U.N. official predicts education for all by 2015

Gillian Sorenson, senior adviser at the United Nations Foundation, reminded students, faculty and community members Tuesday that while significant progress has been made toward expanding global primary education, there is still much work to be done.

Sorenson's talk, called "Education for All: Deadline 2015," considered education in the context of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Organized by the Student Volunteers Council (SVC), the talk was the culmination of a year of events based on the theme of education.

"We thought it might be nice to round out the year's theme with a discussion about global education and the international ramifications of education," said Alexandra Connell '07, an SVC board member who organized the event.

Sorenson began by complimenting the humanitarian efforts of SVC, noting that similar work was occurring at the U.N. level as well. She described the United Nations' strong progress in refugee protection, children and human rights standards, election monitoring, birth clinic creation, anti-terrorist movements, public health and conflict containment.

"The U.N. is an imperfect but indispensable institution and for all its flaws, it is a valuable institution in this country," Sorenson said. She left her job as Assistant Secretary-General to Kofi Annan two years ago to "bring [her] experiences to other Americans to elevate discussion."

Sorenson described the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a list of changes created in the year 2000 that U.N. member nations collectively agreed to work toward achieving by the 2015. These goals tackle such issues as extreme poverty, gender inequality, child mortality, AIDS mortality, environmental sustainability, funds for development and most important to the talk, universal primary education.

"You are so lucky here. You're on the top end of the education chain," Sorenson said. "But we're talking about basic education."

Sorenson explained why 115 million children worldwide are out of school. She said that there are problems with access to schools, safety, supplies, trained teachers and few rewards for educational achievement. She described barren classrooms, in which the students sit on the ground with no desks, books, blackboards or chalk.

She focused particular attention on the high number of girls who have been denied schooling in comparison to their male counterparts, an issue Secretary-General Kofi Annan has tried to address, Sorenson said.

One often-ignored reason for the disparity, she said, is a general lack of sanitation. Many schools in developing countries do not have toilets, let alone separate toilets for boys and girls.

"The minute you install private toilets, the number of girls who register goes up," Sorenson said.

She ended her talk with an affirmation of the United Nations' effort to reform and a list of ways in which the United States can make the U.N. more successful. These include paying dues on time and in full, ceasing U.N.-bashing, joining the new Human Rights Council, signing and ratifying treaties and conventions including the Convention on the Rights of Children, and joining the International Criminal Court, she said. "We can afford to speak a little softer and listen a little harder."

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After the prepared portion, the floor was opened to questions. Roger Hove, vice president of school management and administration for International Schools Services, a Princeton-based nonprofit, asked for advice as to how his organization could help to spread education in developing countries.

Sorenson suggested that they look into teacher training, student-exchange programs and increasing supplies. "Work first in a microcosm, and see if you can make a visible difference. Then multiply and magnify it." She also encouraged students to work toward the cause in a similar way, by using the resources available at the University, including the SVC.

"We can't ignore it; we can't pretend it isn't happening," she said. "To know that a billion people don't have access to education and that we can change that, we must try."