A/HRC/43/63 10. Maya Ghazal, a high-profile supporter of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), shared her experience as a young Syrian refugee since 2015 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She had faced language, cultural and educational challenges and had been rejected by three schools. Her refugee status had led to labels, stereotypes, and doubts about her abilities. Nonetheless, she had learned English, completed secondary education and started studying aviation engineering. The international community was still failing child refugees and, globally, university attendance was significantly lower for refugees. Her story demonstrated that refugees could have their dignity respected and contribute to the communities that welcomed them if given educational opportunities. Higher-level education turned students into leaders, and harnessed the creativity, energy and idealism of refugee youth. Refugee education – especially for girls – was essential for the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals. Investing in refugee education should be a collective endeavour by governments, business, educational institutions and non-governmental organizations, with collective rewards. UNHCR aimed to ensure that, by 2030, refugees had achieved parity with their non-refugee peers in pre-primary, primary and secondary education, and to boost refugee enrolment in higher education. 11. The Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Luis Pedernera Reyna, explained that, according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the purpose of education should be the holistic development of the child to his or her maximum potential. Education should extend beyond regular schooling, strengthen children’s capacity to enjoy all human rights, and foster a human rights culture. While progress was being made in expanding education at younger ages, teenagers were often discouraged from remaining in, or were expelled from, education. Educational programmes without a focus on inclusion wrongly normalized segregation of children with disabilities. Armed conflicts, internal disturbances and lack of infrastructure made attending school dangerous and generated anxiety, fear and post-traumatic stress. Highly competitive educational systems, which disregarded a rights-based education, had resulted in high student suicide rates. A school focused on children’s rights should foster child participation. Children were a group with the right to self-representation, and with transformative potential when their voices were heard, as shown by the “Fridays for Future” movement. 12. The Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Koumbou Boly Barry, called on the State that had not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child to do so. Despite progress on the effectiveness of the right to education, States should do more, with the support of non-governmental organizations, civil society, foundations and businesses. In particular, the private sector had an important role to play, but it must be regulated and organized in order to respect the right to education, as provided by the Abidjan Principles. The Special Rapporteur emphasized that it was important to promote diversity, tolerance and solidarity, as fundamental parts of education. She called for investment in education at the early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary levels, including vocational training. She concluded by calling upon Member States, civil society, and technical and financial partners to engage and make education a reality for all people, the world and society. 13. A video was shown sharing children’s inputs on how education had empowered them. The children emphasized the transformative power of education and how it helped them realize their rights, defend the rights of others, and address issues such as bullying, discrimination, exploitation, violence and gender inequalities. 14. General statements were presented by the European Union, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the International Organization of la Francophonie, by Angola (on behalf of the African Group), and by Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cuba, France, Greece, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Montenegro, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ukraine and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Statements and questions were also presented by the Ambedkar Center for Justice and Peace, the Association for the Human Rights of the Azerbaijani People in Iran, the Human Relations/Human Rights Commission of the City of Tucson, Make Mothers Matter, Maloca Internationale and Patriotic Vision. Participants emphasized the interdependence of the right to education with other human rights and highlighted the importance of the World 4