On October 9, 2026 local time, the Award Ceremony of the 2026 UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education was held in Paris, France. Wife of President Xi Jinping and UNESCO Special Envoy for the Advancement of Girls’ and Women’s Education Peng Liyuan delivered a video address to the ceremony.

Peng Liyuan extended warm congratulations to the award-winning institutions from Morocco and Peru. She noted that girls' and women's education is a key measure of the progress of human civilization. Thanks to vigorous advocacy by UNESCO and joint efforts of the international community in recent years, encouraging progress has been achieved in the global cause of girls’ and women’s education.

Peng Liyuan pointed out that China has always attached great importance to girls’ and women’s education. It has actively carried out practical cooperation with UNESCO and all relevant parties, benefiting large numbers of women across many countries. In recent years, China has leveraged artificial intelligence to empower high-quality educational development. This has given a strong boost to gender equality in education and the all-round development of women, and offered useful experience for Global South countries. The development of girls’ and women’s education remains a long-term and arduous task. As UNESCO Special Envoy for the Advancement of Girls’ and Women’s Education, Peng Liyuan called on the international community to join hands to enhance women’s vocational education and training and vigorously develop digital and intelligent education for women, so as to ensure that they can use and benefit from digital and intelligent technologies and build them a ladder to a life of brilliance.

Peng Liyuan said that in advancing girls’ and women’s education, hope is sown, dreams are nurtured, and happiness will be reaped in abundance. She expressed her readiness to work with all parties to promote greater progress in girls’ and women’s education and contribute to a brighter future for more women.

Since China and UNESCO jointly established the Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education in 2015, the Prize has kept generating positive impacts and drawn wide attention and high acclaim from the international community.