Passage 1

The arts inspire the creativity of a people. When the creative pulse cannot beat, when it cannot freely select its methods and objects, when it is deprived of spontaneity, then society cuts off the root of the arts. I have always said that one of my primary objectives as Minister for the Arts is to promote access to the arts, to encourage more people to participate in the arts and to make the arts a real option for people everywhere.
    Therefore, it is essential to have the proper facilities to make this happen and for this reason, it was a great pleasure to be in a position to donate 50,000 to the European Artists Centre. Artists often need solitude in which to work. They need the time and space to reflect, far and away from the bustle of the everyday world, and if possible with kindred spirits to talk to from time to time. The European Artists Centre is the right place.

As we all know, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 enshrined everyone’s right to education. Even now, over 60 years later, we still need to reiterate that this right extends to children, youth and adults. Today, one in six adults—a staggering 774 million—cannot ’read and write", because they lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. Sixty-seven percent of these adults are women, with dramatic consequences for the well-being of their children and families.
    Such educational disparities—between people, regions and countries—are simply not compatible with a fairer globalization. We have committed to change this. In 2000, all countries adopted an ambitious set of goals to improve human well-being. Most of them are about reducing poverty, hunger, maternal and infant mortality and HIV and AIDS. They are about access to education and gender equality because we cannot build a better future when discrimination against girls and women persists.