More efforts are needed in the final five years before the deadline of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to achieve its goals, particularly in promoting educational equality and improving access to technology, experts from the Chinese delegation said on Friday during the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

"If the right to development is universal, why does inequality remain such a formidable barrier?" asked Zheng Liang, director of the Institute for Communication and Borderland Governance at Jinan University. An educator, he pointed to education as a key part of the solution.

"Education is not only a fundamental human right in itself but also the essential gateway through which other human rights are realized,"Zheng said.

"The educational opportunities a person receives shape their future ability to participate in society and share in its progress. For this reason, educational equity is not merely a matter of personal advancement; it fundamentally determines the overall level of human rights protection within any society."

What makes educational inequality particularly damaging is its cumulative nature, Zheng said, noting that disparities in education inevitably lead to unequal employment opportunities and income levels, and these disadvantages are often passed from one generation to the next.

He shared China's experience in promoting education while lifting people out of poverty, and called for stronger international cooperation to emphasize capacity building and long-term investment.

Conrad Ho, a tech entrepreneur and chairman of the Hong Kong-based Coho Group, echoed Zheng's call for capacity building and investment — with an emphasis on bridging the digital divide.

"As AI accelerates, we must go beyond traditional connectivity and equip people with the necessary tools and literacy, if we are to turn the digital divide into digital equality," he said.

He also stressed the need for the United Nations to lead global discourse and set guidelines for AI governance, given the technology's significant cross-border externalities.

Fundamental aspect

With a foundation in education and wider access to modern technologies such as AI, people will also be better able to protect their culture, which is a fundamental aspect of human rights, said Zhang Yue, associate professor at Southeast University.

"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and various international covenants affirm a simple idea: everyone should be able to participate in cultural life and enjoy its benefits on the basis of dignity and equality," she told China Daily.

"Participation in cultural life includes real access to, and enjoyment of, cultural heritage, because heritage is not just beautiful objects from the past, but also memory, identity and continuity," she said.

Sun Linhu, deputy secretary-general of the China Foundation for Human Rights Development and organizer of the experts' participation in the discussion, reaffirmed in his speech that equality is an essential foundation for realizing the right to development.

"Eliminating all forms of inequality and ensuring that people in all countries enjoy development rights on an equal basis has become a shared aspiration of the international community," he said.

zhangzhouxiang@chinadaily.com.cn