1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Korean National Commission for the UNESCO and CJ group, co-hosted the Roundtable on UNESCO Projects for Girls’ Education supported by the Republic of Korea (ROK) in Paris, the French Republic, on April 9, 2019. During the event, participants discussed the progress in ROK-UNESCO Projects for Girls’ Education and ways to increase the ROK’s contribution to such projects.

○ The Roundtable was attended by about 150 participants including UNESCO’s key figures, including UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education Stefania Giannini; officials of the UNESCO members; recipients of the Projects for Girls’ Education; and policy experts.

2. As one of the UNESCO’s key donors, the ROK has significantly dedicated to Girls’ Education, a major project led by the UNESCO. The Roundtable took place in order to promote the ROK’s spontaneous contribution to the UNESCO and to share the outcomes of the Projects for Girls’ Education through donor organizations such as the Korea International Cooperation Agency and CJ group.

3. In her welcoming remarks, Assistant Director-General Giannini expressed appreciation for the ROK’s support for the UNESCO’s Projects for Girls’ Education, and asked governments, international organizations and private institutions to make concrete and continued efforts in a bid to achieve the SDG4-Education 2030.

4. In his opening remarks, Director-General for Public Diplomacy and Cultural Affairs Hong Seok-in highlighted that guaranteeing equitable learning opportunities to both girls and boys by 2030 is a pending issue in the international community, and expressed that as the UNESCO’s trustworthy partner, the ROK government will continue its support for cooperation projects in various fields, including the UNESCO’s Projects for Girls’ Education.

5. Officials of the ROK-UNESCO’s Projects for Girls’ Education and experts in girls’ education joined the event, during which they shared hands-on project experiences and exchanged an extensive range of views on ways to implement future projects.

○ Bonita Sharma, a beneficiary of the UNESCO’s Projects for Girls’ Education from the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, and Lalla El Oumrany, an official of the Ministry of National Education in the Republic of Mali in charge of girls’ education, pointed out early marriage and early pregnancy as two main causes of girls’ failure to receive formal education. Pauline Rose, an expert in girls’ education and professor at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island, also underlined the importance of policy support and investment in the area of education in developing countries.

6. This event is seen to have served as a good opportunity to enhance visibility of the ROK’s voluntary contribution projects to the UNESCO and to express the ROK’s position on its active contribution. The ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to play a leading role in contributing to the UNESCO’s main projects such as more participation in Projects for Girls’ Education.