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Inclusive Education 2019-07-04 © UNICEF/Bangladesh IN THE COMPLEX ROHINGYA CRISIS, EDUCATION CANNOT WAIT INVESTMENT SUPPORTED THROUGH UNICEF PROVIDES CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES THE HOPE, FREEDOM AND OPPORTUNITY OF AN EDUCATION Stories from the FieldSpecial Contribution by UNICEF Bangladesh Yasmina is an enthusiastic 10-year-old Rohingya student. She’s different from other girls her age. Not just because she’s dealt with the horrors of fleeing her home in Myanmar and losing her father. And not just because she has an infectious smile and her eyes light up when you call her by name. Yasmina has special needs. For girls like her, living in the Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Bangladesh, accessing quality education is difficult to say the least. Even harder is finding a qualified teacher that can help her overcome her special needs and find a place to be safe and thrive. With the support of Education Cannot Wait’s US$3 million First Emergency Response Grant to UNICEF, there is new hope for Yasmina and hundreds more children like her. OVERCOMING ADVERSITY© UNICEF/Bangladesh Yasmina’s positive demeanor belies the tragedy her family dealt with in Myanmar. Her father was killed in the violence, and her family was forced to abandon their home and seek safety in Bangladesh. Her mother, Abia Hatan, now takes care of Yasmina and her three siblings in their small shelter in the Kutupalong refugee camp. Yasmina faces additional challenges in the classroom because she has learning difficulties, physical disabilities and a severe speech impediment. The brave young girl started back to school last year at her nearest learning centre. But she wasn’t attending regularly. In December 2018, with financial support from the Education Cannot Wait First Emergency Response, UNICEF and partners launched a major education drive through the “Back to Learning” campaign. Thousands of community mobilizers encouraged parents and caregivers to send their children to learning centres to receive an education through the new improved structured-learning programme. The community mobilizers worked closely with parents, teachers and local leaders to encourage students who had dropped out or were not attending regularly to return to the classroom for enhanced learning opportunities. A widescale assessment was completed for 180,000 children, who were grouped in learning centres according to the results and their competency levels. Yasmina’s mother brought her to the learning centre to undertake the assessment. Yasmina took more time than the other students but she completed the test and was placed in a new learning centre. As part of the comprehensive education response in Bangladesh, the programme works to ensure that children with disabilities have inclusive access to learning opportunities. This means that children like Yasmina can be included in the mainstream education programme. Extra training has been provided to teachers to ensure they can successfully integrate children with disabilities into the classroom and actively engage these students in their lessons. To date, 181 children with disabilities have been enrolled in learning centres through the Education Cannot Wait investment. By the end of 2019, UNICEF aims to include all the children identified with disabilities into learning centres to give them the opportunities they need to flourish. Yasmina’s mother is extremely proud of her daughter’s progress. “I can see a big difference in Yasmina over the past few months. She was so happy to receive her first set of school books. She takes them home to study each night. She feels very excited and encouraged to learn,” says Abia, Yasmina’s mother. “I can also see some improvements in her speech. She is growing in confidence and much more content, now that she is going to the learning centre six days a week.” MAINSTREAMING RESULTS © UNICEF/Bangladesh Working in coordination with the Government of Bangladesh, UNICEF, UNESCO and UNHCR, the Education Cannot Wait-supported multi-year educational response in Bangladesh is mainstreaming and accelerating the impact of the First Emergency Response. Launched last November, the programme is already yielding results. According to reports from March, UNICEF, through its implementing partner BRAC are supporting the continued operational costs for 189 learning centres, providing salaries for teachers, schools supplies and learning materials, and providing vocational skills training for youth. UNICEF has also developed a learning competencies framework and approach that will guide the delivery of the overall education response, and has trained 59 master teachers to date to improve the skills, responsiveness and quality of teaching. Through improved planning, coordination, and a harmonized approach to professional development for teachers, the programme will roll out a unified curriculum. From Education Cannot Wait’s initial US$12 million catalytic grant, US$8.4 million is being channelled through UNICEF. The multi-year response is also working with multiple stakeholders to fill the funding gap for the educational response, which has been calculated at US$60 million for 2019 alone. This systems-wide approach will reach half a million children and youth, and 9800 teachers over the next three years, and bring new light and hope for children caught up in one of the world’s most pressing humanitarian crises. © UNICEF/Bangladesh URL:https://www.educationcannotwait.org/inclusive-education/?w3tc_note=flush_all 
UN and civil society team up to make cities more sustainable and inclusive 2019-07-04 Representatives of civil society will have the opportunity to meet with senior UN officials, and discuss a wide range of solutions to the challenges of urban life. The theme of this year’s conference, “building sustainale and inclusive cities and communities”, reflects the fact that over half of the world’s population, some 55 per cent, now live in urban areas, with that figure expected to rise to 68 per cent by 2050. Conference sessions will discuss topics connected to the main theme, including climate change; opportunities for youth; and emerging technologies and innovation. Leaders of large urban centres, such as Salt Lake City in the state of Utah, the communities that live in them, as well as the private sector, are at the forefront of finding sustainable solutions to poverty; climate change; clean water and energy; and many of the other challenges connected to urban living. Salt Lake City’s sustainability credentials include the development of a Climate Positive Plan, laying out a path for a transition to 100 per cent clean energy by 2032, and an 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2024. In addition, the nearby Utah Valley University, works to educate the campus and larger community on the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and has been an affiliate member of the UN’s Department of Global Communications (DGC) since 2017. “As a city committed to being inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, it is an honor to be the first US host city of the UN Civil Society Conference outside of New York,” said Mayor Jackie Biskupski in a statement. “I can think of no better time and no better place than Salt Lake City, for the UN and the world’s NGOs to expand awareness in this country of sustainable development goals and the value of global unity.” Highlights include interactive thematic sessions, NGO-sponsored workshops, exhibits and a youth hub. Speakers and attendees will include leaders and other representatives from NGOs, UN agencies, academia, faith traditions, the public and private sectors and youth from around the world. The UN Civil Society Conference is described by the UN as the Organization’s “premier event in the civil society calendar”, focusing on UN topics of interest to civil society and NGOs, where issues of global concern can be discussed. Registration is still open for the Conference, but the organizers are encouraging potential attendees to sign up here. URL:https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/07/1041772 
Countries Reach Final Stage of Preparation for Voluntary National Reviews at 2019 HLPF 2019-07-04 1 July 2019: Most of the 47 countries scheduled to present voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of SDG progress during the July 2019 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) have released their full VNR reports. Issuance of these reports marks one of the last steps before countries present their VNRs at the 2019 HLPF. The 2030 Agenda calls for the presentation of VNRs each year to facilitate the sharing of national experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned, in order to accelerate SDG implementation around the world. These reviews are presented during the HLPF session that takes place each July under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). By the end of the July 2019 HLPF, 142 countries will have presented reviews since the VNR mechanism began in 2016. Prior to the HLPF, countries submit the “main messages” of their VNRs to the UN Secretariat. These are made available online. The main messages provide a brief overview of each country’s more detailed VNR report. Main messages for the 47 countries presenting VNRs in 2019 were released in May, and SDG Knowledge Hub summaries are available according to country groups, namely the Western European and Other States Group (WEOG), the Eastern European Group (EEG), the African Group, the Asia-Pacific Group, and the small island developing States (SIDS). As outlined in this SDG Knowledge Hub story, in October 2018, 51 countries had initially volunteered to present their VNRs at the 2019 HLPF, but four withdrew from the list (Brazil, El Salvador, Eritrea and France). Of the 47 remaining VNR countries, 40 are conducting VNRs for the first time. These will make presentations during the three-day ministerial segment of the HLPF, from 16-18 July. These countries are: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Chile, the Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Eswatini, Fiji, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Iceland, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nauru, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, the Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, the UK, Tanzania, and Vanuatu. An additional seven countries will be presenting a VNR for the second time: Azerbaijan, Chile, Guatemala, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sierra Leone and Turkey. Their presentations will take place in a panel format, on 15 July, according to the HLPF draft programme. In order to help countries prepare their reviews, the UN has released: voluntary common reporting guidelines outlined by the UN Secretary-General; questions and answers (Q&A) on VNRs; and a ‘Handbook for the Preparation of Voluntary National Reviews’ that provides “basic, practical information” on steps that countries may take when preparing a review. In addition, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) has held two preparatory workshops for the 2019 VNR countries, in Geneva, Switzerland, in October 2018, and in Bonn, Germany, in February 2019. A third workshop is expected to take place on 14 July 2019, in New York, US, the day before VNR presentations begin. Among efforts to reflect on the VNR mechanism, ECOSOC President Inga Rhonda King has established a Group of Friends of the VNRs and of the follow-up and review of the HLPF, in order to increase peer learning and sharing best practices and lessons learned. According to this briefing, the Group, chaired by Mexico, seeks to help address the challenge of having only 30 minutes to present and discuss each VNR during the HLPF. URL: http://sdg.iisd.org/news/countries-reach-final-stage-of-preparation-for-2019-vnrs/ 
UNESCO & ODIHR host workshop to strengthen the capacity of policy-makers to address antisemitism through education 2019-07-01 UNESCO and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) held a two-day workshop for policymakers to identify measures government officials can take to address antisemitism and other forms of discrimination in and through education, in Warsaw, Poland on 21 and 22 May 2019. The workshop brought together 28 senior government officers from 18 countries, who discussed innovative educational approaches and practices, as well as the domestic application of recommendations and good practices from the joint 2018 UNESCO/ODIHR publication ‘Addressing Anti-Semitism through Education – Guidelines for Policymakers’. During the opening session, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of ODIHR, noted that "This is an excellent opportunity for us to identify new ways of addressing an old problem, and thus assist participating States in meeting their commitments to address anti-Semitism across the OSCE region. Anti-Semitic slurs and stereotypes have an enormously negative impact on the lives of Jewish people and entire societies. By focusing on education, we are helping to fight anti-Semitism not only in the present, but also in the future." Karel Fracapane, Senior Project Officer and coordinator of the project at UNESCO said: “The rise of antisemitism is a symptom reflecting deep problems within societies, with economic, social and political drivers. It feeds conspiracy theories, hate speech and violent extremist ideologies that have destructive impact globally, regardless of the presence of a Jewish population. Promoting education to build the resilience of young people against such narratives and all forms of intolerance and discrimination is therefore both an immediate security imperative and a long-term educational obligation.” The workshop included sessions conducted by representatives of the CELL Foundation (Conflict, Education and Learning Laboratory), the Institute for Education of the University College London, and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. The event was followed by a panel discussion on “Different Approaches to Promoting Tolerance through Education” hosted by Warsaw’s Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute. Among the participants of the workshop were representatives of governmental institutions in charge of education, teacher training and curriculum development from Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey. The workshop in Warsaw was the first of a series of international capacity building workshops organized by UNESCO in cooperation with ODIHR and the World Jewish Congress. A second workshop will take place on 10 and 11 July 2019 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. UNESCO is strongly committed to the prevention of antisemitism as part of the Organization’s global programs on preventing violent extremism through education (PVE-E) and Global Citizenship Education (GCED). In this context, UNESCO promotes education systems that address antisemitism in and through education and build the resilience of young people to extremist ideologies and prejudice. In support of this goal, UNESCO builds the capacities of education policymakers and teachers though guidelines, targeted trainings and the development of educational materials. URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-odihr-host-workshop-strengthen-capacity-policy-makers-address-antisemitism-through 
Everyone a leader: Regional Seminar on Innovative School Leadership and SDG 4.7 2019-07-01 School leadership matters. In the first instance, school leadership is usually seen to belong only to school principals, particularly in light of statements such as “the principal is the nerve centre of school improvement”, which is frequently quoted in research studies. The roles and responsibilities of school principals are not limited to human and financial resource management within the school perimeter, but include instructional leadership that has to keep pace with the complex challenges of the 21st century and beyond. Nonetheless, the scope of school leadership extends beyond the school principals. Delegates at the 9th International Summit on the Teaching Profession, held in March 2019 in in Helsinki, Finland pointed to the “centrality of shared leadership at every level of education systems: teacher leadership, school leadership and system leadership”. Embracing a broader concept of school leadership will surely contribute to the development of effective strategies for schools to respond to the challenges and demands of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Recognizing the importance of school leadership, UNESCO Bangkok convened regional seminar with school leaders, teachers, students and policymakers in the Asia-Pacific region on 26-28 June 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. The seminar enhanced the understanding of school leadership, identified and shared innovative practices to contribute to the SDGs in general and SDG 4.7 in particular, and explored systems thinking principles to enhance distributed/shared leadership. Download the presentations HERE. For more information:Lay-Cheng Tanlc.tan@unesco.org URL:https://bangkok.unesco.org/index.php/content/everyone-leader-regional-seminar-innovative-school-leadership-and-sdg-47 
6 graphs on GPE’s results in gender equality and girls’ education 2019-06-27 Many countries have seen progress in gender equality and girls’ education, but challenges remain. View 6 graphs to understand the state of gender parity in access to education and learning outcomes, and the ongoing efforts within the partnership to improve gender equality.by Meg Ahern, Global Partnership for Education GPE’s Results Report 2019 shows that while many countries have seen progress in gender equality and girls’ education, challenges remain. The following six graphs provide an overview of the state of gender parity in access to education and learning outcomes, as well as ongoing efforts within the partnership to improve gender equality in and through education. (All charts are extracted from the report unless otherwise noted.) 1. More girls are completing primary school than before – but they are not catching up to boysWhile the rates of progress are good, girls’ primary completion rates have been rising at essentially the same pace as those of children overall. This means that the gender gap is not narrowing.Proportion of children who complete primary education: Overall (green) vs. girls (pink) 2. The gap between girls and boys completing lower secondary school is narrowing – but too slowlyThe good news is that, on average, girls are gaining some ground in completing lower secondary school. However, this progress is much slower than expected. And girls in countries affected by fragility and conflict are still especially disadvantaged: as of 2018, only 41.2% of them complete lower secondary school, below both the average for all children in these countries (45.5%) and the average for girls in all partner countries (49.6%).Proportion of children who complete lower secondary education: Overall (green) vs. girls (pink) 3. Recent progress on gender parity in school completion has been variedThe ratio of girls to boys completing primary or lower secondary school (also known as the gender parity index) has shifted in different ways across countries: in favor of girls or boys, and toward or away from parity. Overall, though, girls continue to be the ones more often disadvantaged. A gender parity index of 1 indicates perfect parity, and in this context, values below 1 indicate more boys than girls completing school; values above 1 indicate more girls than boys completing.Source: GPE compilation based on data of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (database), Montreal, http://www.uis.unesco.org (2018). 4. The proportion of girls out of lower secondary school is stagnatingWhile out-of-school rates for all children are still too high, girls’ rates have been coming down slowly but steadily for primary school. But for lower secondary school, the rates of girls out of school have stagnated over the past three years.Primary out-of-school rates: Overall (green) vs. girls (pink)Lower secondary out-of-school rates: Overall (green) vs. girls (pink) 5. While girls’ and boys’ learning outcomes are equal on average, they vary widely from one country to anotherOn average across the 18 GPE partner countries with data, girls’ and boys’ performance is at parity in both math and reading (1.00 and 1.01 respectively). However, whether girls’ or boys’ performance is stronger in either subject varies greatly from one country to the next, underscoring that disparities are driven by factors within the education system, in the context of local sociocultural factors, and are not intrinsic. For example, in Zambia and Malawi, girls do better than boys in both reading and math, but especially excel in math; while in Chad and Niger, girls perform worse than boys in both subjects, but fall behind more in math.Proportion of students achieving the minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics at the end of or during primary education: gender parity indexes by country. Most recent data points available between 2005 and 2015, grade 6.Source: GPE compilation based on data of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (database), Montreal, http://www.uis.unesco.org. Most recent data points available between 2005 and 2015, grade 6. 6. Many GPE partner countries are taking on gender inequalityOf the 37 active implementation grants in FY18, 31 partner countries specifically invested in gender equality, according to the 2018 Portfolio Review. Out of those 31, 18 take a targeted approach, focusing on improving the enrollment and retention of girls through demand-side and supply-side interventions. This includes the provision of learning materials to girls, increased investments in female teachers and administrators, strategic communication initiatives to raise awareness for girls’ education, incentive schemes, and provision of gender-sensitive school facilities. In Lesotho, these interventions are focused on boys, who are more likely to be out of school. The other 13 grants mainstream gender-responsiveness into the architecture of the project and/or system, as in Guinea’s design of a gender-responsive in-service teacher training program.Proportion of FY18 implementation grants with activities specifically for gender equality and/or girls’ educationSource: GPE Secretariat URL: https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/6-graphs-gpes-results-gender-equality-and-girls-education 
UNESCO hosts expert consultation on antisemitism to inform report of the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief 2019-06-25 On 28 May 2019, UNESCO and the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Ahmed Shaheed hosted a one-day expert consultation meeting on antisemitism at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The meeting was part of a series of international consultation meetings organized by the UN Special Rapporteur in view of his report to the UN General Assembly later this year. For the first time the UN Special Rapporteur will report on antisemitism in accordance with his mandate to identify existing and emerging obstacles to the enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion or belief. During the introduction, UN Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed stated that “all indicators show a global surge in hatred. Antisemitism is the oldest and possibly the most widespread form of hate, and it is also often the first to raise its ugly head as societies descend into bigotry. Just as one form of hate provides a foundation for all forms of hatred, addressing antisemitism will provide a foundation to deal with all forms of hatred. I am holding these consultations because I want to hear first-hand from the affected communities and from those working to address this global challenge.” The consultation meeting was hosted by UNESCO’s Education Sector in line with its commitment to address antisemitism and all forms of discrimination through education. In this context, Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director General for Education, welcomes the focus of this year’s report of the UN Special Rapporteur, underlining the power of education to prevent all forms of discrimination: “Like any form of discrimination, antisemitism poses a threat to the realization of all peoples’ human rights. As we are witnessing a global rise of antisemitism, we cannot stand by, but have to address it. UNESCO is committed to promote education as a tool to build the resilience of learners to anti-Semitic stereotypes, to raise awareness for the harmful effects of discriminatory rhetoric and to empower them to reject all forms of prejudice.” The consultation meeting at UNESCO convened 25 experts on antisemitism, representing the main Jewish-related organizations, human rights organizations, national agencies in charge of intolerance and non-discriminations and academic research centers from France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Israel. During the meeting, participants discussed contemporary trends of antisemitism in Europe, the impact of antisemitism on the rights of Jews and the freedom of religion or belief as well as responses and preventive measures to address antisemitism. Participating institutions included the Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF), the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the International League against Racism and Antisemitism (LICRA), Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH), Inter-ministerial delegation on the fight against racism, antisemitism, and anti-LGBT hate (DILCRA), the Coordination Committee of Jewish Organizations in Belgium (CCOJB), the Union of Jewish Students in France (UEJF), Yad Vashem, Mouvement contre le Racisme, l’Antisémitisme et la Xénophobie (MRAX), UNIA, the World Jewish Congress, Centro Sefarad-Israel, the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, Site Mémorial du Camp des Milles, the Antisemitism Study Group of the French National Assembly, the Mémorial de la Shoah, and B’nai B’rith International. UNESCO is committed to addressing and preventing cotemporary antisemitism through its programs in support of Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and the prevention of violent extremism through education (PVE-E). In this context, UNESCO promotes education systems that address antisemitism in and through education and build the resilience of young people to extremist ideologies and prejudice. In support of this goal, UNESCO builds the capacities of education policymakers and teachers though guidelines, targeted trainings and the development of educational materials, including guidelines for policymakers on “Addressing antisemitism through education”, published jointly with OSCE/ODIHR in 2018. URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-hosts-expert-consultation-antisemitism-inform-report-special-rapporteur-freedom-religion 
What Makes a Good Classroom? New UIS Data on School Conditions 2019-06-18 By Silvia Montoya, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Among the many factors fuelling the global learning crisis that stunts the educational path of six out of ten children and adolescents, we must consider the conditions in which children try to learn and teachers try to teach. To put it simply: are pupils and teachers working in schools and classrooms that are fit for purpose? Do they have all the basic facilities they need – electricity, clean drinking water and single-sex toilets – as well as those 21st century essentials: Internet access and computers? Or are children and teachers struggling in crumbling, overcrowded and poorly-equipped classrooms? This issue is high on the agenda as countries ramp up their efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4): providing a quality education for all. For children who struggle to just enrol in school, for example due to poverty or discrimination on the grounds of gender or disability, poor school conditions that undermine their chances of a quality education can be the last straw. That is why the latest data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) highlight the school conditions that can make or break a child’s education. The UIS has just updated its global education database with more data covering more countries. While the global numbers and regional averages on key indicators such as out-of-school rates remain the same as those published in September 2018, we have added country-level information to provide a more complete and timely picture of the education situation facing children, youth and adults the world over. The data refresh spans all of our indicators – from pre-primary to tertiary education – and of course, the global and thematic indicators used to monitor progress towards SDG 4. In particular, we have just released more country-level data for SDG Indicator 4.a.1: the proportion of schools with access to: Electricity; Internet; Computers; Adapted infrastructure and materials for students with disabilities; Clean drinking water; Single-sex toilets; and Basic handwashing facilities. The new data reveal serious disparities in primary school conditions that, in turn, shed more light on the global learning crisis. What we see is a gulf between school conditions in the world’s richest and poorest nations, as well as significant data gaps in key areas. Looking at primary education, the data (all from 2017, unless otherwise stated) also flag disparities among and within regions. Take one of the most basic essentials for any school: electricity. Worldwide, an average of 69% of primary schools have power, falling to an average of around 34% for least developed countries (LDCs). At the regional level, we find the most limited access in sub-Saharan Africa, at around 35%. And within the region, we find the lowest percentages of all: about 5% of schools in Niger and 4% in Sierra Leone have electricity. Internet access in primary schools stands at just over 46% (2016) worldwide, tumbling to around 16% for LDCs, in stark contrast to the average for Northern America of more than 99%. A closer look reveals rock-bottom percentages for Myanmar (0.2%) and Sierra Leone (0.3%). But we also see disparities between neighbouring countries, with access in Kyrgyzstan at around 42%, compared to more than 90% in Uzbekistan. Perhaps not surprisingly, given the lack of electricity and Internet access, the figures for access to computers for pedagogical purposes in primary schools are also low. A global average of around 48% falls to just over 23% for LDCs, compared to averages for Northern America and Europe of well over 98%. Again, schools in Myanmar have little or no access to computers (about 1%) and Niger also faces serious challenges (just over 2%). Taken together, the data for access to the Internet and to computers signal an ever-widening and global digital divide, with entire populations of children missing out on tools that are not only vital but also seen as commonplace elsewhere. Data on primary schools with adaptations for children with disabilities are limited. The rates vary considerably among some 40 countries with available data. Less than 5% of schools are equipped with adapted facilities for children with disabilities in some countries, including Burkina Faso, Cook Islands, Dominica, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Zambia. The rates range from about 17% to 30% in El Salvador, Latvia, Marshall Islands, Morocco, Peru and Rwanda, while countries with strong policies in place, such as Finland, have rates of 100%. When we look at primary schools with access to clean drinking water, we find a relative wealth of data. While many of the countries that provide data report rates of 100%, the global average stands at 79%, constrained by the far lower averages for LDCs (59%) and countries in sub-Saharan Africa (44% in 2016). As educationalists know, single-sex basic sanitation facilities have a vital role to play in the creation of a safe and supportive school environment, particularly for girls. And here, the global average of primary schools with single-sex toilets stands at around 82%, falling to 57% for LDCs. A closer look at the national figures reveals a number of champions in developing regions, such as Azerbaijan, Cabo Verde, Djibouti, Gambia, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Rwanda, Samoa and Sri Lanka – all with 80% or more of schools equipped with single-sex toilets. But there are concerns elsewhere, such as in Eritrea (27%) and Senegal (just 9%). Finally, we turn to handwashing facilities, which are essential for the health of students and teachers alike. We see an enormous disparities: globally, 66% of primary schools have handwashing facilities, but the average in LDCs is 43% and rates are very low in some countries, such as Afghanistan (4%) and Eritrea (3%). It is important to remember that these data offer just a glimpse of the conditions facing teachers and principals struggling to provide an effective and creative pedagogic approach. Access to electricity for example or drinking water are the mere basics in providing the enabling environment needed to promote 21st century skills. We will be delving deeper into the data on teachers in an upcoming blog. By highlighting these data, the UIS aims to ensure that countries, donors, UN agencies, civil society groups and citizens have the latest facts to better direct policies and resources to reach every child. At the same time, we continue to work with countries and other partners to fill data gaps, while developing standards and methodologies to produce new internationally-comparable indicators. This is particularly timely in a year when progress towards SDG 4 will be under close scrutiny at the next High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July 2019. URL:http://uis.unesco.org/fr/node/1910805 
Global Festival Participants Commit to Concrete Action for SDGs 2019-06-17 Global community members reiterated their commitment to accelerating action to achieve the SDGs, during the 2019 SDG Global Festival of Action. The gathering highlighted successes, challenges and lessons learned in SDG implementation thus far, with discussions pointing to ways for governments to use the SDGs as a framework for political action.The third edition of the Festival – organized by the UN SDG Action Campaign – convened from 2-4 May 2019, in Bonn, Germany, and brought together over 1,700 participants from more than 150 countries. Among the Festival’s highlights: The UN climate action campaign, Act Now, was recognized for using artificial intelligence (AI) to encourage individuals to take climate action; The SummerOfSolutions initiative was launched to inspire young people to create innovative, technology-based solutions for global challenges, organized by the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, in partnership with UN Technology and Innovation Labs, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and others; A live-streamed SDG Studio provided TED-style talks, interactive discussions and performances, including from UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary Ovais Sarmad; An Augmented Reality campaign was launched with a focus on the “essence of the SDGs” – ambition, innovation, positivity and inclusion – aiming to show that individual action can be transformative and inviting people to start a “butterfly effect” to catalyze action for the SDGs by choosing the wings of their preferred cause or SDG; and An initiative sponsored by Junior Chamber International in partnership with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) offers young innovators recognition, resources and funding to scale up their SDG projects. Eddie Ndopu, SDG Advocate, stressed that the most vulnerable segments of society must be given a chance to lead. Ndopu will be the first disabled person to travel into space, where he will deliver a televised address to the UN on accelerating SDG implementation. The UN SDG Action Awards were presented to honor innovative and impactful projects to ignite action on the SDGs in seven categories: mobilizers, storytellers, campaigners, connectors, visualizers, includers and creatives. This year’s winners included: a crowd-map for sexual violence from India; the nation-wide “A White Dress Doesn’t Cover Rape” movement, which led to the repeal of the rape-marriage law in Lebanon; a blockchain-based token rewards initiative, the Plastic Bank, which empowers recycling entrepreneurs in Haiti, the Philippines and the US; and Solar Mamas, which empowers women by enhancing their capacity to build solar panels. URL:http://sdg.iisd.org/news/global-festival-participants-commit-to-concrete-action-for-sdgs/ 
UN Opens Platform to Collect SDG ‘Acceleration Actions’ Ahead of Summit 2019-06-17 In preparation for the SDG Summit in September 2019, the UN has set up an ‘SDG Acceleration Action’ platform, where countries and other actors can register voluntary initiatives that contribute to accelerating implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The platform was announced in an information note circulated by UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, ahead of a 14 June briefing on the scope and format of Summit activities. The September 2019 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), also referred to as the SDG Summit, will be convened by the UNGA at the level of Heads of State and Government. It is mandated to follow up and review progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs. Convening from 24-25 September 2019, the Summit is part of the UNGA’s high-level week for the 74th session. As indicated in the modalities for the Summit, voluntary actions and commitments by countries and other actors will be announced before and during the Summit, and the closing session will recapitulate the acceleration actions that have been announced in the course of the Summit. Actions can be announced by national, local and regional governments, the UN system, other intergovernmental organizations, international and regional financial institutions, and major groups and other stakeholders, individually or in partnership. To register a voluntary action on the ‘SDG Acceleration Action for the SDG Summit’ platform, users are asked to provide: A description of the action, its expected impact, and deliverables; A list of partners; Resources mobilized towards the action; Start and completion date for the initiative; and The specific SDGs and targets covered by the commitment. Actions need to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Resource-based, with Time-based deliverables). The Information Note calls specifically for actions that contribute to policy coherence and reflect interlinkages among SDGs. The platform also allows users to report on the implementation of their commitment, according to the Information Note. Espinosa informed Member States of a briefing on 14 June 2019 at 3 pm regarding the scope and format of the activities of the SDG Summit. Also briefing Member States during the meeting will be: the president of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the UN Deputy Secretary-General, and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Climate Action Summit. The meeting will include updates from the co-facilitators of preparations for the individual events convening during the high-level week. URL:http://sdg.iisd.org/news/un-opens-platform-to-collect-sdg-acceleration-actions-ahead-of-summit/