by Stefano Vaccara
NEW YORK (USA) (ITALPRESS) – For the first time in the history of the United Nations, a First Lady presided over a Security Council meeting. As U.S. President for March, Melania Trump opened on Monday afternoon the debate dedicated to children in armed conflicts and the impact of new technologies, including the use of artificial intelligence in education. The scene at the Palazzo di Vetro, however, had something surreal. While the First Lady took a seat in the chair, the news from the Persian Gulf dominated every conversation in the UN corridors. The military escalation followed the raids launched on Saturday by the United States and Israel against Iran continued to produce regional victims and tensions. Among the most dramatic news, also that of a female school hit during the attacks, with the death of numerous girls. In this heavy climate, Melania Trump opened the session with a speech focused on the education and responsibility of leaders in protecting young people. “A lasting peace is achieved when knowledge and understanding are fully valued in all societies,” said the First Lady, stressing that “the value that leaders attribute to education determines the heart of a nation’s system of values.” Melania insisted on the growing role of technology and artificial intelligence in making knowledge accessible everywhere. “Today almost anyone, everywhere, can access a vast universe of data in the palm of his hand – he said –. We all connect to knowledge through AI, even in the most remote regions of the world.” According to the First Lady, education and access to knowledge can become instruments of peace. “The path to peace depends on our ability to empower and empower our children through education and technology.” Behind her, in the Council hall, the US ambassador to UN Mike Waltz was sitting, who was the only smiling person in the hall, where among other diplomats was predominant the serious and sad look that announces storm. In fact, the attention of the other fourteen remained inevitably concentrated on the ongoing military escalation. Shortly before the First Lady’s intervention, the UN Secretary General for Political Affairs, Rosemary Di Carlo, had spoken, offering a much more direct picture of the global situation. “The world is witnessing the highest number of armed conflicts since World War II,” said Di-Carlo, adding that even the number of civilians killed has reached record levels in recent decades. When conflicts explode, he recalled, children are among the most affected victims. “Globally, a child out of five lives in a conflict zone or is fleeing from it,” he explained. The UN official also cited news from Iran, where “swimmings of girls” would die following an attack that would hit a primary school in the city of Minab. In the last forty-eight hours, he added, schools in different countries of the region – including Israel, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman – they ended up going to didactic remotely due to ongoing military operations. Melania Trump did not refer directly to the raids against Iran nor to the regional escalation. In a more general passage he expressed “the most felt condolences to families who lost their heroes” (referring to the U.S. military who died this weekend?) and inaugurated a “fast healing to the wounded”. “You are in my thoughts and prayers at these difficult times,” he said. Words spoken in a room immersed in an almost unreal silence, while outside the Palazzo di Vetro the world follows with increasing concern the evolution of the crisis in the Middle East. (ITALPRESS).
Photo: xo9
