“The main lesson we learned from our Tiger Leap programme was that resilience is built up before a crisis strikes,” Sirje Karis noted. “Resilience is often talked about in terms of contingency plans, defence systems and the ability to recover in the wake of an attack. But it takes shape much earlier: in skills, in schools, in trust and in the ability of people and institutions to adapt.”
Speaking about the reconstruction of Ukraine, Sirje Karis stressed the importance of long-term decisions. “This debate is particularly important to Ukraine,” she noted. “Reconstruction doesn’t just mean restoring what has been lost, but making choices whose full impact may only emerge years down the line.”
In her address, Sirje Karis posed a series of questions. “What skills should every child have? How can we prepare teachers to work with technologies that are still under development? How can we build up digital systems that our citizens trust and that won’t crumble under pressure? Estonia is ready to address these issues with you.”
Drawing on her country’s experience, Sirje Karis gave the example of the Tiger Leap programme: launched in 1996, it connected schools to the internet and fostered the digital skills of students and teachers alike. The value of this investment became apparent during the cyber-attacks of 2007, by which time Estonia had a digitally literate society, experienced specialists to call on and strong cooperation between the public and private sectors. In the wake of the attacks, Estonia shored up its cyber defence agencies and volunteer networks.
“Estonia is more than happy to share its experience in the fields of digital education, teacher training, the use of AI in education, cyber hygiene and digital agility,” Sirje Karis said. “Not because we have a model that can be easily copied – every country has its own needs and particular circumstances, after all. But we can share with you what has worked, what hasn’t and what we have learnt from building up broad-based digital capabilities across society.”
On the invitation of Olena Zelenska, the high-level meeting was attended by the spouses of the heads of state and government of Austria, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Canada, Estonia, Guatemala, Honduras, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Panama, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The meeting served as the continuation of discussions that began at the summit of the spouses of heads of state held in Kyiv on 24 August. The event also showcased the Global Vocabulary of Resilience, an international initiative led by Ukraine that brings together the traditions, perspectives and practical experience of 38 countries in fostering civic resilience. The digital version of the vocabulary is constantly being updated.
Sirje Karis is in New York taking part in the programme for the spouses of the heads of state attending UN General Assembly High-Level Week 2026.
Gallery: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjD5DKy
