UN Chronicle.

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education. But education is much more than just a basic human right. It can build not only mutual understanding among cultures at the individual level but also help us achieve progress at the global level, in reality, education has the power to transform both the individual and the world for the better. Whether at its most fundamental level of teaching someone how to read and write, or in its developmental role of training scientists, engineers and teachers, education fuels the engine for global peace and progress.

The increasing reflection of UN activities and concerns on academic agendas and in curricula, from primary to graduate school, serves to highlight how the need for the United Nations to develop close partnerships with educational institutions at every level is growing increasingly important. The Educational Outreach Section (EOS), which publishes the UN Chronicle, intends to expand and invigorate the partnerships the UN Department of Public Information has with academic institutions, educators and students worldwide, opening up avenues and opportunities to utilize the Organization as a "living resource" for information, learning, ideas ... and, indeed, scholarship, as some of our distinguished contributions amply reflect.

The UN Chronicle will resharpen its focus as a journal for such exchange of ideas that keeps pace with current thought, study and debate. One idea that has been suggested is that each issue--with a cluster of articles on a single theme--could be the basis upon which to facilitate discussions among students and encourage them to read further; where possible, our eminent authors will suggest such readings themselves. An important adjunct to the print edition is the UN Chronicle Online (http://www.un.org/chronicle), available in English and French, which is updated regularly and offers a forum for instant reader feedback.

This issue inaugurates our new thrust with a special section on education. Our premise is that there is no right "time" or "age" for education. It begins before school, continues beyond retirement and comprehends the many stages in between. In a word, education for life. We are privileged to have articles by experts in international education on issues running the wide gamut from universities as agents for social and economic progress to basic literacy as a window to other cultures, from connecting schools to the United Nations through videoconferencing to how colleges and universities can improve the teaching of international relations. Also included are special sections on small arms and the "weaponization" of society, such challenges facing us as SARS or access to medicines and the economic state of the world.

EOS encourages students, teachers and other educators to view the United Nations and the UN Chronicle as a resource for information and debate, learning and ideas ... and to share with us their experiences, and their expectations of us. In that light, we encourage everyone to take a few minutes to fill out the inserted reader survey.

Read on! ... and write ...