“We cannot accept a United Nations that does not mention education.” – George Hobson*, 1945

Opening Remarks by Ramu Damodaran via video, Permanent Observer of University For Peace; the First Chief, UN Academic Impact (2011-2021)
Organized by The Light Millennium Global, in support of the Observance of the International Day of Education #EducationDay2026
In collaboration with the Coalition for the #CompulsoryPeaceICTsCampaign #7
Aligned with the UNESCO 2026 Dedication Theme: “The Power of Youth in Co-Creating Education”
• Booklet (including brief bios of the speakers).

[LMGlobal.Org] Thank you so much, Bircan, and greetings to all of you. I am always moved and left a little speechless by all that Bircan and The Light Millennium are able to achieve. They have conjured so many paths for educators, members of civil society, and even those ‘on the other side of the fence’—governments and delegates at the United Nations—to look forward and see what can be done for our world if we decide to act together.

I remember the morning of October 5th, 2024, when we first met to talk about Compulsory Peace Education and the idea of information and communications technologies (ICTs) for a greater human educational purpose. The world was very different then, just a year and a half ago. But when we consider these two attributes—mandatory peace education and bringing the opportunities of ICT and Artificial Intelligence to every child—we open a vista of hope and opportunity, but equally, of danger.

This brings to mind the International Day of Education we celebrate today. It is strange, and perhaps a little sad, that for almost 75 years, education did not command the interest or involvement of the United Nations to the degree it deserved. Way back in 1945, when the Charter of the United Nations was being drafted, there was a reference to the areas of responsibility for the Economic and Social Council, such as ‘culture,’ but there was no reference to ‘education.’

It took the President of the Utah State Farm Bureau, a gentleman named George Hobson*, to write to the preparatory conference and insist: ‘We cannot accept a United Nations that does not mention education.’ Think about that for a moment. The plea and the warning came from someone whose livelihood was of the soil—a farmer working with farmers. Even he saw the need for this great organization to be involved in education.

George Hobson’s universal mind saw what could be done through teaching, learning, and dissemination to support the fundamental ideals of the United Nations—the most important being peace. Today, as we discuss Global Citizenship Education and Education for Peace, we realize the convergence of the ideas that animated the UN and the capacity to give children the opportunity to move forward in that great enterprise.

The International Day of Education is an opportunity to reflect on how education must keep pace with technological change. Many years ago, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk spoke of the future being ‘in the skies.’ I realize how many interpretations that phrase could have. Was he saying the future is remote, or was he saying: ‘Stop looking at the ground below you’?

George Hobson did not spend his time looking only at the soil he farmed; he looked beyond to the skies of which Atatürk wrote. He realized that the future of farming—and the future of the ground—lies in the power of education.

Beyond the Set Square: Peace Education

This brings us to the challenge of the 21st century: How do we adapt ICTs to the pace at which they are growing? I feel we are being shortsighted. Our preoccupation seems to be with what we should not get from Artificial Intelligence. When I was in high school in India—and Bircan, likely when you were in school as well—we used a little plastic instrument called a ‘set square’ for geometry. Today, students still use that set square, yet adults and professionals achieve those same results using CAD software. Why are we being so primitive? Why do we insist that students under 18 must rely on a plastic triangle rather than technology that makes life swifter?

If students use AI or Large Language Models to do in 30 seconds what once required hours of research, why deny them that? We should move toward an age where technology is taken for granted as a bedrock. We moved from handwriting to the typewriter, and then to word processors, because they made the task less arduous. Why deny students the benefit that AI affords?

Our task is to instill a degree of questioning and skepticism—to realize that AI is not the ‘ultimate truth.’ There will be errors. If we are not alive to those mistakes, we have not derived the full benefit of our education.

Eighty years and two weeks ago, the UN General Assembly passed its first resolution. Its title was not about war or peace in the traditional sense; it was ‘to address the problems arising from the discovery of atomic energy.’ That very first resolution brought science, inquiry, and danger into the fold, viewed through the prism of learning.

Today, I urge us not to be intimidated by the discovery of ICTs and AI, but to look at them as a precursor to even greater opportunities. Just as our grandchildren look at us with impatience and correct us when we are technologically wrong, their grandchildren will look upon them with that same degree of irritation. I am deeply grateful to The Light Millennium and its goal of Global Human Advancement for all it is doing for your cause and mine.

Thank you.

[*] Who Was George Hobson? (1882–1957)?
George Hobson was remarkably well-educated for a farmer of his era. He attended Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University). He was the President of the Utah State Farm Bureau Federation in 1945. During the San Francisco Conference where the United Nations Charter was drafted, “Education” was initially excluded from the text. Hobson, representing the voices of American agriculture, was a key member of the non-governmental “Consultant Groups.” He famously advocated that a sustainable “People’s Peace” was impossible without the light of education. His persistent grassroots lobbying is credited as a primary reason the word “educational” was successfully added to Article 55 of the UN Charter, mandating international cooperation in the field.
Family life: A dedicated family man and father of seven children. His advocacy for “future generations” wasn’t just a political talking point; it was about the world his own children would inherit.
The “Intellectual Farmer”: He didn’t just work the soil; he was a leader in the Cooperative movement. He believed that farmers should be organized and intellectually engaged in global affairs, which led him to the San Francisco Conference in 1945 as a “Consultant” to the U.S. Delegation.
The UN Connection: Served as a grassroots “Consultant” to the U.S. Delegation during the 1945 San Francisco Conference.
The Legacy: His persistent advocacy as a “man of the soil” ensured that “Education” was formally included in Article 55 of the UN Charter.
Sources:
• Historical records of the Utah State Department of Agriculture and the U.S. State Department of State, Publication 2355, “The United Nations Conference on International Organization”, San Francisco, 1945 (UNCIO Records).
• Dorothy B. Robins, “Experiment in Democracy: The Story of U.S. Citizen Organizations in Forging the Charter of the United Nations” (1971).
• WSWS History (1938–2021), Page 165.
The pivotal role of grassroots voices like George Hobson in ensuring ‘Education’ was included in • Article 55 of the UN Charter: https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/chapter-9