October 11: The award ceremony for the 2026 UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education took place in Paris, France, on October 9. Peng Liyuan, spouse of Chinese President Xi Jinping and UNESCO Special Envoy for the Advancement of Girls’ and Women’s Education, addressed the event via video link.

In her speech, Peng extended her heartfelt congratulations to the laureate institutions from Morocco and Peru. She emphasized that the quality of women’s education serves as a pivotal metric for evaluating the progress of human civilization. Driven by UNESCO’s proactive efforts and the coordinated endeavors of the international community, substantive progress has been achieved in women`s education worldwide in recent years.

Peng stressed that China consistently attaches immense importance to female education. Beijing continues to carry out active, pragmatic cooperation with UNESCO and international stakeholders, delivering tangible benefits to women across various nations.

She highlighted that in recent years, China has harnessed artificial intelligence technologies to upgrade educational quality. This approach has played a constructive role in advancing gender parity in education and fostering the holistic development of women, offering valuable practices and insights for countries across the Global South.

Peng noted that the path toward advancing girls` and women`s education remains long and demanding. In her capacity as UNESCO Special Envoy, she called upon the international community to expand women’s access to vocational education and skill training, while underscoring the imperative of concerted global cooperation to accelerate digital and intelligent education.

Source: Rubi, Foysal, Mukta | China Media Group (CMG)