“Education for Global Citizenship”.

"This is the first time the UN DPI/ NGO Conference has been held in Asia and it is appropriate to have it in Korea, Ban-Ki Moon’s home country, as he ends his very successful term as Secretary General. Korea is a country that has embraced education as the tool to rebuild after the war and separation in the 1950s. Korea has moved from recipient to donor on the world stage.

My decision to come was based on the theme: “Education for Global Citizenship”. The Soroptimist International theme, “Educate to Lead” links very strongly. I came to learn, network and share the Soroptimist vision. An added benefit is to be knowledgeable about the threads of change, and advocacy points that we can underscore to assist in making the NGO community’s voice be clear and consistent.

It was a wonderful bonus to meet up with five Korean Soroptimists sisters who are active in the region. SI provided postcards on our work for us to share with those we networked with.

Ban Ki Moon addressed the conference at the official opening and praised the role of NGO’s as being the vanguard of global action; tirelessly advocating, and relentlessly driving towards equality. His alternative definition of NGO was “Network of Global Opportunities”. He is a strong believer in the value of NGOs and called on governments to give NGOs space to work freely without hindrance. A common call from panellists was for NGOs to take the SDGs and UN policies and convince governments to implement them. It will take civil society to implement them to the fullest (some accountability mechanisms were stripped from the SDGs).

Picture: Alexander Leicht, Chief of Section for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship at UNESCO.

Issues that were covered that are of relevance and interest to Soroptimists:

• The value of partnerships especially government, the private sector and NGOs. This reinforces the value that SI puts on partnerships.

• The value of education: HE Omrie Golley (Ambassador from Sierra Leone to Korea), shared that education develops a nation’s human capacity. The Sierra Leone situation included civil war, and the devastation caused by the outbreak of the deadly Ebola resulted in a downturn in education (schools became unsafe places and were closed).

• Clarity over barriers that NGOs can assist to break down, especially marginalised groups such as indigenous peoples, women and girls, older persons and those living with disablities. NGOs can also engage on issues including poverty, transport, cultural norms, access to sanitation, corruption, safety, and freedom from household tasks that keep children out of school.

• Improving diversity in STEM subjects would help avoid mistakes. For example, the artificial heart was designed by men and was too large for a woman. STEM should be expanded to STEAM. The “A” stands for the arts, the creativity of design brings another element to problem solving.

• The need to engage with youth – education is critical to nurture global citizens who can rise to the challenge of the 21st century. Youth can be a major force for positive change. Ban Ki-moon called on youth to take greater responsibility to create a better world and called on all NGOs to engage with youth. There was a large contingent of young people at the conference and special sessions each morning for them.

• The plight of children, especially those shattered by disaster and crises, who are deprived of an education was appalling. 68 million children are currently out of school. Dr Yanghee Lee, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Mynamar, spoke of the 100 million who do not complete primary education. With less than 2% of humanitarian support going into education, children being recruited as child soldiers, and 168 million children in child labour with 85 million in hazardous work, by investing in children and their education, the return will be 12-fold. 

• The global nature of the world. Some issues know no geographical or political borders – eg climate change.

The sessions were inspiring, challenging and relevant to our global theme".

by Soroptimist International President, Yvonne Simpson