JANUARY 2016 ISSUE 15
A M o n t h ly M a g a z i n e o n K n o w l e d g e a n d D e v e lo p m e n t b y t h e M o h amm e d B i n R a s h i d A l M ak to u m F o u n d at i o n
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Brown hails UAE’s leadership role in spurring knowledge, innovation If there is no education, then for young people there is very little hope, says UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, former PM of UK for his leadership and for the tremendous success of the UAE topping every table in the Arab Knowledge Index for knowledge, education and learning and “to have the vision of the future of this country, which is as an education and innovation centre and capital of the world.”
A humane voice Addressing an exclusive session, Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the UK, discussed the role of education in not only securing children’s futures, but in ensuring an innovative society on day one of The Knowledge Summit 2015, the leading platform to discuss the most innovative solutions in the transfer, dissemination and localisation of knowledge in Arab Communities. Brown is the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and in this role, he works closely with key partners to help galvanise support for the UN’s Global Initiative on Education, Education First, which aims to achieve quality, relevance, and inclusive education for every child. The Office of the UN Special Envoy for Global Education is tasked with delivering on the world’s promise to ensure that no child is denied the right to go to school and learn. The office oversees a strategy to ensure that the world keeps its promise to the world’s children and youth. At the outset, Brown paid tribute to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum 58 flashes / JANUARY 2016
praise for the uae He said that what the UAE has demonstrated is that while oil and gas are important for the present, “the real potential for the future is the potential of people”. “What you are trying to do is tap the enormous talent and the enormous ability and capacity of every young boy and every young girl, and I want to suggest today that you are not only on course to do this, but that we can learn from some of the great education reforms and innovations that are taking place around the world, and this will make you an even more successful, innovation and knowledge capital of the future,” said Brown. Education is about opportunity, it is about economic efficiency, it is about spurring innovation right across the economy. But education is also about hope. If a young person is in education, then they are able to plan for their future; if a young person is at school and getting qualifications, then they can think of a life ahead of them and prepare for it. If there is no education, then for young people there is very little hope, he added. Referring to the challenges of refugee population in the region, he said “while food and shelter are essential to survival, it is education and the prospect of getting qualifications, planning for their career, that gives people the hope that is necessary for the future.” “Even in the most hopeless of situations, we can create hope,” said Brown referring to Mandela’s long incarceration in jail. “When it comes to the refugee problem in this region, where young people are without hope, we have got to give them that hope by making sure that they have education. It’s said that you can survive for 40 days without food, you can survive for 8 days without water, you can survive for 8 minutes without air, but you cannot survive for one second without hope. Education is about hope.”