Voices at the UN: Peace begins in the classroom

Cevor Tikerpuu, The UN Youth Delegate of Finland, shares his thoughts on the interlinkages of education, technology and security.

“When we talk about peace and security, we often talk about diplomacy, defence and conflict resolution, and less about classrooms. Yet most of the foundations of a peaceful society are built long before a crisis reaches the agenda of the United Nations Security Council.

I was reminded of this in New York in September, when I participated as Finland’s UN Youth Delegate in a special session of the UNICEF Executive Board on artificial intelligence and innovation in education. 

For me, the question is personal.

I am the firstborn son of a cleaner and a builder. My family did not have much money when I was growing up. What changed the trajectory of my life was that teachers took my ambitions seriously. Teachers did not ask what my parents could afford. They asked what interested me and what I wanted to become.

Today, I am the first university graduate in my family and a practising lawyer. Education gave me opportunities that were not determined by the circumstances into which I happened to be born. That experience has shaped the way I think about education: not only as a matter of individual opportunity, but also as a question of peace and security.

At its best, education creates social mobility, brings people from different backgrounds into common institutions and gives young people the tools to participate in society and believe that they have a stake in its future. These things matter for peace.

However, education does not strengthen peace automatically. If access and opportunities are distributed unequally, education can also reproduce existing inequality. What matters is whether children have access to safe, inclusive and high-quality education that genuinely allows them to build their own futures.

This is also why artificial intelligence in education matters beyond technology policy. AI could give children access to personalised tutoring, help teachers identify students who need support and make educational resources available in places and languages where they have previously been scarce.

I am optimistic about those possibilities. But optimism cannot mean giving technology a free pass from critique. My test for AI, digital education and EdTech is simple: will it help more children enter the classroom, be noticed once they are there and pursue their ambitions? Or will access to the best tools increasingly depend on where a child was born, what language they speak or what their parents can afford?

Technology does not determine the answer. Political choices do. 

The same applies to youth participation. Young people are often described as the generation that will live with the consequences of today’s decisions. That is true, but that phrase forgets that we are also participants in those decisions now. This matters especially with artificial intelligence, because children and young people will experience the transformation of education and working life more directly than almost anyone else.

Security is about responding to crises, but lasting security also depends on what prevents them from emerging in the first place: functioning institutions, opportunity, social cohesion, trust and the ability of people to imagine a future for themselves. Sometimes, it begins when a teacher looks at a child and takes their dreams seriously.

Finland’s campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council for 2029–2030 is also a call to discuss what security means to the people of today and even more, the people of tomorrow.”

Photos: Cevor Tikerpuu