NEW YORK — First Lady Melania Trump urged representatives of nearly 60 nations Tuesday to expand education, digital skills and online protections for children as she reconvened her Fostering the Future Together coalition on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
Trump said governments, educators and technology companies must ensure that children gain both access to artificial intelligence and the ability to use it responsibly.
“But access alone is not empowerment,” Trump said. “We must give our children the tools — and teach them how to use those tools wisely.”
The initiative brings together first spouses and other leaders from participating countries, along with private-sector companies. Its stated priorities include artificial intelligence in education, educational technology, online protection, and digital literacy and workforce skills.
Trump said the coalition’s members represented a broad range of cultures and political systems but shared a common responsibility toward children.
“The future of our world will be determined by what we do for our children today,” she said.
The event included representatives from countries including the United Kingdom, South Korea, the Philippines, Poland, Ukraine, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Panama, Canada, Kenya, Albania, Estonia, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala.
Charity Wallace, the State Department’s special envoy for future generations, said the coalition had grown from an initiative announced by Trump during the previous U.N. General Assembly into a partnership involving 57 first spouses and equivalent leaders and more than 30 private-sector companies.
Wallace said the program was based on the premise that governments could not provide the necessary technology and training without private-sector assistance.
She identified four principal areas of work: the use of AI to improve education and personalized learning; educational technology; child safety and privacy online; and digital literacy for students, parents and teachers.
The State Department said new corporate commitments included a plan by Intel to expand AI education, educational technology and digital literacy programs in 10 countries, with a major deployment in Panama.
Google is committing $4 million for AI-literacy training for educators in participating countries, according to the department. Adobe is expanding access to AI-supported learning tools in several languages.
Amazon said students at 132 universities in 18 countries would be eligible for a year of free access to its Kiro AI software-engineering tool. The company also announced data-center training in the United Arab Emirates and coding clubs in schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Amazon said the coding clubs would serve more than 460 students aged 12-18. Its UAE program, conducted with Khalifa University, will provide practical instruction using a data-center training rack and related engineering coursework.
Zoom is committing $2.75 million in grants for education, workforce development and nonprofit AI-readiness programs in Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, Wallace said. Starlink is extending connectivity to support educational technology in Papua New Guinea.
The companies’ commitments were presented as part of a broader public-private effort to expand access to technology in developing and emerging markets. Wallace said the objective was to match corporate resources with local educators and communities.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, who also addressed the gathering, praised Trump’s efforts on child welfare and technology policy.
“She is not satisfied with advocacy for advocacy’s sake,” Waltz said, describing the first lady’s work as focused on policy, legislation and international agreements.
Waltz cited Trump’s support for the bipartisan Take It Down Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law. The measure criminalizes the nonconsensual publication of intimate images and requires covered online platforms to remove such material.
He also referred to Trump’s work on the Be Best initiative during the president’s first term, including its focus on children’s well-being, online safety and opioid abuse.
Waltz said Trump’s humanitarian efforts had helped reunite more than 34 children and family members separated by the war between Russia and Ukraine. The statement was not accompanied at the event by additional details about the cases.
Trump said the coalition would hold additional meetings in the coming months. Philippine First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos is expected to host an event connected with the ASEAN conference in Manila, while Poland’s Marta Nawrocka is to host a European regional meeting.
Diani Prince-Drew, first lady of St. Kitts and Nevis, is organizing a Caribbean conference before the end of the year, Trump said. Trump announced plans to host the coalition’s first G20 event in Miami in December.
Trump said technological access must be accompanied by education in judgment, safety and responsible use.
She said children should be prepared not merely to inherit existing institutions but to develop new industries, improve communities and address problems involving food security and economic opportunity.
But the first lady also stressed that the purpose of the international meetings was not limited to issuing statements.
“Years from now, our children may not remember the meetings we held or the speeches we gave,” she said. “But they will live with the consequences of what we do here.”
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
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