Šimun at the UN: Clean air in schools is a matter of health, education and equal opportunity

Montenegro’s Health Minister Vojislav Šimun opened a high-level event at the United Nations headquarters in New York dedicated to air quality in schools, stressing that healthy air in classrooms is not only an environmental protection issue, but also a matter of health, education and equal opportunity for every child.

The event, “Healthy Indoor Air in Schools: Every Breath Shapes Learning”, was held as part of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly and was organized on Montenegro’s initiative, in cooperation with France and the Kingdom of Eswatini.

It was attended by representatives of governments, international institutions, the scientific community and organizations dealing with public health and air quality.

Šimun stressed that air pollution in schools is often invisible, but its consequences directly affect children’s health, concentration, participation in learning and their development.

He called for indoor air quality to take a more prominent role in public health, education and infrastructure policies.

The meeting highlighted that a person consumes about two liters of water a day, while inhaling approximately 11,000 liters of air.

Participants noted that while water quality is monitored and immediate measures are taken against its pollution, indoor air quality is still not treated with the same level of attention.

According to Šimun, Montenegro aims through this initiative to move from raising awareness of the problem toward measuring air quality, setting standards and implementing concrete measures to create healthier school environments.

He stressed that improving classroom air means protecting children’s health, increasing their opportunities to learn and investing in their future.

In the end, participants called on states and international partners to include indoor air quality in health, education, environmental protection and infrastructure policies, and to accompany the international initiative with concrete measures at the national level.