First Ladies of Ukraine and Paraguay, Olena Zelenska and Leticia Ocampos, received prestigious awards from the global children’s charity Theirworld
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The First Ladies of Ukraine and Paraguay, Olena Zelenska and Leticia Ocampos, were honoured with prestigious awards at the ‘Educating for the Next Generation’ event on the margins of the UN Summit of the Future in New York, USA. World leaders gathered there to address pressing education issues caused by challenges such as climate change, military conflicts and unemployment.
‘Educating for the Next Generation’ event was co-hosted by Her Excellency Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados; Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education, World Health Organization Ambassador for Global Health Financing and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; and Sarah Brown, Chair of Theirworld and Executive Chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education.
High-level representatives from different countries worldwide visited the event. Among them were the presidents, prime ministers, first ladies and government ministers from Ukraine, Guyana, Sierra Leone, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Togo, Ireland, Samoa, Sint Maarten, Grenada, Uganda, Paraguay, the Bahamas, Panama, Guatemala, Lebanon, South Sudan, United Kingdom, Canada, Tuvalu, and the European Parliament.

Other attendees at the event included leaders from HP, Conrad. N. Hilton Foundation; LEGO Foundation; UNHCR; World Trade Organization; Prudential; Rockefeller Foundation; Carnegie Foundation of New York, as well as from the Emerson Collective.
In particular, the Unlock Big Change award was presented to Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine. The award was given for ‘her dedication and unwavering commitment to the education of children and youth affected by conflict‘ – promoting safe schools to ensure children continue to learn despite Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
The Act for Early Years award was presented to Leticia Ocampos, First Lady of Paraguay, for her ‘dedication and unwavering commitment to the world’s youngest children’. The citation said: ‘Her contribution to acting for early years and unleashing the potential of the next generation will impact many generations to come’.

Furthermore, during the panel discussion, Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, focused on climate change and its effect on island nations in particular, saying that it is seriously impacting children’s education and futures. Mrs Mottley also added that there is a need for a mechanism to provide long-term investment, together with education reform, to work on this issue.
‘Children, more than anything else, deserve the best opportunity that they can have to learn and be given a chance for a better future. The bottom line is that we can make the kind of decisions based on the consensus that what the world needs now is a deal for children that is fair and honest,’ – emphasised the Prime Minister of Barbados.
Another speaker, Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF, stressed the importance of focusing on the early years of the child’s educational process.

‘The challenges are so immense. But we do know mostly what we need to do. We need to make sure we help children from the start. If you make investments in preschool, it makes all the difference,’ – noted Mrs Russell.
‘Educating for the Next Generation’ was a high-level event on the margins of the UN Summit of the Future, spotlighting how education can be crucial in tackling issues such as climate, conflict and unemployment.
The Summit of the Future is a platform that brings together representatives of UN member states, civil society, and the private sector around a common goal, planning for a secure, peaceful, and highly developed future. Digital technologies, peace and security, as well as sustainable development and financing, were the key topics of the 2024 Summit.
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