Statement to UNGA 78 – Second Committee

Agenda item 18 (g): Education for Sustainable Development

10 October 2023

Mr. Chair,

With 2030 fast approaching, we see clearly that the overarching goal of “eradicating poverty in all its forms”[1] is still elusive. Indeed, not enough progress has been made towards achieving sustainable development, and a concerted and immediate effort by the international community is needed to get us back on track. We need a commitment to delivering on a model of development that has the human person at its centre and is oriented towards the common good.

Mr. Chair,

Poverty is an affront to human dignity. It is not simply a lack of financial resources, but takes many forms, including a lack of basic needs, such as housing, electricity, safe drinking water and sanitation, as well as a lack of access to healthcare and education. These deprivations continue to undermine the God-given dignity of millions of people and prevent them from flourishing.

The lack of access to education is of particular concern, since education is “the primary vehicle of integral human development”[2] and provides the necessary tools for the spiritual, moral, and social growth of the person. In addition, education creates the conditions necessary to break the vicious cycle of poverty and lack of opportunity, enabling the poor to shape his or her own future.

The commitment to provide “quality education at all levels” contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes that everyone, including the poor, has the right to education. Moreover, education is a fundamental enabler of sustainable development, ensuring that every man, woman and child “acquire the knowledge and skills needed to exploit opportunities and to participate fully in society.”[3]

Investment in education is, therefore, vital, and should begin with appropriate assistance and support for the family—the fundamental unit of society—which “is the first and fundamental school of social living.”[4]Parents, in particular, are the primary educators and have the right and responsibility to ensure that their children receive an adequate and integral education that promotes their wellbeing in all dimensions—physical, mental, moral, spiritual and social—of human life.[5] The role of parents is irreplaceable and inalienable, and therefore “incapable of being entirely delegated […] or usurped by others.”[6] For these reasons, States and public authorities have the duty to guarantee this right and to ensure the concrete conditions necessary for its exercise.

Investment in education should avoid an approach that reduces education to a commodity and learners to clients or consumers. Rather an educational model should prevail that sees education as more than the transmission and accumulation of knowledge, but rather places the human person and his or her inherent dignity at the centre. The ultimate purpose of education is to enable each person to realize his or her full potential, to assimilate fundamental values and virtues.[7]

Furthermore, education can make a fundamental contribution to ending exclusion, and to renewing, through dialogue and integration, “the fabric of relationships for the sake of a humanity capable of speaking the language of fraternity.”[8] In addition to fostering human fraternity, educational programs should promote a “culture of care”[9] for the protection of our common home. Indeed, a crucial aspect of education for sustainable development is to educate the younger generations in sustainable production and consumption patterns, to generate new models of economic growth that place the human person and the environment at the centre, and to protect our planet from the exploitation of its resources.[10]

The Holy See, especially through the tireless work of the many Catholic schools, universities, and educational institutions throughout the world, will continue to play its part in ensuring “that everyone has access to a quality education consonant with the dignity of the human person and our common vocation to fraternity.”[11]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[1] A/RES/70/1.

[2] Pope Francis, Address to the Members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, 10 January 2022.

[3] A/RES/70/1.

[4] Pope John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio, 22 November 1981, 37.

[5] Cf. Compendium of the Catholic Social Teaching, 239.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Cf. Compendium of the Catholic Social Teaching, 238-239.

[8] Pope Francis, Video Message on the occasion of the meeting organized by the Congregation for Catholic Education: “Global Compact on Education. Together to look beyond,”15 October 2020.

[9] Pope Francis, Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, 231.

[10] Cf. Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum to all the People of Goodwill on the Climate Crisis, 4 October 2023.

[11] Pope Francis, Message for the Launch of the Global Compact on Education, 12 September 2019.