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© UNESCO New resources to counter COVID-19 conspiracy theories through critical thinking and empathy 2020-08-15 UNESCO, in cooperation with the European Commission, Twitter, and the World Jewish Congress, is launching a series of easily accessible and comprehensive visual learning resources to raise awareness of the existence and consequences of conspiracy theories linked to the COVID-19 crisis. The resources also address how to recognize conspiracy theories, understand what drives them, refute them with facts and respond effectively to those who are spreading them. The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed a parallel pandemic of dangerous misinformation and rumours in the form of conspiracy theories, including far-fetched explanations of the origins of the virus, how it can be cured and who is to blame for its spread. Conspiracy theories undermine science, facts and trust in institutions, and pose an immediate threat to individuals and communities. There have always been conspiracy theories, but the pandemic underway has proved to be a particularly fertile ground for their spread. They are part of a wider trend of increasing hate speech, and increased racist, xenophobic, and anti-Semitic attacks, which also target LGBTQ communities. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay underlined the dangers of misinformation and rumours in relation to the pandemic and other issues. “Conspiracy theories cause real harm to people, to their health, and also to their physical safety. They amplify and legitimize misconceptions about the pandemic, and reinforce stereotypes which can fuel violence and violent extremist ideologies,” she said. The infographics, available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, will be widely disseminated on social media via the hashtag #ThinkBeforeSharing, UNESCO MIL CLICKS social media pages, and through the European Commission’s website on fighting disinformation. Věra Jourová, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, said: “Disinformation and conspiracy theories harm the health of our democracies – this has been made very clear in the context of a global pandemic. Citizens must be equipped with useful tools to recognise and debunk them. To support citizens, public institutions need to work together and with digital platforms, media professionals, fact checkers and researchers, as the European Commission and UNESCO are doing.” The visual learning resources complement UNESCO's work on Media and Information Literacy (MIL) and related educational graphics produced as part of the Organization’s COVID-19 response. They draw on the expert advice of Professor Michael Butter, author of the Guide to Conspiracy Theories, as well as Stephan Lewandowsky and John Cook, authors of the Conspiracy Theory Handbook. As part of the launch of the resources, Prof. Butter stressed the important role of education: “There is by now a lot of evidence that shows that people who have been taught what conspiracy theories are and how they work are much less receptive to them. It's easy: education is key.” Mr Lewandowsky affirmed the fact that conspiracy theories may be viewed as light-hearted, but can be dangerous, saying that “conspiracy theories have adverse consequences on society. This is especially true during a pandemic, when belief in conspiracies can harm or even kill people. It is therefore essential for the public to be informed about how to spot conspiracy theories so that they can be ignored.” The campaign is undertaken as part of UNESCO’s work in Media and Information Literacy and to counter hate speech, and supports its programmes on Preventing violent extremism through education and Global Citizenship Education. URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/new-resources-counter-covid-19-conspiracy-theories-through-critical-thinking-and-empathy © UNESCO UN Secretary-General warns of education catastrophe, pointing to UNESCO estimate of 24 million learners at risk of dropping out 2020-08-08 UN Secretary-General António Guterres today launched the Education in the time of COVID-19 and beyond Policy Brief warning that the pandemic has created the most severe disruption in the world’s education systems in history and is threatening a loss of learning that may stretch beyond one generation of students. School closures are also likely to erase decades of progress, according to the Policy Brief, which builds on UNESCO’s data and features recommendations on ways to avert the looming catastrophe. UNESCO led the drafting of the Secretary-General’s Policy Brief which contains inputs from 15 sister organizations. “We already faced a learning crisis before the pandemic,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a video statement to launch the Policy Brief. “Now we face a generational catastrophe that could waste untold human potential, undermine decades of progress, and exacerbate entrenched inequalities.” The Brief calls for national authorities and the international community to come together to place education at the forefront of recovery agendas and protect investment in education. With this objective, UNESCO will convene a special session of the Global Education Meeting before the end of the year.   UNESCO data shows that nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries, 94% of the world’s student population, were affected by the closure of educational institutions at the peak of the crisis, a figure that stands at 1 billion today. As many as 100 countries have yet to announce a date for schools to reopen. The Policy Brief points to UNESCO’s projections whereby 24 million learners from pre-primary to tertiary education risk not finding their way back to their studies in 2020 following the COVID-19-induced closures. The largest share of learners at risk, 5.9 million, live in South and West Asia. Another 5.3 million students at risk are in sub-Saharan Africa. Both regions faced severe educational challenges even before the pandemic, which is likely to worsen their situation considerably. According to UNESCO, tertiary education is likely to experience the highest dropout rate and a projected 3.5% decline in enrolment, resulting in 7.9 million fewer students. Pre-primary education is the second worst affected level with a projected 2.8% decline in enrolment, i.e. 5 million fewer children attending. According to these projections, 0.27% of primary and 1.48% of secondary education students, corresponding to 5.2 million girls and 5.7 million boys at both levels, risk dropping out of school. “These findings emphasize the urgent need to ensure the continuity of learning for all in the face of this unprecedented crisis, in particular the most vulnerable,” says UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay.  “The Brief calls to protect investment in education at all levels, and warns that according to UNESCO estimates, the pandemic will increase the gap in funding needed to reach the internationally agreed 2030 Sustainable Development Goal on Education (SDG4) in low and lower-middle income countries by one third, from the already staggering shortfall of USD 148 billion.” School closures do not only undermine education. They also hamper the provision of essential services to children and communities, including access to a balanced diet and parents’ ability to go to work. They also increase risks of violence against women and girls. Preventing the learning crisis from becoming a generational catastrophe must become a top priority for world leaders and for stakeholders across the education community, says the brief, emphasizing education’s role in driving economic progress, sustainable development and lasting peace. The Brief makes recommendations in four areas to mitigate the effects of the pandemic: Suppress transmission of the virus and plan thoroughly for school reopening: this covers health and safety measures, attention to the needs of marginalized children and joint planning and consultation with teachers, parents and communities The UN has issued guidance to help governments in this complex endeavour. Protect education financing and coordinate for impact: despite public spending constraints, national authorities must protect education budgets and include education in COVID stimulus packages. The international community must protect official development assistance for education. Relieving, postponing and restructuring debt for low and lower-middle income countries is part of the solution to help countries invest in education. Strengthen the resilience of education systems for equitable and sustainable development: Building back resilience requires a priority focus on equity and inclusion, with measures to address the needs of the most marginalized and vulnerable learners and to ensure that economic strains and gender norms do not prevent girls from returning to school. Risk management capacities need to be reinforced at all levels. Reimagine education and accelerate positive change in teaching and learning: The scale of innovations made in a short time to ensure learning continuity proves that change can happen quickly. They have set the ground to reimagine education and build systems that are more forward-looking, inclusive, flexible and resilient. Solutions must address learning losses, preventing dropouts, particularly of the most marginalized, and ensuring the social and emotional welfare of students, teachers and staff. Other priorities include better support to the teaching profession, removing barriers to connectivity, investing in digital technologies and flexible learning pathways. The UN Policy Brief is being launched alongside #SaveOurFuture, a multi-partner campaign led by ten entities, including UNESCO, to raise awareness of the global education emergency and urge increased investment to build better, more inclusive and resilient education systems for the future. **** Secretary-General’s Policy Brief on Education and COVID-19 UNESCO COVID-19 Advocacy Paper: “How many students are at risk of not returning to school?" #SaveOurFuture campaign URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/secretary-general-warns-education-catastrophe-pointing-unesco-estimate-24-million-learners-0 ⓒ WHO Как безопасно носить немедицинскую тканевую маску? 2020-07-17 The use of masks is part of a comprehensive package of the prevention and control measures that can limit the spread of certain respiratory viral diseases, including COVID-19, the World Health Organization says. Masks can be used either for protection of healthy persons (worn to protect oneself when in contact with an infected individual) or to control the source of infection (worn by an infected individual to prevent onward transmission). There are three types of masks used to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Medical masks (also known as surgical masks): these are made from a minimum of three layers of synthetic nonwoven materials, and configured to have filtration layers sandwiched in the middle. Respirators (also known as filtering facepiece respirators - FFP) and available at different performance levels such as FFP2, FFP3, N95, N99): these are specifically designed for healthcare workers who provide care to COVID-19 patients in settings and areas where aerosol-generating procedures are undertaken. Non-medical masks (also known as fabric masks, homemade masks) can act as a barrier to prevent the spread of the virus from the wearer to others. To use the last type of mask correctly, see the posters below. The posters were prepared by WHO. WHO also notes that the use of a fabric mask alone is not sufficient to provide an adequate level of protection. In addition to wearing the mask, it is necessary to keep a distance of at least 1 meter from others, often wash or disinfect hands, avoid touching the face or mask with your hands. URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/how-wear-non-medical-fabric-mask-safely © UNESCO UNESCO and UNHCR call for the inclusion of refugees in the post-Covid-19 education effort 2020-07-15 We must not leave young refugees by the wayside, urged UNESCO and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as they pleaded in favour of young refugees’ education during an online debate on how best to provide them with improved learning during and after the pandemic. “Mobilizing for refugees is extremely urgent at a time when they are particularly vulnerable to the Covid-19 crisis and its aftermath,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, as she opened the meeting. “The Covid-19 crisis is jeopardizing everything we have done for the education of refugees and migrants, their integration and chances of self-realization. We must strengthen our action in favour of the most vulnerable in order to guarantee them this fundamental right.” Canada's minister of international development, Karina Gould, who told the story of her Czech grandparents who became refugees after they fled former Czechoslovakia during World War II, put forward the necessity of “low tech solutions,” considering the digital and technological divide, and lack of communication infrastructures in many countries. Cameroon’s minister of Secondary Education, Pauline Nalova Lyonga Egbe, gave the example of mobile phones which are used by most of the population and which can be used as a cheap medium for remote education. The roundtable was also attended by two young refugee students from Rwanda and Mali now living in Kenya and Burkina Faso, a high ranking official in Kenya primary education and a member of the Pakistan National Assembly in charge of education and professional training, and representatives of the Global Coalition for Education established under the auspices of UNESCO. The UNHCR Special Envoy, actress Angelina Jolie, a long-time advocate for displaced persons, introduced the discussion and summarized its highlights. United Kingdom's Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Baroness Sugg stressed that “education must be prioritized in the global recovery from coronavirus. This epidemic is not just a health crisis, it is an education crisis, especially for refugee children. Without school and an education, they will be unable to rebuild their lives and achieve their full potential.” She announced an extra 5.3 million pounds sterling to be given to UNHCR by the British Government. Concluding the discussion, The High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, warned “the bigger picture remained very grim because of the upcoming impact of the economic crisis on long term international assistance for education.” He stressed that 12% of education activity is supported by international aid. As between 40 and 60 million children might fall into poverty, he added, “we must include those who are among the most excluded, the people on the move.” UNESCO has warned the pandemic risked jeopardizing the progress made in education in recent years, especially for young girls. UNHCR estimates at least 20% of whom are at risk of not resuming their studies interrupted during school closures. However, a number of governments are planning to include refugees in post-pandemic response measures, such as distance education, in line with their commitments under the Global Compact on Refugees. The event was co-sponsored by Canada, the United Kingdom and the global Education Cannot Wait fund, which channelled its second COVID emergency allocation to refugees.  URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-and-unhcr-call-inclusion-refugees-post-covid-19-education-effort © UNESCO COVID-19: What you need to know about refugees’ education 2020-07-10 Despite a relative easing of COVID-19 school closures and an increasing trend towards reopening, over one billion learners globally remain affected by school closures. Disruption to education on this scale is unprecedented. COVID-19 leaves few lives and places untouched, however its impact, including in education, is harshest for groups that are already in vulnerable situations such as refugees. How are COVID -19 school closures affecting refugees’ education? Even before COVID-19 refugee children were twice as likely to be out of school than other children and despite improvements in refugee enrolment rates, only 63% of refugees are in enrolled in primary school and 24% in secondary education. The pandemic risks creating a backslide in the small gains made and creating a disaster for groups such as adolescent girls. In recent years significant efforts have been made on the inclusion of refugee learners in national education systems, however barriers to education persist and could potentially worsen due to the pandemic. There is also the worrying possibility that discrimination and xenophobia directed at refugee populations increases, negatively affecting school enrolment and retention. What can we do a ensure quality education for refugee learners? The first step is upholding and guaranteeing the right to education for refugees through ensuring all are able to learn at home and safely return to school. There are some promising signs that governments are fast-tracking the inclusion of refugees in their COVID-19 responses, demonstrating an opportunity to work on the delivery of commitments contained in the Global Compact on Refugees. As the focus shifts from distance learning and school closure to reopening and returning to school, close attention must be paid to existing and exacerbated inequities facing refugees, especially secondary school age refugee girls who were already only half as likely to enroll as their male peers. These conditions are anticipated to worsen. UNHCR estimates that 20% of the refugee girls who are in secondary school are at significant risk of never returning to school following the COVID-19 school closures. We must act now to address the inequality and dire situation facing refugee learners. Why is this so urgent and what is at stake? There is a lot at stake during and after COVID-19 for refugee learners. It is anticipated that there will be major increases in drop out, which means losing this generation if they are left out of education.  In many countries the education status of refugees was already fragile prior to the pandemic, with many having missed years of schooling and having to work hard to catch up. They must now cope with further disruptions to their learning. Those who were already not enrolled in education programmes are at even greater risk of never returning to learning. Lack of access to infrastructure, hardware and connectivity, living conditions and the remoteness of many refugee-hosting areas means that refugee children are also at risk of not being able to access national distance learning programmes put in place by governments as part of the COVID-19 response. What is UNESCO doing to advance the right to education for refugees? Through the Global Education Coalition, UNESCO is facilitating partnerships between multiple stakeholders to provide learning opportunities for children youth and adults, including refugees, who have been impacted by the disruption of education due to the pandemic. UNESCO has pledged and is working to strengthen national education systems by providing Member States with expertise and technical guidance for policy design, implementation and planning support for the inclusion of refugees into all levels of national education systems. UNESCO’s qualifications passport for refugees and vulnerable migrants launched in 2019 aims to facilitate learners’ integration in the education system and labour market through assessment procedures. The process helps recognize key elements such as the highest achieved qualifications, skills, relevant job experiences and language proficiency. On 13 July from 4pm to 5:30pm CET, a high-level virtual roundtable led by UNHCR and UNESCO will bring together voices of refugees to hear about the needs and responses on the ground. The event is convened and chaired by Special Envoy Angelina Jolie and co-hosted by Canada and the United Kingdom. Watch it live here Photo: Refugee learner doing his homework, Thailand, 2015.  What UNESCO does in education in emergencies UNESCO’s education response to COVID-19 The Global Education Coalition UNESCO qualifications passport for refugees and vulnerable migrants UNESCO’s Pledge to the Global Refugee Forum URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/covid-19-what-you-need-know-about-refugees-education © Региональный экологический центр Центральной Азии "Time of nature: man, environment and biodiversity" - youth contest of socio-environmental videos 2020-07-03 The State Committee for Ecology and Environmental Protection, in partnership with the Regional Ecological Center of Europe (CAREC), announces youth competitions on the theme: "Time of nature: man, environment and biodiversity."The competition, which takes place as part of the European Union project, UzWaterAware, can be attended by students, students and high school students (10 and 11), students aged 16 to 25 years.The main goal of the competition is to attract young people, parents of senior classes and students, as well as their teachers in the field of environmental protection (EP) and conservation of biodiversity, as well as raising their awareness and drawing attention to problems and solutions in these matters. URL:https://carececo.org/main/news/molodezhnyy-konkurs-sotsialno-ekologicheskikh-videorolikov-na-temu-vremya-prirody-chelovek-okruzhayu/ © Региональный экологический центр Центральной Азии Всемирный день окружающей среды: экологическое образование и повышение осведомленности 2020-07-03 Every year on June 5, World Environment Day is celebrated around the world. Issues of nature conservation have been the most relevant for several decades. This year, this day is dedicated to an important topic - the conservation of biodiversity.The CAREC branch in Uzbekistan took part in several events dedicated to this day and organized by national partners. URL:https://carececo.org/main/news/vsemirnyy-den-okruzhayushchey-sredy-ekologicheskoe-obrazovanie-i-povyshenie-osvedomlennosti/ © UNESCO Register for Media and Information Literacy Week in Central Asia 2020-07-03 UNESCO Almaty will support capacity building initiatives of Central Asian institutions within Global Media and Information Literacy week. Media and Information Literacy can help to advance various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as SDGs 11, 16 and 17, and targets 4.7, 4.c and 5.b, by raising citizens’ critical awareness of information shared and received, how they communicate, their fundamental freedoms and critical thinking that makes societies democratic, peaceful, inclusive, socially cohesive, just, safe and resilient.Media and Information Literacy initiatives commemorates the Global MIL Week celebration led by UNESCO and its partners 26-31 October 2020.Please share how you will celebrate the week by filling out the form available here in Russian. Related link URL:http://en.unesco.kz/central-asia-media-and-information-literacy-week UNICEF/Asselin Countries failing to prevent violence against children, agencies warn 2020-06-30 Global status report on preventing violence against children calls for more government action and warns of ‘dramatic impact’ of COVID-19 Half of the world’s children, or approximately 1 billion children each year are affected by physical, sexual or psychological violence, suffering injuries, disabilities and death, because countries have failed to follow established strategies to protect them. This is according to a new report published today by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, UNESCO, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Violence against Children and the End Violence Partnership. “There is never any excuse for violence against children," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “We have evidence-based tools to prevent it, which we urge all countries to implement. Protecting the health and well-being of children is central to protecting our collective health and well-being, now and for the future.” The report – Global Status Report on Preventing Violence Against Children 2020 – is the first of its kind, charting progress in 155 countries against the “INSPIRE” framework, a set of seven strategies for preventing and responding to violence against children. The report signals a clear need in all countries to scale up efforts to implement them. While nearly all countries (88%) have key laws in place to protect children against violence, less than half of countries (47%) said these were being strongly enforced. The report includes the first ever global homicide estimates specifically for children under 18 years of age – previous estimates were based on data that included 18 to 19-year olds. It finds that, in 2017, around 40,000 children were victims of homicide. “Violence against children has always been pervasive, and now things could be getting much worse,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “Lockdowns, school closures and movement restrictions have left far too many children stuck with their abusers, without the safe space that school would normally offer. It is urgent to scale up efforts to protect children during these times and beyond, including by designating social service workers as essential and strengthening child helplines.” Progress is generally uneven Of the INSPIRE strategies, only access to schools through enrollment showed the most progress with 54% of countries reporting that a sufficient number of children in need were being reached in this way. Between 32% to 37% of countries considered that victims of violence could access support services, while 26% of countries provided programmes on parent and caregiver support; 21% of countries had programmes to change harmful norms; and 15% of countries had modifications to provide safe physical environments for children. Although a majority of countries (83%) have national data on violence against children, only 21% used these to set baselines and national targets to prevent and respond to violence against children. About 80% of countries have national plans of action and policies but only one-fifth have plans that are fully funded or have measurable targets. A lack of funding combined with inadequate professional capacity are likely contributing factors and a reason why implementation has been slow. The COVID-19 response and its impact on children “During the COVID-19 pandemic, and the related school closures, we have seen a rise in violence and hate online – and this includes bullying. Now, as schools begin to re-open, children are expressing their fears about going back to school,” said Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General. “It is our collective responsibility to ensure that schools are safe environments for all children. We need to think and act collectively to stop violence at school and in our societies at large.” Stay-at-home measures including school closures have limited the usual sources of support for families and individuals such as friends, extended family or professionals. This further erodes victims’ ability to successfully cope with crises and the new routines of daily life. Spikes in calls to helplines for child abuse and intimate partner violence have been observed. And while online communities have become central to maintain many children’s learning, support and play, an increase in harmful online behaviours including cyberbullying, risky online behavior and sexual exploitation have been identified.  “Whilst this report was being finalized, confinement measures and the disrupted provision of already limited child protection services exacerbated the vulnerability of children to various forms of violence,” said Najat Maalla M’jid, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Violence against Children. “To respond to this crisis a unified, child rights and multisectoral framework for action for children is critical requiring a strong mobilization of governments, bilateral/multilateral donors, civil society, private sector and children, whose views must be heard and truly taken into account to ensure duly protection and the possibility for all to thrive and reach their full potential.” Accelerating action to protect children WHO and its partners will continue to work with countries to fully implement the INSPIRE strategies by enhancing coordination, developing and implementing national action plans, prioritizing data collection, and strengthening legislative frameworks.  Global action is needed to ensure that the necessary financial and technical support is available to all countries. Monitoring and evaluation are crucial to determine the extent to which these prevention efforts are effectively delivered to all who need them. “Ending violence against children is the right thing to do, a smart investment to make, and it’s possible.  It is time to fully fund comprehensive national action plans that will keep children safe at home, at school, online and in their communities,” said Dr Howard Taylor, End Violence Partnership. “We can and must create a world where every child can thrive free from violence and become a new generation of adults to experience healthy and prosperous lives.” Editor’s note: The data for the report was compiled through a survey administered between 2018 and 2019 with responses from over 1000 decision-makers from 155 countries. The INSPIRE strategies launched in 2016 call for the implementation and enforcement of laws; changing norms and values to make violence unacceptable; creating safe physical environments for children; providing support to parent and caregivers; strengthening income and economic security and stability; improving response and support services for victims; and providing children with education and life skills. Related links: To download the report (in English only) and executive summary (in English, French, Russian and Spanish), go to: https://who.canto.global/b/SSHOR and use password: 490759. To watch the launch event taking place on Thursday, 18 June from 15:00 to 16:30 CEST, please register at https://bit.ly/2ApZXKa. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with details on how to access the event. Interpretation will be provided in the 6 UN languages. URL:https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/18-06-2020-countries-failing-to-prevent-violence-against-children-agencies-warn Anar Berdykulova for © UNESCO Almaty #WED2020: Даже самые маленькие изменения могут иметь большое значение 2020-06-29 A story about young environmentalist from Kazakhstan, Ms Anar Berdykulova, dedicated to celebration of the World Environment Day.The air we breathe, the soil we live on, the trees, which give us oxygen - all constitute the environment. It would have been impossible to survive on the earth if we did not have such a supportive system.However, as we were inadvertently accelerating the industrialization process, people around the world started witnessing how the quality of the surrounding environment is declining. The United Nations designated 5 June as World Environment Day to emphasize that environmental protection is a major issue, which affects the well-being and economic development of people around the world. Protecting our environment and thus protecting ourselves is in the hands of each of us, we can only save our environment through sustainable management and development.Anar Berdykulova is an environmentalist and social media influencer in Kazakhstan. Having won a state scholarship “Bolashak” program, Anar received BSc in Economics from Royal Holloway University of London. She also holds a BA degree in International Relations from Kazakh-American University. She has been continuously taking online courses and taking offline seminars related to environmental topics . After graduating, she worked in the fields of Internationalization of Higher Education and English language at the British Council Kazakhstan and also participated in green teams work to assess the sustainability of the project.Following her natural interest in the environmental issues, Anar embarked on a journey to explore waste prevention and reduction in Kazakhstan. The annual volume of waste generation in the country is equal to 5-6 million tons. Only about 10.5 % gets recycled. The remaining amount goes to landfills. The number of landfills grow and greedily absorb new territories. "We all live in times when each of us should take responsibilities and start making positive changes. Feeling an impact of my small contributions keeps me going."  - Anar Berdykulova Being an Eco Ambassador in Kazakhstan, Anar initiated a few projects aimed at waste prevention and minimization (aligned with Waste Management Hierarchy, UNEP) and to increase awareness about responsible consumption and production (addressed at SDG 12). The first project is production of reusable cloth bags made from clean leftover fabric. This way bags have much lower carbon footprint and fabric is averted from going directly to the landfill. Association of People with special needs ‘Kamkor Zhurek’ is a partner responsible for the sewing process. The second project is an Eco Program for Cafes in Nur-Sultan. The goal is to reduce the single-use items, incorporate social responsibility and promote responsible consumption. Anar believes that there should be a quick shift from single-use to reusable and more sustainable alternatives. The reason behind is that globally only 9% of all generated plastic has been recycled (UNDP, 2018). Meaning that if we alter our consumption and drastically reduce the influx of single-use items we will find ourselves in a situation where recycling capacities are able to cope and much less ends up in the environment and helps to preserve biodiversity. In addition, Anar is also a social media influencer, and is committed to promoting her ideas and initiatives. ‘I will always be immensely grateful to my life not only for the opportunity to study abroad but also for the chance I had to meet and experience how people from various countries live. And this career is an opportunity to look at the problem from someone else’s perspective and understand the better ways to communicate ecology related agendas’. In order to share the vision, the young eco-enthusiast accepted the UNESCO invitation for "Story Circles" training to improve her intercultural competences in December 2019 in Almaty and discovered a special perspective that inspired her future work. ‘I’m grateful for receiving an invitation to join the training. That was a great opportunity to look critically at myself. How I convey information. To what extend I allow negative messages to take over. To what extend I refrain from judgment, and how well do I filter prejudice’. Moving forward, Anar said she realized that in order to ultimately create changes in terms of environment protection, we must work on ourselves. She mentioned that we should use social media as a platform to support open-mindedness, mutual respect and acceptance, and further promote the important of sustainable approach to whatever we do. Gaining perspective on environment protection and management is not only a thrilling challenge, but also a unique opportunity to be able to engage and act globally. URL:http://en.unesco.kz/wed2020-every-little-change-can-make-a-big-difference