Global Citizenship Education

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Catch up on what’s happening in the world of global citizenship education.

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Japanese earthquake and tsunami prompts youth to re-shape their future sustainably 2019-09-12 A project set up in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011, which destroyed large parts of the Tohoku region of northern Japan, aims to sustainably rebuild one town both mentally and physically. 'My Project' is a learning programme for high school students set up in the town of Otsuchi by Katariba, a non-profit organization which has been running educational activities related to the environment since 2001. It was nominated for the 2018 UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). UNESCO's ESD programme supports countries to develop and expand educational activities on sustainability issues including disaster risk reduction. On 11 March 2011 the 6.6 magnitude earthquake, the most powerful ever recorded in Japan, claimed around 20,000 lives. In Otsuchi, at 220 km from the epicentre in Fukushima, the disaster claimed 1,600 of the 15,000 then population and destroyed much of the town with 60 per cent of residents losing their home. In the same year Katariba began to build a collaborative after-school centre which is open to every student in the town. They can visit and study at any time as well as meeting volunteers and staff of Katariba to talk about themselves and their lives in the wake of the disaster.'About a year after the disaster we heard from students at the school that they had been supported by others so far but now wanted to save their town by themselves,' says Project team member Manami Yoshida. Building resilience in people and infrastructure 'My Project' was born taking as its starting point building resilience into people and infrastructures based on two principles, 'action' and 'ownership'. It works by encouraging students to identify an issue in their community or a field of interest and design and run a project to solve or further those ideas. 'The future of the environment is uncertain and unpredictable. To build a sustainable society, we need to foster youth who have the power and creativity to face whatever ecological, social or economic issue is in front of them,' said Manami. 'We are looking for students to gain a mindset where they are driven to learn and where they say, "If I change, if I take action, then I can create change in society as well."' One idea to run a study tour to raise awareness about the disaster brought about sustainable lasting change as it became an official government strategy. The student behind the tour now wants to study community revitalization at college. Other ideas have included a greening scheme for land suffering salt damage due to the tsunami and the creation of a system where the general public can use defibrillators in an emergency without special knowledge. 'My Project' has now expanded across Japan and involves not only students but also governments, non-profit organizations and community members. In 2013 an award scheme was established to honour projects starting with just 18 students. This year 3,000 high school students took part. Start Up camps are also held each year where projects are planned and analysed. 'Our goal is to create an ecosystem where everyone can do their own 'My Project'. We aim to invite over 100,000 high school students to the 2020 awards and to collaborate further with more teachers,' said Manami. 'The transformation which students undergo acts as a ripple effect, causing change in their own communities and outside. New skills are learned and mindsets are changed.' Creating a supportive network In Saga, a city on the island of Kyushu which faces issues such as a decline in population and job opportunities, students launched the Sagan Ruby Project to make saleable products like soda and eco-friendly lip balm produced with Sagan Ruby, which is a local grapefruit. The products became popular, stimulating the local community and farming economy as students worked together with local businesses and colleges. 'My Project' also spreads its ideas by creating a supportive networking group for adults. 'By inviting schools and the local community to attend our networking group we hope to make new partnerships. Our aim is to create a network of supporters across Japan,' said Manami. Online support and video materials are provided for those living in remote rural areas. 'My Project' also partners with students globally and has organized exchange programmes for example with the US-based Global Kids which empowers children to take action on critical world issues. URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/japanese-earthquake-and-tsunami-prompts-youth-re-shape-their-future-sustainably

Review Meeting 2019 for GCED Curriculum Development & Integration 2019-09-11 APCEIU convened the Review Meeting 2019 for GCED Curriculum Development & Integration on 5 September 2019. This Meeting intended to provide a venue to share the results of the situational analyses conducted by national experts and international experts and to discuss roadmaps for development of GCED-integrated curricula in their countries--Kenya, Lebanon, Philippines and Sri Lanka. Furthermore, this Meeting also offered the representatives of each of the 4 beneficiary countries an opportunity to build GCED capacities by participating in the 4th International Conference on GCED. Through the Meeting, the participants were able to identify the challenges, the issues and the opportunities for GCED in the implemented and the intended curricula of each of the 4 countries. During the session for developing roadmaps facilitated by Mr Andy Smart from NISSEM* networking group, the participants had a chance to rethink the terminology concerning GCED-integrated curriculum and the importance of content and pedagogy. To conclude the 1st year of this 3-year project fruitfully, the 4 beneficiary countries will accelerate the implementation process from now on. Also, a total of 8 situational analyses reports (2 reports for each country) are expected to be published at the end of this year. *NISSEM: Networking to Integrate SDG Target 4.7 and SEL Skills into Educational Materials URL:Review Meeting 2019 for GCED Curriculum Development & Integration > APCEIU News - APCEIU (unescoapceiu.org)

Literacy is key to achieving the SDGs by 2030 2019-09-10 We know that literacy is key to making our world more sustainable, peaceful, and financially secure. Studies have shown that when children receive a quality education, they go on to have more chances in life, such as better health, greater employment opportunities, and increased participation in the political process. Furthermore, reading is considered the essential skill upon which the acquisition of every other skill depends. Indeed, without the ability to read, especially in mother tongues, it would not be possible for people to gain the knowledge and skills that are critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Over the years, GPE partner developing countries have made great progress in getting children enrolled in school and learning. In Gambia, GPE is supporting the implementation and evaluation of early reading programs in national languages through teacher training, provision of supplementary readers and library books and regular monitoring using a classroom observation tool. For example, in 2011 the government of Papua New Guinea launched the READ PNG program in collaboration with GPE and World Bank. This program helped promote better teaching and learning of reading skills in elementary and primary education. Yet despite the progress being made, 1 in 4 children in low-income countries cannot read or write a basic sentence, and 102 million youth lack basic literacy skills, with women representing nearly two thirds of the world's illiterate. This is why GPE supports strengthening education systems to improve how millions of children learn in close to 70 countries. On this International Literacy Day 2019, we think about the millions of children and adults around the world who haven't been able to learn to read and write. GPE works to get all children in school and ensure that they do not stop learning. We must continue to prioritize and fund education in order to keep our promise of 12 years of quality education for all children, allowing for a better and more prosperous future for all. URL:https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/literacy-key-achieving-sdgs-2030

Multilingualism in focus at UNESCO International Literacy Day conference 2019-09-10 “Literacy is the starting point for any form of quality inclusive education and we need to support and scale up the many initiatives across the globe seeking to make literacy a reality for all,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay in her message for International Literacy Day. UNESCO held its International Literacy Day conference in Paris on Monday 9 September, bringing together stakeholders and decision-makers from all over the world. Under the theme of ‘literacy and multilingualism’, participants discussed key issues and ways to improve literacy policies and practices in multilingual contexts in our increasingly globalized, digital world. This was also an opportunity to express solidarity with the celebrations of the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages(link is external) and the 25th anniversary of the World Conference on Special Needs Education, at which the Salamanca Statement on Inclusive Education was adopted. At the opening session of the conference, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Ms Stefania Giannini said:“The relationship between globalization, digitalization and languages is paradoxical. On the one hand, with human mobility on the rise, people are increasingly exposed to multiple languages and use more than one language in life, work and learning. The reality today is that about two in three children grow up in multilingual contexts. But globalization is also threatening diversity, acting as a powerful force towards uniformity. It is this trend that we must counter for multilingualism to flourish, through concrete policies – within and beyond the education sector.” Ms Koumbou Boly Barry, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stressed in her opening speech the importance of rights-based approaches to unleash the transformative potential of literacy. She referred to the need for benchmarking the use of mother language and policies that underpin a holistic vision that encompasses quality formal and non-formal education. Background for this year’s theme Our world is linguistically rich with around 7,000 languages spoken, each linked to distinct identities, cultures and knowledge systems. Due to globalization, digitalisation and increasing mobility, today, multilingualism has expanded even further, with many people using more than one language in their everyday lives. Evidence, however, shows that only some of these languages are promoted: a mere 5 percent of the world’s languages are present on the Internet, 2680 spoken languages are in danger of disappearing, and 40 percent of the world’s population lack access to education in the language they speak or understand, affecting the quality of education and learning throughout life. These challenges put at risk the quality of people’s lives as well as linguistic and cultural diversity. On the occasion of ILD 2019, UNESCO called for rethinking literacy in multilingual contexts as an essential element in addressing the global literacy challenges and encouraged the International Community to invest in inclusive literacy policies and practices that reflect the needs and environments of learners, to foster more linguistic diversity and inclusivity in education. During the Conference, a ceremony was also held to appreciate decade-long collaboration of HRH Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands with UNESCO as the Special Envoy on Literacy for Development:“Over the past ten years, you have never ceased to raise the flag around literacy as a right, as a confidence builder, as a transformational force for individuals and families,” said Ms Giannini. In her keynote speech, HRH Princess reaffirmed her commitment to UNESCO’s work to improve literacy, and by saying that “literacy start in the womb”, she highlighted the importance of investing in language development in the earliest years of a child’s life as an effective preventive measure, and enhancing the quality of education by involving children in co-creating education programmes. The conference culminated in a Prize Award Ceremony, recognizing this year’s winning projects from Algeria, Colombia, Indonesia, Italy and Senegal, through five 2019 UNESCO International Literacy Prizes. Expressing her deepest gratitude to each of the five winners for their firm commitment, inspiring innovation, and bold action, Ms Giannini of UNESCO said:“I hope that your programmes and initiatives we reward today will create a positive chain of action to make our world more literate and inclusive, blessed by diversity.” URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/multilingualism-focus-unesco-international-literacy-day-conference

“The Culture of Dialogue & Tolerance among Youth”: A High-Level panel 2019-09-09 Within the framework of UNESCO’s efforts to spread the culture of peace and dialogue, and in its efforts to achieve SDG4.7 which calls for the promotion of a culture of peace and global citizenship, UNESCO Beirut hosted on 20 June 2019 a high-level panel on “The culture of dialogue and tolerance among youth: the role of religious institutions, the media, and universities”. Held under the patronage of the guest of honor H.E. Layla el Solh Hamadeh, and in partnership with the Lebanese National Commission for UNESCO (LNCU), and the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), the panel was moderated Mr Ghassan Hajjar, and featured distinguished guests: Mufti Malek al-Shaar, Sayyed Jaafar Fadlallah, Monseigneur Michel Aoun, Mrs Laure Sleiman, and Dr Selim el-Sayegh. The event was attended by renowned figures representing religious institutions, universities, media, civil society, and youth. In his welcome note, Dr Hegazi Idriss, UNESCO Beirut’s Programme Specialist for Basic Education & Literacy, highlighted that the high-level panel comes as part of a series of actions and initiatives taken by UNESCO to spread the culture of dialogue and peace in Lebanon and in the region. Idriss mentioned that the youth are an important target and beneficiary of UNESCO programmes as they are agents for positive change in societies, and an important actor in the advancement of the sustainable development goals. Speaking at the opening of the panel, UNESCO Beirut’s director Dr Hamed al Hamami, reiterated UNESCO’s commitment to spread a culture of peace, tolerance, and mutual understanding, especially in the Arab region. Al Hamami said: “Our region is experiencing bitter conflicts, the prevalence of intolerance and violence. Innocent lives have been lost because of extremism and hatred, but hope remains as we witness various positive efforts and initiatives that aim at promoting dialogue and tolerance, thus planting the seeds for peace”. He added: “It is the values of tolerance, mutual understanding, and respect of others that guide our work at UNESCO. UNESCO’s Constitution reads: ‘Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed’. This motto is particularly relevant for our region today, where we shall rethink it and act upon it”. Al Hamami concluded by thanking the guest of honor, Mrs El Solh, for her constant support of UNESCO Beirut. In her speech, the Secretary-General of LNCU, Dr Tala Zein, highlighted the role the LNCU plays in disseminating a culture of peace in Lebanon, especially among the youth. Zein said: “In its activities, LNCU devotes a particular attention for youth. We cooperate with a large array of local, regional, and international partners, be they NGOs, experts, educators, intellectuals, and media professionals, to address the youth through targeted actions and initiatives that aim at strengthening their feelings of belonging, promoting their active social engagement, and consolidating in their minds the values of tolerance, dialogue, respect for diversity, and mutual understanding”. In his turn, Mr Herve Sabourin, regional director of AUF-Moyen Orient, highlighted the importance of this activity for his organization: “This high-level panel is part of a series of initiatives that we and our partner have been taking in recent years to address issues that are highly relevant for our world and region today. Indeed, themes such as intercultural or interreligious dialogue, tolerance and conflict resolution, mediation and education on non-violence and peace, challenge each and every one of us and also challenge the institutions we represent. In the troubled world in which we live, where so many peoples are paying the price of blind intolerance and extremism, to evoke these themes and especially to designate them as major issues in our societies is more than a necessity, it is also a duty". As to the guest of honor, H.E. Mrs El-Solh, she reiterated in her speech the Al Waleed Bin Talal Foundation’s commitment to assist any human being, irrespective of his/her race, gender, and religion, and to spread the culture of peace in the region. Mrs El-Solh highlighted that people are one in their humanity, hence the necessity and the moral duty to respect one another in our diversity. Mrs El Solh thanked UNESCO Beirut for its efforts to improve education in the Arab world, and offered UNESCO Beirut’s director, Dr Hamed Al Hamami, the Al Waleed Bin Talal Foundation’s Appreciation Award. The panelists emphasized the role of academia, the media, and religious institutions in highlighting the common values of humanity and uniting people in the region despite their diversity. The discussion focused on the necessity for religious leaders and media figures not to fall into the trap of sectarian or political strife, and to develop an official discourse that brings people together rather than setting them apart. In parallel to the high-level panel, UNESCO Beirut, in partnership with the Professional Center for Mediation (CPM) at the University of Saint-Joseph, organized a one-day training for youth on “Mediation and Conflict-Resolution Skills”. Targeting 25 young students aged 18-25 from 8 universities in Lebanon, the training introduced participants to the concept of mediation, and equipped them with key skills to engage in such process. The training covered various topics, including: rumors and prejudices as source of conflict, active listening, positive communication, difference between facilitation and mediation, and the phases of a mediation process. URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/culture-dialogue-tolerance-among-youth-high-level-panel

New UN book club helps children deal with global issues 2019-09-09 For children in Chad, getting an education can involve manual labour. That’s because, every year, there’s a chance that the rainy season will destroy their school, and they will have to join their teachers in rebuilding it. This is the story recounted in the children’s book “Rain School”, which is on the reading list of the UN's SDG Book Club. Every day brings news about wars, humanitarian crises, and the climate emergency. These subjects can be a source of fear and nightmares for children, and parents can struggle to find the best way to explain them in a balanced way that does not worry their children even more. The SDG Book Club is one way to help. The Club, which was set up in April by the UN, in collaboration with several book-related partners, selects books which contain messages related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the core of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, with the aim of providing a playful and participative way to learn about the Goals, through stories and characters children can relate to. Book suggestions from around the world are reviewed, and a reading list for children aged between six and 12 is compiled and promoted on the SDG Book Club website and elsewhere, in the six official UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). “Rain school” illustrates that quality education (Sustainable Development Goal 4) can’t be taken for granted for all children, and shows that, no matter your age, you can take action to improve your life and the lives of others. Another example from the reading list is “Thank you, Omu!”, a favourite amongst the Book Club staff, which tells the story of an elderly woman who cooks a delicious stew which smells so good, that people on the street stop and knock on her door asking for it. The book teaches a lesson about zero hunger (Sustainable Development Goal 2), and about helping and caring for others. Parents can find out more by reading the SDG Book Club Blog, which contains stories from book clubs, educators and parents from around the world, who have used the books to discuss complex issues, like poverty or health, with their children, helping them take concrete steps to help others in their communities. URL:https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/09/1045542

Breaking down barriers holding back young people on International Youth Day 2019-09-09 Imagine you are a young person studying in a small rural town – what would be your response if someone said: “You should join the United Nations” or “Consider an international role”? Rather than being excited, you might just think “impossible”. “I guess no one will deny the benefits of reaching out, especially joining international organizations and events,” said Nopardol Pao, from the NGO Teach for Thailand. “However, it is putting our heads in the clouds to demand that youth do so – there’s a lack of understanding and motivation for them to join in.” Engagement with young people in international forums has always been a challenge, not just to include them, but to see them in leadership roles. Youth agency is crucial because youth are both future leaders and the people whose welfare is most at stake in development outcomes in education, gender equality, the environment and many more areas. In the decades to come, it is young people who will benefit or suffer most because of decisions made today. In Thailand, youth can readily identify barriers to their participation, including language and information disconnects, lack of self-confidence often linked to a lack of respect, and unequal socioeconomic conditions. With all of those challenges in mind, the United Nations Asia-Pacific Interagency Network on Youth and Thammasat University’s School of Global Studies co-hosted a youth summit with the theme “transforming education” for International Youth Day 2019 on 10 August. Out of 1,000 applicants, 100 participants from secondary schools and universities across the country attended. “The disconnect between youth and international organizations is big. There is a lack of explanation and education on how being involved in international events could help them to live a better life,” said Nopardol, guest speaker at the event who shared his experiences as a volunteer teacher in rural areas of the country. “It is not easy for youth to reach out to the UN or other opportunities, as they often believe that the UN is only for professionals with significant academic backgrounds.” There is a certain degree of irony in this observation as the international community is often eager for greater youth engagement and yet cannot always convey that message. “The UN has a very professional image as an authority, so local students might not be confident enough to reach out to such huge organizations,” said Napakorn Saweddit, a Bangkok university student. “In most cases, we wish to join, but we don’t know how and couldn’t believe that we deserve the chance.” A lack of confidence, however, is not necessarily a matter of insecurities, but a product of social forces and systemic bias. “Youth voices seem nothing in our society, not in school or government. The education policies and curricula design have never involved our thoughts,” Napakorn said. “Time goes by, we have become discouraged and tamed, and we cannot believe that we have the right to engage and to express ourselves, or that someone will listen to and value us.” These factors can be aggravated as well by the rural-urban divide and socioeconomic inequalities, in many cases further marginalizing young people who are both most vulnerable and in some ways best positioned to affect meaningful change. “In this case, it is further widening the gap between the youth in cities and in rural areas,” said Thanakrit Srisuwan, a high school student from the southern provinces. “While students in cities receive more opportunity through information and support from schools, rural students are more likely to miss out, and they tend to be even more conservative in stepping out of their comfort zones to compete with others.” Information barriers are another major reason young people are hesitant to engage, as international events, not to mention publications, are mainly in English rather than mother-tongue languages spoken by the youth who are most affected. All of these challenges are context-specific, with no one-size-fits-all solution. Whole networks including government, schools, civil-society organizations and families need to work together to provide support and resources to build youth capabilities and awareness. However, the major key remains to listen to young people. “If you wish to convince and encourage youth to reach out, first you need to step in their shoes and think – why would they be willing?” teacher Nopardol said. “Different regions have their different concerns, we have to put ourselves in their perspectives and to understand their needs, then emphasize how the opportunities can relate to their needs.” All of these considerations are part of UNESCO’s approach to youth engagement, addressing the importance of putting young people at the centre of the dialogue to transform the way the UN works with young people. One of the key principles is to recognize young people’s stake in the issues, and to provide youth-relevant and youth-focused interventions, while including young people and their social networks as leaders and partners. The recent International Youth Day event in Bangkok is a case in point, organized entirely by Thammasat students who brought together their peers and focused on the issues that matter most to them. This is youth leadership, not just participation as an afterthought. Their voices should be heard. URL:https://bangkok.unesco.org/content/breaking-down-barriers-holding-back-young-people-international-youth-day

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