Peng Liyuan attends UNESCO award ceremony for girls', women's education

BEIJING -- Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Audrey Azoulay, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, attended the 2025 UNESCO Prize for Girls' and Women's Education award ceremony and the 10th anniversary celebration of the prize in Beijing on Friday.

Peng, a UNESCO special envoy for the advancement of girls' and women's education, and Azoulay presented awards to representatives of award-winning projects from Kenya and Lebanon.

Addressing the event, Peng said over the past decade, award winners from around the world and visionary individuals from various fields have helped girls and women adapt to social development and achieve personal growth through education.

The concept of empowering women through education has gained widespread recognition, enabling millions of girls and women to gain the confidence and ability to choose their life paths and pursue their dreams, Peng said, adding that this is the very significance of the prize.

Noting that human society is now entering the intelligence era, Peng said. It is essential to place greater emphasis on women's scientific education, helping more women acquire scientific knowledge, learn to apply new technologies, and enhance their innovative capabilities, she added.

"We must strive to ensure that women can embrace the technological revolution and create fulfilled lives," Peng said.

Peng noted that China has always attached great importance to advancing women's scientific education and looks forward to deepening cooperation with UNESCO and relevant parties to comprehensively strengthen capacity-building in women's scientific education and jointly elevate the level of women's scientific education.

In her speech, Azoulay thanked the Chinese government for its invaluable support to UNESCO, highly commended Peng for making outstanding contributions to the development of girls' and women's education worldwide.

Azoulay said UNESCO is willing to continue to deepen exchanges and cooperation with China to promote more fruitful results in girls' and women's education in the world.

Before the ceremony, Peng met with Azoulay, exchanging views on promoting the development of girls' and women's education worldwide. After the meeting, they had a group photo with representatives of award-winning projects in the decade and visited a photo exhibition featuring the award-winning projects.

The award ceremony was attended by about 300 people, including representatives of UN agencies in Beijing, diplomatic envoys of relevant countries in China, representatives of Chinese and foreign teachers and students, and representatives from the education sector.

Since China and UNESCO jointly established the Prize for Girls' and Women's Education in 2015, a total of 20 projects from 19 countries have won this award.