Noble laureate Kailash Satyarthi said on Tuesday education is the key to bring transparency and accountability in society, and solve the problems of poverty and unemployment.
Delivering the United Nations public lecture on the importance of education in India, he said development and human rights are interlinked.
"My organisation Bachpan Bachao Andolan has been advocating education for all, especially children. We cannot get rid of poverty and unemployment without education."
The child rights activist also spoke on the issue of HIV/AIDS as 1 December is also marked as World Aids Day.
"Even today in many societies and cultures, people suffering from HIV/AIDS are discriminated (against). The only way we can bring down this stigma is through education.
"We found that seven million cases of HIV could be prevented if we are able to impart education. Primary education can help prevent seven million cases of HIV over 10 years," he added.
Satyarthi said his organisation has been demanding that 6% of India's GDP be spent on education.
"Education is the key to bring transparency and accountability in society. It is our collective responsibility to get our children educated. The vision I have is to see every single child in school, in a playground," he said.
Satyarthi also noted that child labour in India has seen a drastic decline in recent years from 244 million to 168 million.
UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in India Yuri Afanasiev, and UNESCO Representative to Bhutan, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka Shigeru Aoyagi were also present at the event.
