Education Can Be the Answer to Many of Today’s Challenges and Threats – Olena Zelenska at the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen

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At the initiative of the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, the Fifth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen was held in Kyiv. For the first time, the event lasted two days, marking the largest gathering in the Summit's history.

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This year's theme was "Education Shaping the World". The Summit was dedicated to the role of education as the foundation of peace, sustainable development, equality, and cooperation. The focus was on four key areas: access to education as a fundamental right regardless of circumstances, including during wartime; technology and innovation with an emphasis on their ethical use; the role of education in promoting peace and humanitarian values; teaching as a vocation and a profession that shapes generations.

The First Lady of Ukraine noted that the Summit participants discussed both school lessons in the literal sense and the lessons of life that Ukrainians are forced to endure.

"The main lesson is that human rights, which seem so obvious, protected, and fundamental, are not a given. They must be fought for and defended. The right to education, the right simply to go to school, to enter a university, to develop - we now also have to defend these every day, physically," Olena Zelenska stressed.

For instance, in Ukraine, schools are currently being built in shelters so that, even during the war, children can learn safely, and teachers can continue to teach.

Moreover, the world faces the danger of knowledge gaps, which can be filled with disinformation and manipulative narratives. That is why developing critical thinking is so important.

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"A limited worldview usually goes hand in hand with hostility and aggression. In contrast, broad awareness tends to foster people who are tolerant, empathetic, and ready to listen and understand others. There is hope that if education succeeds, we will not need to look for ways to overcome conflicts," the First Lady noted.

The President's wife expressed her gratitude for their personal participation in the Summit to the First Lady of Austria, Doris Schmidauer; the First Gentleman of Denmark, Bo Tengberg; the First Lady of Estonia, Sirje Karis; the First Lady of Lithuania, Diana Nausėdienė; the First Lady of Germany, Elke Büdenbender; the First Lady of Serbia, Tamara Vučić; and the First Lady of Finland, Suzanne Innes-Stubb.

In addition, First Ladies from Belize, Guatemala, Israel, Türkiye, Poland and Sweden, as well as the First Gentleman of Slovenia, joined the event online. Queen Silvia of Sweden and the spouse of the Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshiko Ishiba, also conveyed their support. Altogether, First Ladies and Gentlemen from 17 countries took part in the Fifth Summit.

The Anniversary Summit was a special one, significantly expanding both the program and the geography of participants. Ukraine hosted Ministers of Education and their deputies from Austria, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Estonia, and Denmark. The Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen also welcomed distinguished teachers from different countries: Kenya, Brazil, Finland, Lithuania, Estonia, Canada, and Ukraine. Altogether, representatives of 20 countries participated in the Fifth Summit.

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The event featured a series of discussion panels. The panel on "Access to Education" consisted of two parts. The first panel discussion, "Education as a Global Marker of Equality. Lessons from the Past," brought together Ukraine's Minister of Education and Science, Oksen Lisovyi; Germany's First Lady, Elke Büdenbender; Lithuania's First Lady, Diana Nausėdienė; UNICEF's Global Director for Education and Adolescent Development, Pia Rebello Britto; and Global Partnership for Education Regional Manager, Marco Mantovanelli. The conversation focused on uniting international education leaders to draw attention to the global challenge of access to education. The discussion was moderated by Sarah Brown, Chair of Theirworld and Executive Chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education.

The panel opened with a TED-style talk by Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The second part of the panel focused on changes in the global education landscape: increased state responsibility, uncertainty about the future, and opportunities to shape new rules of collaboration. The discussion featured the First Ladies of Austria and Serbia; Austria's Minister of Education, Christoph Wiederkehr; CEO of the International Finance Facility for Education, Karthik Krishnan; and CEO of the Education Outcomes Fund, Amel Karboul.

The second panel was entitled "Innovation in Education: From Crisis to Transformation". Participants explored ways for artificial intelligence to foster learning and deepen understanding, rather than work against it. They discussed digital literacy, lifelong learning and personal development opportunities, enabled by technology, with contributions from the First Ladies of Estonia and Finland; Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov; Minister for Higher Education and Science of Denmark, Christina Egelund; Chief Executive of the British Council, Scott McDonald; President of the East Europe Foundation, Victor Liakh; Partner at SkillLab and Managing Director of Just Skills Hub, Simon Schmid; CEO of Cisco Ukraine, Sergii Martynchuk; British biochemist and Nobel Prize Laureate, former President of Rockefeller University Paul Nurse; and CEO of Becoming X, Paul Gurney.

Within the Innovation Strategy, Valeriya Ionan presented the WINWIN EdTech Centre of Excellence, while Esther Wojcicki, the "Godmother of Silicon Valley", shared her visionary insights.

The concluding part focused on how education fosters peace and promotes humanitarian values. In particular, this was addressed in personal messages to the Summit participants by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of Finland Alexander Stubb.

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine is fighting the Russian aggressor not only for its land but also in defense of universal human values.

"The Summit is dedicated to what matters most - to what must truly prevail in this war. Of course, independence. Of course, our sovereign state. Of course, our extraordinarily brave people. But all of this is united by humanity. That is what it comes down to. Humanity must prevail," the Head of State said.

"I believe that education is the foundation of all civilizations. We were among the first countries in the world to achieve one hundred percent literacy. In many ways, this was about survival. Because the truth is that education makes us who we are," noted the President of Finland.

Alexander Stubb also drew attention to the fact that Russia is now using history as a weapon. He stressed that this is a country unable to come to terms with its past or even to look at it critically.

The Summit also featured the presentation of the international research findings "Education as a Tool for Shaping Personal Resilience, National Social Capital, and a Culture of Peace", alongside the Gala Tribute to Teachers, which honored educators from around the world for their contributions to the global development of education.

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As part of their participation, the First Ladies of Austria, Germany, Serbia, and Finland visited schools and kindergartens in Kyiv and the region, where they met with children, their teachers, and educators. The distinguished guests also delivered public lectures at several Ukrainian universities, the National Art Museum, and the National Academy of Sciences. In particular, in Kyiv, addresses were made by the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb; the First Gentleman of Denmark, Bo Tengberg; the First Lady of Estonia, Sirje Karis; and the First Lady of Lithuania, Diana Nausėdienė.

In addition, lectures were delivered by leading academics and researchers, including Nobel Prize laureates: Sir Paul Nurse (UK, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2001), Shirin Ebadi (Iran, Nobel Peace Prize, 2003), and Wided Bouchamaoui (Tunisia, Nobel Peace Prize, 2015).

About the Summit

The Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen is an annual international event initiated by the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, in 2021. Since then, the Summit has grown into the Global Platform operating on a permanent basis.

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The Global Platform of the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen is a community that unites the spouses of heads of state who seek to use their influence to address global challenges.

The results and achievements of previous Summits can be accessed at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w1OqRm3pEFudwBL-SwpmxunnWUerKbNK/view?usp=drive_link

Thanks to the 2022 Summit, more than 6 million US dollars were raised to purchase 92 ambulances. In 2023, on the margins of the event, a unique medical partnership was launched, within which Ukrainian and foreign hospitals have already signed more than 60 memoranda of cooperation.

Last year, the Summit delivered a practical outcome in the form of a joint declaration aimed at uniting the efforts of the First Ladies and Gentlemen to protect children's rights during armed conflicts and wars, as well as the development of an expert document to implement the declaration. This document was presented at a special event during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.

The Fifth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen was co-organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Fund of the President of Ukraine for the support of Education, Science, and Sports, UNICEF, Osvitoria, and the British Embassy in Ukraine.

General Partners: BGV Charity Fund, Universal Bank.

Official Partners: Activitis Education, Ajax Systems.

Partners: Vodafone, La Famiglia catering, Yalta European Strategy.

Information Partners: United24 Media, Starlight Media

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