Expert group meeting on population, education and sustainable development
06 September 2022 to 07 September 2022
Overview
The special theme of the 56th session of the Commission on Population and Development, taking place in April 2023, is “Population, education and sustainable development”. The theme is closely related to chapter XI of the Programme of Action adopted by Governments at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo, Egypt, and to Sustainable Development Goal 4 on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Since the founding of the United Nations, education has been recognized as one of the essential underpinnings of human development and societal progress. For example, the right to education and to participation in cultural life are proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). The Transforming Education Summit, to be convened in September 2022, is aimed at mobilizing action, ambition, solidarity and solutions with a view to transforming education between now and 2030.
The Cairo Programme of Action includes calls for providing universal access to primary education and closing the gender gap in primary and secondary education. It requests Governments to expand policies and programmes to support youth and adult education and lifelong learning, with particular attention to migrants, indigenous people and people with disabilities. The Programme of Action also calls upon Governments to provide formal and informal education about population and health issues, including sexual and reproductive health issues, in order to promote the well-being of adolescents. The document acknowledged that education on such topics helps to enhance gender equality and equity, promotes responsible sexual behaviour and helps to protect adolescents from early and unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and sexual violence and abuse. The Programme of Action also recognized the need to ensure access to and use of modern communication technology as a means of addressing the barriers to education in developing countries, especially in the least developed countries, with assistance from the international community.
As part of the substantive preparations for the 56th session of the Commission on Population and Development, the Population Division of UN DESA will convene an expert group meeting on 6 and 7 September to discuss the theme of “Population, education and sustainable development” 2022. The meeting will review the latest evidence and analyses in relation to the theme, drawing from the experience of countries in all regions.
Documents
Organization of work
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Day 1: Tuesday, 6 September |
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EDT (New York time) 12:00 – 12:15 noon |
Opening remarks (15 mins)
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12:15 – 12:45 pm |
Session I. Overview of Population, Education and Sustainable Development (20 mins)
Q&A (10 mins) |
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12:45 – 1:00 pm |
Break (15 mins) |
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1:00 – 1:45 pm |
Session II. Global and regional trends in the school-age population and enrolment (30 mins)
Q&A (15 mins) |
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1:45 – 2:00 pm |
Break (15 mins) |
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2:00 – 3:00 pm |
Session III. Impact of COVID-19 on major educational levels and lifelong learning (40 mins)
Q&A (20 mins) |
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Day 2: Wednesday, 7 September |
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EDT (New York time) 9:00 – 9:45 am |
Session IV. Education, fertility and family formation (30 mins)
Q&A (15 mins) |
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9:45 – 10:00 am |
Break (15 mins) |
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10:00 – 10:45 am |
Session V. Education, health and mortality (30 mins)
Q&A (15 mins) |
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10:45 – 11:00 am |
Break (15 mins) |
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11:00 – 11:45 am |
Session VI. Population, education and migration (30 mins)
Q&A (15 mins) |
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11:45 – 12:00 noon |
Break (15 mins) |
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12:00 – 1:00 pm |
Session VII. Interactive discussion: Policy challenges and recommendations
Open to all panellists to contribute (30 mins) Q&A |
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1:00 – 1:10 pm |
Closing remarks (10 mins) |