United Nations: US First Lady Melania Trump has expanded her global technology and education coalition for children to 57 countries and announced partnerships with six major technology companies.
The First Lady unveiled the expansion of Fostering the Future Together during a gathering held alongside the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Melania Trump welcomed leaders and representatives from Britain, South Korea, the Philippines, Poland, Ukraine, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Panama and Canada, among other countries.
“Together, we are a beautiful range of cultures, languages, histories, and traditions. And yet, we stand unified around one everlasting truth: the future of our world will be determined by what we do for our children today,” she said.
Fostering the Future Together seeks to expand children’s access to technology and education while helping them develop the knowledge and skills needed to use new tools.
The First Lady said access to technology alone was not sufficient to empower young people. Children must also learn how to use emerging technologies responsibly and effectively, she said.
“We are living in an extraordinary moment in human history. We stand together at the threshold of a technological revolution,” she said.
The new private-sector partners are Adobe, Amazon, Google, Intel, Starlink and Zoom. Apple’s Tim Cook and PayPal chief executive Enrique Lores also attended the gathering.
She cited artificial intelligence, video calling, mobile computers, self-driving vehicles, virtual environments and biometric identification as examples of technologies that had moved from science fiction into everyday life.
“Artificial intelligence is transforming entire business sectors and expanding how humanity accesses the largest corpus of information ever available to humanity,” she said.
“But access alone is not empowerment. We must give our children the tools—and teach them how to use those tools wisely.”
The First Lady also announced four Fostering the Future Together events for the remainder of 2026.
She will host the coalition’s first G20 event in Miami, Florida, in December.
Philippine First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos will host an event during the ASEAN conference in Manila. Poland’s First Lady Marta Nawrocka will organise a European regional meeting, while Diani Prince-Drew of Saint Kitts and Nevis will host a Caribbean conference.
“When nations speak with one voice, the world listens. Our collective influence is profound,” Melania Trump said.
“Together, we can open doors, move markets, shape policy. And most importantly, we can change lives for the better.”
She called on first spouses and other leaders to help children explore new areas of knowledge, take calculated risks and contribute to social progress.
“Our Fostering the Future Together coalition must strive to empower the youth of our nations to: bend the boundaries of imagination, explore new frontiers of intellect, have the courage to take calculated risks, and build toward advancement of society,” she said.
Melania Trump launched Fostering the Future Together during the 80th UN General Assembly. The initiative originally brought governments together around a common objective of empowering children through technology and education.
(IANS)
