Investing in Girl Child Transforming Our Future

Honorable Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sierra Leone, Excellencies, and dear friends, a very good morning. The Permanent Missions of India and Sierra Leone are delighted to welcome you to commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child. Since the United Nations adopted Resolution 66/170 in December 2011, 11th October has stood as a global reminder that rights, potential, and well-being of girls are inseparable from the broader objectives of sustainable development. Protection and promotion of their rights serve to empower families, transform communities, and catalyze the growth of a country. Hence, we chose a theme, Investing in Girl Child, Transforming Our Future, for today's discussion. to discuss best practices and share our experience in taking this noble cause forward together. Allow me to first invite the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, His Excellency Harish Parvathaneni, to deliver the welcome remarks. Sir.

Thank you, Bhavika. Excellencies, Permanent Representatives, Madam Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone, Her Excellency Jane Babangura. Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, Madam Hanan Sunirman. Friends, ladies and gentlemen, at the outset, let me thank you for being present here on a Monday morning in defense of the girl child, a very important subject for all of us. And despite all the competing pressures of a very busy committee season, I thank you for your presence and for your commitment to this noble cause. 2026 marks 15 years since the adoption of the UN Resolution 66/170 that declared 11th October as the International Day of the Girl Child. Our discussion, therefore, is aptly centered around the theme of investing in the girl child to transform our future. This moment is opportune to reflect on the milestones achieved, exchange notes on success stories, development models that can be replicated, and deliberate on challenges to be overcome. There is no doubt that investing in the future of girl child delivers unmatched compounding returns. For example, education of a girl child ensures generational knowledge. It translates into increased marriageable age, enhanced skills, access to employment opportunities, financial stability for women, all of which cumulatively contributes to prosperous families and increase in per capita GDP. Focus on their health reduces infant mortality and enhanced access to health services, which translates into healthier children and societies. Thus, they have a direct positive impact on social development and economic growth of a country. Friends, what does investment truly mean? In India, our efforts began with investment in the most basic infrastructure, safe transport to school, functioning sanitation facilities that lets girls to remain in school, school meal schemes that ensure their nutrition and school retention, birth registration systems that make girls visible to the state machinery, awareness generation and strong laws to prevent female infanticide, child marriage, institutional prejudice and discrimination. In later years, this also implies mechanisms to enhance access to digital literacy, mentorship, credit and pathways into labor market and leadership roles. A step taken in this direction by India is its flagship initiative, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, Save the Daughter, Educate the Daughter, launched in 2015. It has been a very successful campaign that combined public messaging, mass media campaigns, and community mobilization aimed to shift mindsets and deep-rooted social biases. District-level joint actions by ministries of health, education, women and child development, were instituted to improve local welfare service delivery, monitor prenatal sex selection, promote first trimester registration of pregnancies, and enhance girls' school enrollment. A second pillar of investment is a financial inclusion through the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, a small savings scheme that enables families to build long-term funds for education, and helping settle daughters in their lives, which in effect incentivizes birth registration of girls. The scheme is now integrated with Mission Shakti, a comprehensive program for women's safety and empowerment that brings together legal aid, shelter, and medical and psychosocial support for women and girls in distress, all under one roof. These targeted programs converge with India's national initiatives for vaccination and community-based programs targeting pregnant and lactating mothers to combat child malnutrition, morbidity, and support early education services to children, yielding significant results. Over the past decade, the sex ratio at birth has improved from 918 a decade ago to 930 last year. Institutional deliveries rose to over 97.3% in 2023-24, ensuring safer childbirths for mothers and infants. Girls' enrollment in secondary education has increased to touch 78% in 2023-24. Significant efforts in promoting skill development among young girls and women have enhanced their economic participation. As of December last year, Over 40 million bank accounts have been opened since the inception of the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, with total deposits exceeding over $34 billion, placing real financial capital, quite literally, behind India's daughters. Excellencies and friends, irrespective of these achievements, we are aware that much more needs to be done. This requires sustained focus, political support, investment, monitoring and emulating best practices that have yielded success elsewhere. Therefore, today's event assumes particular significance for us. Again, we are very happy to once again welcome Deputy Foreign Minister, Her Excellency Janeba Bangura, and all the permanent representative friends who are here. We look forward to hear more about initiatives in Sierra Leone on eliminating child marriage. And of course, we were very fortunate to take part in the function arranged by my brother, Michael, along with the First Lady of Sierra Leone, and the impressive successes they have had there in eliminating child marriage. We also would be very particularly happy to hear the efforts of UNICEF, and we have the Deputy Executive Director, Hanan Suleiman, to share years of field experience that UNICEF has gathered on these issues. Madam, you are an important partner for us, for each one of us, and seeding success stories and taking them from one geography to another is a very important part of it in the true spirit of South-South, indeed North-South, and even triangular cooperation. I look forward to a productive discussion today. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. We're extremely privileged to have with us Her Excellency Jeneba J. Bangura, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone. Ma'am, I invite you to share your thoughts on the occasion.

The floor is yours.

Ambassador Harish Pavithran, distinguished permanent representatives, colleagues, representatives of UNICEF and UN agencies, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I am honored to represent Sierra Leone as co-host with India for this panel, Investing in the Girl Child, Transforming Our Future. A simple truth, when a girl is denied education, forced into early marriage, or held back by gender bias, we lose her potentials. But when a girl is educated, protected, healthy, and empowered, she transforms her life, her family, her community, and her country. Investing in girls is not charity. It is an investment in human dignity, social justice, economic growth, and sustainable development. The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 66-170 designated November 11th as the International Day of the Girl Child, affirming girls' rights and particular challenges they face. Yet millions still face barriers to education, healthcare, safety, economic opportunities, and decisions affecting their lives. In Africa, this is urgent and personal. Our people, especially our youth, are greatest resources. To unlock that potential, we must end poverty. harmful practices, discrimination, poor schools, and limited opportunities. Friends, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in Sierra Leone, investing in girls means creating conditions for dreams to become reality. Girls in rural areas must have the same chances as those in cities. Poverty should not decide if a girl finishes school. Pregnancy or disability should not limit opportunities. No girl should have to choose between safety and education. Our free quality school education program has lowered financial boundaries and barriers, especially for girls. We are promoting gender equality, protecting girls, and ending child marriage. Keeping girls in school requires safe learning spaces, trained teachers, healthcare, protection from violence, and families and communities that value education. Child marriage interrupts education, endangers health and safety for girls and limits independence. Sierra Leone is strengthening laws and policies against it. Every child should prepare for future, not be forced to give it up. Across Africa and the world, girls are not only vulnerable, they are agents of change, innovators, leaders, peacekeepers and deliverers of growth. Educating a girl expands opportunity. Protecting her health safeguards society. Ending violence and child marriage protects her childhood and gives her chances and choices to be the best that she can. Giving her a voice strengthens institutions. These investments advance the SDGs, poverty, health, education, gender equality, and inclusive growth. Governments cannot do this alone. We need stronger partnerships, countries, the UN, civil society, businesses, families, and youth. We must target the biggest gaps, share what works, and turn promises into real improvements. As Beijing+30 approaches, we must accelerate progress. Are we reaching the girl in a remote village? The girl with a disability? The girl displaced by conflict or climate change? The girl at risk of child marriage? The girl whose talent is hidden by lack of opportunity? We must measure successes not by policies alone, but by the lives that we changed. Sierra Leone is proud to join India and other partners. We seek a world where a girl's birthplace does not determine her future. Gender does not limit opportunities, and circumstances beyond her control should not hinder her aspirations. When we invest in a girl, we strengthen families, communities, nations, and build a more peaceful, fair, and prosperous world. Invest in her education. Protect her childhood. Respect her dignity. Support her voice. The future we want begins with the opportunities we give our girls today. As a girl child, I was opportuned and fortunate to be given the opportunity to education and allow my voices to be heard. And that is the reason why today I proudly represent Sierra Leone, I represent India, and I represent all the girls all over the world as we celebrate this very, very important day. I thank you.

Thank you, Excellency. Investment in a girl child means creating conditions for dreams to turn into reality. You've very succinctly yet eloquently explained what investment in a girl child stands for. Thank you for your inspiring words, Excellency. May I now invite His Excellency Mr. Amar Benjama, Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations to share your views on the occasion, sir.

Thank you, moderator. Dear Harish, Minister Bongura, Excellencies, dear colleagues, investing in a girl means investment in her rights, her well-being, her future, and ensuring she can learn, stay healthy and safe, develop her talents, and pursue her aspirations. The needs naturally vary across regional and socio-economic contexts. For some girls, investment means quality education, digital skills, and economic opportunities. For others, it means removing barriers to schooling, to transportation, simply nutrition and healthcare. The principle is universal, but the solution must reflect local realities. Let me present to you Algeria's experience, which illustrate this approach. First, very early after our independence, we have installed free and compulsory education This has helped achieve universal primary school enrollment for girls and boys. Today, female students account for more than 65%, 65% of university enrollment in 2024. Second, provision of free universal healthcare, which promoted equitable access to health service for all. Furthermore, third, Algeria has strengthened its legislative, framework on child protection and mechanism, including forbidding child early forced marriage. In the framework of our national action plan for children, 2026-2030. We will reinforce our commitment to advancing national priorities in line with the United Nations objectives. While Algeria has advanced through sustained investment and international cooperation, we should recognize broader regional challenges. Children are not equally treated everywhere. This year, UNICEF emphasizes the critical need to support educational transition, learning outcome, and basic services. I mean, ongoing conflict and instability. And it is true in the broader MENA region, in Palestine, in Iran, in Yemen, and also across Africa, especially in the Horn of Africa, Sudan, Somalia, and elsewhere. Safeguarding children at risk requires sustainable investment, stronger protection system and predictable resources. And because of this complex and different environment, we should confirm that no single model fits every context. Just for Algeria experience, there are five practical approach. First, ensure education investment that address multiple barriers by providing essential services alongside schooling. Second, bring essential services closer to girls hardest to reach, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Third, connect. Connect education to economic opportunities through entrepreneurship, access to finance, and women economic activities. These economic activities strengthen economic independence and the capacity to support their children. We understand that economic and financial independence are synonym of freedom and dignity. Fourth, invest heavily in functioning protection system, not legislation alone. Through prevention, early identification, reporting channels by trained professionals, support services, and reliable data. Fifth, assess, ultimately, the impact of investment by examining whether girls stay in school and learn, whether they have real access to healthcare, whether they are really protected from violence and have meaningful opportunities as they transition to adulthood. This approach can be helped to national, can be adapted to national and regional circumstances. through South-South organization, international cooperation, including partnership with the United Nations and our regional organization. As the Third Committee considered this year resolution on the girl child, Algeria want to reaffirm the importance of keeping girls at the center of our efforts. Women diplomats around this table, they are contributing greatly to our work in this room. They demonstrate what childhood opportunities can make it possible. The condition we create for girls today, our girls, shape their choices and also their contribution for tomorrow. Investing in girls' right, in their well-being, in their opportunities, is therefore an investment in our shared future. I thank you.

Thank you, Excellency, for sharing information on initiatives in your country on investing in girl children. May I now invite His Excellency, Mr. Marcelo Riccardi, Permanent Representative of Paraguay to the United Nations for his remarks.

Sir, you have the floor.

Thank you so much, dear Harish, for inviting us. And of course, thank you so much, distinguished Mrs. Bangura. Deputy Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone, for convening this important meeting. I would like to start by sharing with you a brief story from Paraguay. More than a century ago, two young Paraguayan women, Adela and Celsa Speratti, decided to devote their life to education. They were born in Asuncion, Paraguay, during the war of the tribal alliance, which left our country devastated. They trained as teachers in Argentina and returned to Paraguay at a time when Paraguay had to rebuild almost from the scratch. There, they trained new generations of teachers. At a time when women had very limited opportunities to study. I like to recall this story because it shows us something simple. When we give girls opportunities, the benefits can reach much further than we might imagine, not only for themselves, but mainly for the others. And that is exactly what we are talking about today. In Paraguay, we believe that investing in girls means giving them the opportunity to grow, to learn, and develop their abilities. But in this context, we think that families have a fundamental role to play, have the first place where children receive care and protection. And the state has the responsibility to guarantee their rights, provide services, and support families in that role. Let me share some example of public policies that my country is implementing in that direction. The first is Semillas del Futuro, or Seeds of the Future, a program that brings together health care, nutrition, early childhood care, stimulation, and support for families during the first years of life. The second is the Abrazo program, which has been working for about 20 years. Sustained program is very important, as Ambassador mentioned before. So for more than 20 years to protect children and adolescents from child helping them stay in school and supporting their families. And the third, address a particular concern, sexual abuse against children and adolescents. This year, we strengthened our response through a national program focused on prevention and comprehensive care of victims. But these experiences have taught us something important. Having good programs is not enough. We also need to make sure they reach those who need them most and that they continue over time. And that is not always easy. In Paraguay, as in many other countries, a girl's opportunities can still depend on where she's born or her family's economic situation. One of our challenges is to reduce these differences so that a girl growing up in a rural community has the same opportunities as a girl living in the city. We know this is still much work to be done. Sometimes we spend a lot of time talking about what we should do for girls, but we do not always take the time to listen. to what they have to say. In Paraguay, we have an interesting experience we are developing now with the Girls Take Over initiative promoted by Plan International. Through this initiative, girls and adolescents symbolically take on leadership roles. They take leadership roles share their ideas, and speak directly with public authorities. It is a good reminder, it's a good experience that remind us that girls need more than protection and support. They also have opinions, ideas, and aspirations that deserve to be heard. Of course, none of our countries has all the answers. That is why meeting like this are so useful. They allow us to share experience, learn from one to another, and explore ways of working together that respond to each country's needs. To conclude, let me return to Sperata's sisters. When they returned to Paraguay to the boat themselves to teaching, they probably never imagined that more than a century later, today, here in the United Nations, we will still be remembering their work. I think their story captured quite well what we have been discussing today. Investing in girls means giving them the opportunities they deserve to build their own lives. And when we do that, we are also helping to build a better future for all of us. Thank you.

Thank you, Excellency, for sharing the story of Adela and Salsa Aspirante, as well as the initiatives, especially the Pan-International, where girl children can engage with leaders to convey their views. Thank you for sharing those stories from Paraguay. May I now invite His Excellency, Mr. Joan Fornaravera, Permanent Representative of Andorra to the United Nations for your views.

So the floor is yours.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Director. Thank you, Diya Parash. And thank you, Madam Deputy Minister Bangura for being here. Colleagues, friends, ladies and gentlemen, it's an honor to participate in this discussion on investing in the girl child and transforming our future. On the International Day of the Girl Child, we are reminded that investing in girls is not simply a matter of social justice. It's an investment in peace, prosperity, and sustainable development. And I'm going to talk about Andorra. Andorra education is at the heart of this commitment. We believe that every girl must have not only access to education, but also the freedom to learn, to develop her talents and to pursue her ambition without discrimination or gender stereotypes. Our national efforts reflect this vision. Andorra's Law 6/2023 on effective equality of treatment and opportunities between women and men establishes important measures to promote gender equality in education. and these include, very importantly, eliminating sexist stereotypes from educational materials, recognizing women's contribution to knowledge and history, and encouraging girls to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Furthermore, Andorra's educational equality initiative, including the 24-28 equality plan for the education sector, seeks to strengthen equal opportunities and prevent gender-based discrimination within educational institutions. These efforts reflect an essential principle. Education must not only open the doors of the classroom to girls, it must also open the doors to leadership, innovation and decision making. Nevertheless, access to education alone is not enough. We must also ensure that schools are safe and inclusive environments, that the teachers are equipped to challenge gender stereotypes, and that every girl, regardless of her social or economic background, can fulfill her potential. We must pay particular attention to the transition from education to employment, ensuring that girls have equal opportunities to access higher education, digital skills and emerging professions. Investing in these opportunities strengthens not only women's economic independence, which is absolutely very important, but also the resilience and competitiveness of our societies. Honduras recognizes that no country can achieve gender equality in isolation. International cooperation, the exchange of good practices, like we're doing here today, and our collective commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals are essential to accelerating progress worldwide. As we look ahead, we must remember that the true measure of our investment is not simply how many girls attend school, but how many are empowered to shape their own futures. Let us therefore invest in girls not only as beneficiaries of our policies, but as equal partners in building a fair, more inclusive and more sustainable world. And now I'm going to give also a little story that involves myself. In 1995, the marriage law allowed girls and boys to get married at the age of 14 with the authorization of a judge, but it was possible. I have to say that Very few cases, but it took us 27 years to finally in 2022, and I was involved in these policies to eliminate that possibility. Now the age is 18. But it's also important that the society was ready to accept this because, you know, traditions and this is something that sometimes we need to fight against traditions, traditions of doing these or accepting certain facts as normal. They are not normal anymore because the world is changing. But the politicians need to be at the forefront of that change. Thank you.

Thank you, Excellency, for sharing stories from Andorra and that personal experience. May I now invite His Excellency Lewis G. Brown II, the Permanent Representative of Liberia to the United Nations.

To speak on the occasion, sir.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Moderator. Thank you, Madam Minister, and welcome to the UN, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues. A girl is not a burden to be carried. She is a future to be empowered. And so I commend the permanent missions of India and Sierra Leone for convening this important commemoration. Today, we confront a fundamental question. Will the future be shaped by girls' aspirations or constrained by our failures? Madam Minister, Liberia strongly agrees that investing in girls is not charity. What it actually is for us is an obligation of justice, and like you said, a commitment to human dignity, and indeed an investment in our common future. their rights to education as speakers before me indicated. Safety and opportunity are not rewards for what they may someday contribute. Those rights are truly already theirs. If it belongs to any other human being. Yet Poverty, discrimination, violence, and indeed, child marriage, continue to deny millions of girls the opportunities they deserve. In Liberia, child marriage declined from 49% in 1995 to 25% in 2020. This is progress. But too many girls still remain behind. For Liberia, this challenge carries particular meaning. During our country's darkest years, Liberian women mobilized communities, advanced peace, and helped restore hope. For Liberia, the truth simply is, women help secure our peace. We must now help secure the future of Liberia's girls. And that future must not depend upon extraordinary courage to overcome what really is an ordinary injustice to girls. Colleagues, our commitments must produce results. We must end child marriage and violence against girls, enforce protective laws, and ensure access to essential services. But we must also keep girls in school, especially in rural and underserved communities, and provide safe learning environments. In many of our countries, too many of our schools are constructed against the health condition of girls. We must also close as colleague from Algeria rightly pointed out, the digital divide. UNICEF reports that nine in 10 adolescent girls and young women in low income countries were and are continue to be offline. Digital exclusion increasingly means exclusion from opportunity. And we must, yes, Like my colleague from Paraguay said, we must listen to girls, not simply as beneficiaries, but as participants in decisions affecting their lives. Progress is possible. In 2025, the UNFPA UNICEF Global Program and child marriage supported nearly 10 million girls to enter, return to, or remain in school. And the United Nations estimates that closing the gender digital divide could add $1.5 trillion to global GDP by 2030. Yet, the greatest return for investing in girls is not economic. It is that inherent right of every human being. to choose. that freedom to choose. The confidence to aspire. And the dignity to shape one's own future and call it their own future. If any man deserves, any boy child deserves to call a future theirs, every girl child deserves to claim a future she can call her own. Our responsibility, therefore, It's not merely to prepare girls for the world as it is, for it is structured against her. It is to build a world worthy of the girls, each girl child can truly become. And so let us match our declarations with resources. our commitments with accountability, and our admiration for girls' resilience with action that will make their resilience less necessary. Let us not tell a girl she is resilient. because she has to continue to face a uphill battle in her own family. The neck of the wood I come from. When families have a choice between educating the children, the first child to be left out is a girl. That's not resilience. That's asking a girl child to take on more than she can carry. Let no girl's future be diminished by the circumstances of her birth, or decided for her without the power of her voice. I thank you.

Thank you, Excellency, for those truly inspiring words. Freedom to choose and dignity to call future their own. That is truly, truly inspiring words. May I now invite Ms. Hanan Suleiman, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, to share UNICEF's insights from the field on today's theme. Ma'am, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues. First of all, thank you very much to the Permanent Missions of India and Sierra Leone for convening this important discussion on the International Day of the Girl Child. This year's theme, Investing in Girl Child, Transforming Our Future, carries a simple but powerful message. When girls thrive, societies thrive. It also speaks directly to the 2026 global theme, End Child Marriage and Invest in Girls' Rights. and to the urgent need to accelerate investments that enable every girl to learn, lead, and fulfill her potential. I want to recognize the leadership of both India and Sierra Leone. India is home to the world's largest adolescent population, with 253 million adolescents. That means progress for girls in India has significance far beyond its borders. India has shown that sustained investment, large scale community engagement, and policy action can drive real meaningful change. Over the past decade, girls' education has improved significantly, reflecting growing recognition of girls' value within families. Child marriage has declined, thanks in part to whole of government and whole of community approaches, like the campaign on Child Marriage Free India. Sierra Leone has strengthened girls' education and protection through measures that help adolescent girls continue learning after childbirth, including the National Policy on Radical Inclusion in Schools 2021-2026 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024. We should also recognize Sierra Leone's landmark achievement in placing the elimination of child marriage firmly on the global agenda. On the 4th of September this year, Her Excellency Fatma Maaddah Bio, First Lady of Sierra Leone, introduced a Sierra Leone-led resolution at the UN General Assembly designating the 27th of November as the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early, and Forced Marriage. This important global platform will sustain attention and accelerate action on one of the most pressing challenges facing girls in Sierra Leone, across Africa and worldwide. These achievements deserve recognition. At the same time, both countries, like many others, know that much more remains to be done to ensure that every girl can reach her full potential. We heard from their excellencies today in what's happening in different countries, and it speaks to this point. At UNICEF, we see every day that investing in girls means responding to the realities of their lives. For one girl, it means staying in school. For another, it means protection from violence, child marriage, or adolescent pregnancy. For another, it means access to health services or digital connectivity, life skills, or opportunities for economic empowerment. The needs differ, but the principle is the same. Investing in girls is among the highest impact investments a country can make. And yet, millions of adolescent girls still face barriers that limit their futures. Too many are out of school. Too many remain at risk of child marriage. Too many lack access to the services, opportunities, and platforms they need to participate fully in society. These barriers are even greater for girls affected by conflict, displacement, poverty, climate shocks, and disability. Today, we see some of the world's worst humanitarian crisis ever that we have witnessed in many, many years. And the challenges and violations that girls face there are beyond words. But we also know what works. Ending child marriage requires sustained investment in girls' education, health, protection, and opportunities. Across regions, UNICEF and our partners support programs that combine different sectors, education, health, social protection, life skills, and mentorship. In Bangladesh and Uganda, for example, programs combining livelihoods and life skills have reduced child marriage by up to 62%. In Bolivia, we are working with the government to scale up science, technology, engineering, and math for 1 million girls, what we call STEM skills. We have seen how cash transfers can help girls in school, how gender-responsive education systems can create safer learning environments, and how investing in girls' leadership strengthens families, communities, and economies. In Nepal, we work with the government to co-finance investment in adolescent girls, helping to reduce child marriage. Co-financing leads to sustainable solutions. As Maria, a girl leader from Columbia and a member of UNICEF's Global Girl Leaders Advisory Group reminds us, we need to be stronger about the role of girls in making change happen. That is exactly right. Girls are not only beneficiaries of investments, they are leaders, they are innovators, and they are change makers. That is why UNICEF has identified adolescent girls as an accelerator of results for all children, all families, and all communities. We remain committed to supporting member states to end child marriage, advance girls' rights, and invest in adolescent girls at scale. Because when we invest in girls, we are not only changing individual lives, we are transforming our shared future. Thank you very much, Your Excellencies.

Thank you, Madam, for sharing the views of UNICEF here. I'd now like to open the floor to Member States to share your thoughts on the occasion. If you'd like to make a statement, you can press the mic to give the floor.

Thank.

You. I just wanted to congratulate the dear Harish and dear Minister for organizing this timely event and to congratulate all the speakers about the encouraging messages they sent through their statements, which is It's a cross-regional message and this is important because it means that we are all sharing the same views and we are all aiming towards the same goals. So this is very encouraging. I just wanted to share two facts about what Cyprus does. to encourage the girl child. Education is compulsory and universal at all stages until the university education. 70% of our women youth are university graduates, which is a very encouraging percentage. And another important policy we have is that marriage under 18 years old is illegal in Cyprus and forced marriage is a criminal offense. So I think these are quite important policies. Thank you.

Thank you, Excellency.

Do I see any other speaker?

Okay.

Yes, sir.

Just to add a small point, I think many of us have seen in our own lifetimes how the situation of girls' education has changed. When I was a young engineering graduate student in college, I did mechanical engineering and there were no girls in my class. It was an all-male mechanical engineering class because it was considered a discipline which was male. And today, almost 70% of the class in my university are girls. So it is making real progress in our own lifetimes. But one of the aspects that Ambassador Benjamin referred to and also referred to Ambassador Lewis is the issue of digital domain. We only hear of tech bros. We don't hear of tech sisters. So I think AI is increasingly becoming a male dominated domain. And of course, it will have its own impact on how these powerful technologies shape thinking and shape use of this technology in our day-to-day lives. And how can we make the cyber domain a safe space for women and girls? I think that's an important area for us to work on. In India, we are ensuring that digital tools, including DPIs, digital public infrastructure, become a force multiplier for girls' education. AI is increasingly being utilized to create specific tutorials and child-focused tutoring materials which can help children use it to better their educational outcomes. I think this is an area where all of us as member states can focus on so that the emerging AI domain becomes girl friendly and women friendly in general. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Thank you, everyone. On behalf of the Permanent Mission of India and Sierra Leone, I take this opportunity to thank the permanent representatives of Algeria, Paraguay, like Andorra and Liberia for being part of the commemoration event, for sharing our thoughts, and most importantly, sharing your time with us. On behalf of the Indian mission, I'd like to personally acknowledge and thank the Deputy Foreign Minister, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sierra Leone, Madam Janeba Bangura, for being with us today and for sharing your experience and your views on the topic. We're truly privileged. I would also like to thank the member states present today, Excellency of Cyprus and Shahzafar of Afghanistan for being part of the event, who took the time out to be with us, and my colleagues, despite the busy committee sessions, for being part of the event with us. We appreciate your active engagement. This brings us to the close of the event. Thank you, one and all, and wish you a good day ahead. Thank you.

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