A/HRC/43/63 or as a pillar for development. Many statements focused on education for vulnerable groups. Education should recognize and respect indigenous children’s identity, history, values and customs, and seek to overcome inequalities in accessing education. Education systems should adapt to indigenous peoples’ needs and traditional ways of life, through the provision of special boarding, nomadic or temporary seasonal schools, education in mother tongues, or workshops on traditional crafts, or through national and ethnic sports, or preferential access to universities. Participants suggested special measures for vulnerable groups, including girls, children in conflict zones, displaced children, persons with visual and hearing impairments, persons belonging to minorities, and persons living in impoverished or rural areas. Participants noted that cultural identity in education needed to be respected. Panellists were questioned on how to quantify the relationship between education and development, particularly in developing countries. 22. In response, Ms. Muhwezi stressed the importance of integrating gender into all development and investment plans to cater for specific educational needs of boys and girls. Ms. Vlamings stressed the importance of being educated in order to contribute to one’s country’s development. For children in street situations, it was important to become visible, through data that accurately reflected their unique needs, such as birth registration. Mr. Aubry described two responses to the global inequality crisis: the adoption of a market approach fostering competition between schools, or building solidarity to face the crisis together. He favoured solidarity, which required building quality public education systems. Mr. Gano called for all stakeholders to cooperate on solutions that would guarantee universal education. Ms. Angel congratulated delegations on the progress achieved, and invited them to meet the challenge of collecting disaggregated data on ethnic origin, and to ensure appropriate consultations with indigenous peoples. Ms. Skelton reiterated that the Abidjan Principles recognized the difference between private actors working in the public interest in education and those interested only in commercial benefits. She called on all States to become the primary defenders of the right to education. C. Education in conflict and emergencies 23. Hans Brattskar, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, welcomed the inclusion of education in the global compact on refugees, and refugees in national education systems. Crises and conflicts had negatively affected children, especially girls. Schools offered a safe place where children could receive an education offering opportunities for the future. It was essential to ensure education continued and to invest in quality education in emergencies. The international community should do more to protect education from attack, including through the Safe Schools Declaration and the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict. 24. The Director of the Centre of International Studies of the University of Buenos Aires and National International Humanitarian Law Coordinator of the Ministry of Defence of Argentina, Luciana Micha, focused on global progress in protecting education from attack through the Safe Schools Declaration and the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict. Almost 100 States had endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration and there had been a significant decrease in the use of schools and universities for military purposes in those countries. There were concrete examples of implementation at the international, national and local levels. With regard to the United Nations, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations prohibited the use of schools for military purposes, and numerous countries had updated their guidelines, policies and practices to prohibit such use too. At the military, education and foreign policy level, States had started to share best practices, and three Safe Schools Conferences had been held, highlighting good practices as well as challenges to implementation. Military doctrines, manuals, tactics and operations must incorporate the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict. Ms. Micha called for increased dialogue with military stakeholders to protect education in conflict zones, strengthened cooperation with academia and national committees, and regional workshops on implementing the Guidelines. 7