18 September 2014: The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched a policy paper promoting education as a prerequisite for sustainable development, and highlighting the role of education in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The 16-page booklet, titled ‘Sustainable Development Post-2015 Begins with Education,’ outlines specific ways in which education can advance the achievement of the SDGs. For example, in relation to the goal of eradicating poverty, the paper argues that education improves the incomes of farmers and workers in the non-formal sector, and prevents the transmission of poverty between generations. On the goal of reducing inequality, expanding secondary education is shown to go hand-in-hand with decreases in income inequality in Brazil, France and Malaysia.

UNESCO launched the publication on 18 September 2014, on the occasion of the opening of the high-level segment of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), in New York, US. The launch event featured speakers including Amina J. Mohammed, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning, and senior representatives of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP) and the organization Women Deliver.

The publication and launch event were supported by the UN Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative. [Publication: Sustainable Development Post-2015 Begins with Education] [UNESCO Press Release] [UN Press Release]