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The Republic of Korea has brought its support to UNESCO’s Girls’ Right to Education Programme in Pakistan with the signing of an agreement between UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and the country’s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Mr Lee Byong-hyun, on 23 March 2017.

The USD 3.4 million project with the Korea International Cooperation Agency will support national capacity building to realize girls’ right to education in Pakistan’s Punjab province and Gilgit-Baltistan, through interventions targeting education officials, community leaders, teachers and parents.

“The Republic of Korea’s growing support to UNESCO, especially to education, is extremely valuable and a proof of trust in our Organization, which we deeply appreciate,” said the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay. “Your country’s success story is not only about economic development, it also shows the links between education and building a culture of peace, which is coherent with the values of UNESCO.”

Ambassador Lee recalled the role that foreign assistance and education had played in rebuilding his poverty-stricken country after the Korean war. The breadth of cooperation with UNESCO, reflected in some 30 projects underway in education, science and culture, exemplifies the country’s policy to return what it received from the foreign community in the past and to accompany human development.

The Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Pakistan to UNESCO, Mr. Moin ul Haque, expressed his appreciation for the generous support, signed on his country’s national day, affirming that “girls in these areas are passionate about education. Malala is an icon there and a symbol of the fight for girls’ education.”

The Government of Pakistan contributed USD 10 million to the Malala Fund for Girls Right to Education  established in 2012, of which USD 7 million are earmarked for the Girls’ Right to Education programme in Pakistan, launched in 2015 to increase and improve the quality of girls’ education at primary level in four provinces and four federal areas.

URL:

https://en.unesco.org/news/republic-korea-gives-support-unesco-s-programme-girls-education-pakistan