \u201cDelivering an education to all \u2013 and not just some children \u2013 is the civil rights struggle of our time,\u201d said Gordon Brown, the UN Special Envoy for Global Education.<\/p>\n \u201cConfronted by the largest refugee crisis since the close of the Second World War, and with education receiving less than 2 per cent of humanitarian aid, it is vital we marshal the funds to provide an education for all children \u2013 especially those left out and left behind: refugee children,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n