78th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 78)

Sessions & Speakers

1. Wednesday 09/06

   Webinar | 9:30–10:45 am |

   Gender in Early Childhood Education: Addressing inequalities in opportunity and pedagogy

    

   The Population Council’s Evidence for Gender and Education Resource (EGER) program and Pratham are thrilled to invite you to a webinar to discuss gender inequalities in accessing and within the early childhood education environment.

    

   A recording of the webinar is available on the Council YouTube channel.

2. Saturday 09/16

   Closed session | 7:00–8:30 pm | One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, New York 10017

   Roundtable discussion—Youth-led work for adolescent sexual and reproductive health

    

   Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Population Council Girl Center, and the Global Roadmap for Action

    

   At this roundtable discussion, donors, partners, and youth will discuss the vision for the Global Roadmap for Action, the needs of the adolescent and youth community, the importance of youth at the center of this work, and the ways in which donors and partners can support their efforts. The discussion will be filmed and then aired on World Contraception Day (September 26^th).

3. Monday 09/18

   Invite-only event | 9:30 am–12:00 pm | One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, New York 10017

   The Intersections of Education, Gender, and Climate Action: Exploring the evidence, challenges, and opportunities for change

    

   Climate change is a global crisis—extreme events such as droughts and floods are affecting the ability of children (especially girls) around the world to learn, to thrive and to aspire to a brighter future. While climate change poses risks to education in several ways, education itself has the potential to reduce climate change and its impacts. Access to quality education enhances girls’ ability to adapt to the intensifying impacts of the climate crisis and the overall resilience of their families, communities, and even their countries. This is one of two complementing events the Council is co-hosting that will explore the nexus of climate, education, and gender, starting with a discussion on the evidence and opportunities for change, followed by a youth-led intergenerational conversation on cross-sectoral actions on girls’ education and climate change.

    

   Co-hosted by the Center for Universal Education—Brookings Institution and the Population Council’s Evidence for Gender and Education Resource (EGER) program, this session will leverage the energy and promise of the annual UN General Assembly, and mid-point reflections on the Sustainable Development Goals, to engage stakeholders across the education, gender, and climate sectors to deepen collective understanding of the evidence, challenges, and opportunities at the intersections of education, gender, and climate facing the world now and in the future.

    

   The other event, “Reimagining the Future: Centering education, gender, and climate for a sustainable world” will be held on Thursday, September 21.

   Invite-only event | 3:00–5:00 pm | One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, New York 10017

   Partnering With Adolescent Mothers to Break the Cycle of Intergenerational Poverty

    

   This event is grounded in the lived experiences of adolescent mothers in East and Southern Africa, who are key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Co-hosted by Children’s Rights and Violence Prevention Fund, Children’s Rights Innovation Fund, GIRL Center Population Council, International Resource for Impact Storytelling, and We Are Purposeful, presenters will reflect on narrative research and insights from adolescent mothers in Kenya, Mozambique, and Tanzania as they articulate their needs, priorities, and solutions for providing nurturing care for their children and securing their own futures. Panelists will also discuss what formal power holders can do to center adolescent mothers in policy solutions and actively engage them in program design, development, and implementation.

4. Tuesday 09/19

   Closed session | 8:30–10:30 am | One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, New York 10017

   Scale, Horizon, Utopia: Assessing the global health R&D pipeline and leveraging innovation to close SDG 2030 health

    

   The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated how focused investment in research and product development can turn scientific hope to tangible reality, but it also cast a spotlight on the costs of global inequities and created setbacks due to the diversion of research from a broader range of health areas. A plethora of new initiatives have recently been stood up to bolster research, manufacturing, and regulatory capacities in low- and middle-income nations, but much more remains to be done, and key questions linger as to how these efforts can be more purposefully aligned for greater impact. On the margins of the UN General Assembly, and in advance of the three health-related UN High-Level Meetings, the Global Health Technologies Coalition and Population Council are convening leaders to reflect on the current state of the global health research and development (R&D) ecosystem to take stock of how innovation can be best leveraged to close gaps in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 targets for health.

   Invite-only event | 1:00–2:30 pm | One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, New York 10017

   Echidna Global Scholars Visit to Population Council: Intersections of gender, education and climate

   The Population Council is hosting this year’s cohort of the Brookings Center for Universal Education Echidna Global Scholars on the sidelines of UNGA. This event provides an opportunity for the Scholars and Council researchers to engage in discussions around the latest evidence at the crossroads of education and gender, as well as the intersection of climate and the use of evidence in strengthening programming.

5. Thursday 09/21

   Invite-only event | 8:00–9:30 am | United Nations Secretariat, Private Dining Rooms 6-7

   Charting Brighter Futures: Utilizing data for accelerated action to end child marriage and achieve SDG 5.3

    

   The Governments of Canada and Zambia, supported by the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage and the Child Marriage Monitoring Mechanism

    

   (More information to come)

   Invite-only event | 9:30–10:30 am | One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, New York 10017

   Reimagining the Future: Centering education, gender, and climate for a sustainable world

    

   Climate change is a global crisis—extreme events such as droughts and floods are affecting the ability of children (especially girls) around the world to learn, to thrive and to aspire to a brighter future. While climate change poses risks to education in several ways, education itself has the potential to reduce climate change and its impacts. Access to quality education enhances girls’ ability to adapt to the intensifying impacts of the climate crisis and the overall resilience of their families, communities, and even their countries. This is one of two complementing events the Council is co-hosting that will explore the nexus of climate, education, and gender, starting with a discussion on the evidence and opportunities for change, followed by a youth-led intergenerational conversation on cross-sectoral actions on girls’ education and climate change.

    

   Building on the Girls Deliver pre-conference of the Women Deliver conference in Kigali in July, this event will share the stories of young education activists to illuminate both the disproportionate impact that climate change has on girls, but also how girl and women-led local solutions can have profound impacts for girls, their families, communities, and countries. An intergenerational discussion will showcase how activists and institutions across sectors are taking an integrated approach to support girls’ education and increase their resilience. This event is co-hosted by Global Partnership for Education, Girl Rising, and the Population Council’s Evidence for Gender and Education Resource (EGER) program.

    

   The other event, “The Intersections of Education, Gender, and Climate Action: Exploring the evidence, challenges, and opportunities for change” will be held on Monday, September 18.

   Invite-only event | TBA | TBA

   Investing in Local Civil Society Organizations Leads to Positive SRHR Outcomes

    

   A celebration of the incredible impact of local civil society organizations working on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for the most marginalized and underserved communities in Africa and South Asia. In an interactive panel discussion, speakers from Population Council, AmplifyChange, and grantee partner organisations will share experiences and learnings about civil society advocacy to address the most challenging SRHR issues.