First Lady Erdoğan attends “World Summit on Investing in Children’s Well-being: a Path to Sustainable and Equitable Development for Future Generations”

First Lady Emine Erdoğan attended the “World Summit on Investing in Children’s Well-being: a Path to Sustainable and Equitable Development for Future Generations” in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

“WORLD CHANGES ON A DAILY BASIS”

Speaking at the Summit, First Lady Erdoğan voiced her pleasure over being in Uzbekistan on the occasion of this meaningful Summit, and said: “There is a direct relation between a society’s sustainable development and future and investing in children’s well-being. Our criteria are clear when the issue is children’s well-being. We focus on meeting such fundamental needs as food, housing, security, education and access to healthcare services. However, the world changes on a daily basis. Therefore, traditional indicators and figures expressed in percentages, which measure the well-being of children, can turn into a blanket approach that conceals the bigger picture. That is so because the measures we make are in fact a way of seeing, and selective. Figures tell what we put under the spotlight, and those very figures also tell what we ignore as well.”

“WE LIVE IN AN ERA OF MULTIPLE CRISES”

“That children going to school and them not being exposed to physical violence are vital in terms of well-being statistics,” First Lady Erdoğan stated, and added: “However, going to school does not always mean receiving qualified education, not being exposed to violence, or being loved and valued. Thus, addressing today’s world with the criteria of the past yields missing results. Because we live in an era of multiple crises and our children are faced with multidimensional challenges. We should add climate crisis, war conditions and forced migrations caused by all this to the equation.”

“OVER 21 THOUSAND CHILDREN HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES IN GAZA”

Underscoring that over 21 thousand children have lost their lives in Gaza over the past three years, Mrs. Erdoğan noted: “Over 10 thousand children have suffered permanent disability or limb loss. 197 ambulances, 38 hospitals and 96 healthcare centers have been bombed, and have become out of service. 700 thousand students have been deprived of their right to education. Today, over 1 million children in Gaza dream of taking their share of the well-being of children. Let us all remember that a world that leaves no one behind can be possible only when sirens of war are silenced. I, personally, believe that this will be the most valuable message we would give from Samarkand.”