Diplomats from the UAE and the UK have been successful in persuading the UN Human Rights Council to adopt a resolution backing 12 years of quality education for all girls.
"Today, the Council adopted, by consensus, a landmark resolution on girls' education led by the UK and the United Arab Emirates," said Simon Manley, the UK's ambassador to the UN in Geneva.
"For the first time ever in a UN document, the resolution calls for the international community to commit to 12 years of quality education for all girls wherever they are in the world."
Mr Manley thanked all delegations in Geneva for backing the motion and said the UK would host a major international education summit in two weeks. Educating girls, he said, was one of the smartest investments any country can make.
Earlier on Monday, Britain said it would give £15.8 million ($21.9m) in aid to support education in six countries affected by conflict, including Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
The UK government said the funding would “address a chronic lack of research” into the most effective methods to teach young people in unstable areas.
The six countries – Myanmar, Nigeria and South Sudan being the other three – are home to about three million children who are refugees or displaced.
“We believe that every girl and every boy should receive a quality education, no matter where they live,” said UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
“This research will find better ways to teach the world’s most vulnerable children who are caught up in conflict and long-term crisis to receive a better education.”
Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said that children whose lives had been affected by wars, political unrest and natural disasters often suffered "a severe disruption to their learning, with lifelong consequences”.
Refugee girls, it said, were disproportionately affected, with half being out of school before the pandemic. An estimated 20 million girls are at risk of leaving school for good in the next year because of Covid-19, “leaving them more vulnerable to child marriage, gender-based violence, human trafficking and sexual abuse".
The pledge comes before the Global Education Summit in London later this month, which aims to raise $5 billion to support the activities of the Global Partnership for Education fund.
The £15.8m funding is part of the £400m that Mr Raab announced in April to support girls' education in the next year.
The UK government also announced £430m last month to help the Global Partnership for Education, which works to boost education in the developing world.
As the current president of the G7, the UK has sought to put education near the top of its agenda.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Case For Trump
By Victor Davis Hanson
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
FIXTURES
Nov 04-05: v Western Australia XI, Perth
Nov 08-11: v Cricket Australia XI, Adelaide
Nov 15-18 v Cricket Australia XI, Townsville (d/n)
Nov 23-27: 1ST TEST v AUSTRALIA, Brisbane
Dec 02-06: 2ND TEST v AUSTRALIA, Adelaide (d/n)
Dec 09-10: v Cricket Australia XI, Perth
Dec 14-18: 3RD TEST v AUSTRALIA, Perth
Dec 26-30 4TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, Melbourne
Jan 04-08: 5TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, Sydney
Note: d/n = day/night
Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10
ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons
Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page
Hawks
Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar
Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish
Falcons
Coach: Najeeb Amar
Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
More on animal trafficking
The bio
His favourite book - 1984 by George Orwell
His favourite quote - 'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance' by Derek Bok, Former President of Harvard
Favourite place to travel to - Peloponnese, Southern Greece
Favourite movie - The Last Emperor
Favourite personality from history - Alexander the Great
Role Model - My father, Yiannis Davos
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
