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ⓒ UNESCO Intercultural dialogue during the pandemic: impact and response 2020-09-12 Whilst underscoring humanity’s interconnectedness and interdependency, COVID-19 has also led to a rise in discrimination, inequality, and vulnerability, putting pressure on the capacities of societies for intercultural understanding at a time where solidarity and cooperation are needed more than ever. Exploring these themes, a new UNESCO brief has been released examining both the impact of COVID-19 on intercultural relations and the creative responses undertaken to strengthen cross-cultural cooperation within this unprecedented context. Highlighting several core areas of impact which threaten intercultural understanding during the pandemic – from the rise of xenophobia and ethnocultural racism to increases in gender-based violence – the brief echoes various of the UN Secretary-General’s messages which underscore the need to address structural injustices in order to foster more effective and cohesive responses to, and recovery from, the crisis. It identifies the availability of online platforms as a key means through which governments, practitioners, and communities have managed to create effective solutions through which to continue intercultural learning and exchange during the crisis. Categorizing the responses into four key areas – from the use of innovative artistic mediums to promote intercultural learning, to anti-racist activism through social media – the brief highlights the dynamic and creative good practices that have emerged through necessity during the crisis.  Looking ahead, the brief posits that the “emerging post-COVID-19 world will be shaped by new dynamics and complex realities immersed in virtual inter-connectivity and driven by cross-sectoral engagements. To this end, the intercultural dialogue agenda will have a significant role to play in developing a new socio-cultural compact that will contribute to shaping the way we live, work, connect and engage across national, ethnic, and civilizational lines.” To this end, recommendations to policy-makers and practitioners are suggested to both maintain intercultural exchange during the crisis, and respond to the lessons of the pandemic, including strengthening human rights protections (as a fundamental foundation of intercultural exchange), bolstering structures to support civic exchange, and deliberation, and addressing social inequalities that can fuel discrimination and marginalisation.     Read the full brief More on Intercultural dialogue Contact: interculturaldialogue@unesco.org URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/intercultural-dialogue-during-pandemic-impact-and-response ⓒ UNESCO COVID-19: UNESCO and partners in education launch global campaign to keep girls in the picture 2020-09-09 The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the largest school closures and education disruption in history, with more than 1.5 billion students affected at the height of the crisis. Over 767 million of these students were girls. Now, another major challenge is looming. Over 11 million girls – from pre-primary to tertiary education - may not return to school in 2020. This alarming number not only threatens decades of progress made towards gender equality, but also puts girls around the world at risk of adolescent pregnancy, early and forced marriage, and violence. For many girls, school is more than just a key to a better future. It’s a lifeline. This is why UNESCO and members of the Global Education Coalition’s Gender Flagship are launching a new #LearningNeverStops campaign focusing on ‘keeping girls in the picture.’ The campaign calls for efforts to safeguard progress made on girls’ education, ensure girls’ learning continuity during school closures, and promote girls’ safe return to school once these reopen. It also sheds light on the 130 million girls who were already out of school before the pandemic, and calls on the international community to urgently work together to guarantee their right to education. It’s time to turn the crisis into an opportunity to build back equal. The new #LearningNeverStops multilingual campaign features a signature launch video, engaging social media assets, practical toolkits for radio and youth-led organizations as well as a Girls back to school guide for partners to engage audiences and stakeholders everywhere. Youth activists and community radios are being mobilized at the local level to access hard to reach communities to reach. Local and regional influencers, experts, education professionals and champions for girls’ and women’s rights have also committed to amplifying campaign messages and spread knowledge through their respective networks. Powerful human-interest stories from girls around the world will also be featured throughout this extended campaign. A wealth of knowledge and resources on girls’ and women’s education are also available on the campaign landing page. Join the campaign now and use your voice to ensure that #LearningNeverStops for girls everywhere. About UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition  The Global Education Coalition was launched by UNESCO at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as a platform for collaboration and exchange to protect the right to education during this unprecedented disruption and beyond. It currently brings together more than 140 members from the UN family, civil society, academia and the private sector, among others. The Coalition has established three Flagships, including one on gender. The Gender Flagship is open to all organizations within the Global Education Coalition interested in gender equality in and through education. The Gender Flagship works to address the gender dimensions of COVID-19’s impact on education and safeguard progress made on gender equality in education in recent decades.  Campaign landing page Social media pack Keeping girls in the picture: Youth advocacy toolkit Keeping girls in the picture: Community radio toolkit Building back equal: Girls back to school guide URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/covid-19-unesco-and-partners-education-launch-global-campaign-keep-girls-picture © Centro Universitario de Participación Social While the COVID crisis increases inequalities, UNESCO recalls that reading is the basis of development 2020-09-08 While 773 million adults and young people around the world still lack basic literacy skills, UNESCO will host an online International Conference on literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond On International Literacy Day, 8 September. The conference will bring together experts and educators to reimagine literacy teaching and learning for youth and adults, in line with UNESCO’s Futures of Education initiative. UNESCO’s International Literacy Prizes 2020 will also award five outstanding literacy programmes from Ghana, Mexico, Nepal, United Kingdom and Yemen. The near-global lockdown caused by COVID-19 has disrupted education, affecting more than 91% of students and 99% of teachers.  Reading is the key to development. Adult literacy programs should not be the adjustment variable of education.-- Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General This year’s UNESCO’s International Literacy Prizes recognizes excellence in literacy programmes in the spirit of the theme of the Organization’s Literacy Day celebration. The two UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize awards for mother-tongue literacy education and training, sponsored by the Government of the Republic of Korea, will be given to: Ageing Nepal for its national programme: ‘Basic Literacy Class for Older Persons,’ Nepal. The country’s first programme to target older people who have moved from rural settings to urban areas. It empowers the elderly by supporting their ability to live independently through intergenerational adult literacy education in the national language, Nepali. Ageing Nepal is a national leading non-government organization registered with the government of Nepal and affiliated to the Social Welfare Council.  United World Schools for its programme ‘Providing Non-Burmese Speaking Out-of-School Children with Access to Education’, United Kingdom. The programme provides access to primary education for out-of-school children from linguistic minority communities in Myanmar’s Shan State. By employing and training community members as teachers, the programme allows children to study in their mother tongue, while bringing employment and capacity-building opportunities to teachers. United world schools (UWS) is an international charity based in the United Kingdom that focuses on sustainable quality education. The three awards of the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy, supported by the Government of the People’s Republic of China, for work that benefits rural populations and out-of-school youth, particularly girls and women, will be given to: Centro Universitario de Participación Social of the Benmérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla for its literacy programme: 'Learning by Teaching, Mexico'. Based on the creation of support networks, the programme supports the idea of global citizenship whereby volunteer college students, previously trained by mentors, live together in a rural community to teach young people and adults how to read and write, while also educationally supporting children. It is a unique model of participatory training and critical reflection on the different social problems in the context of life skills training. This approach aims to ensure sustainability and building relationships between different sectors of the society to create positive interdependency.  The General literacy office in Sanaa, Yemen, for its programme ‘Educating and integrating refugees in literacy classes in Yemeni society,’. This exemplary local programme operating despite war and displacement, caters to illiterate refugees regardless of their nationality. It helps them acquire literacy skills so that they can benefit from a range of learning opportunities throughout life, including the acquisition of life skills needed to face the social and economic challenges. The programme employs flexible pedagogies adapted to different age groups and abilities to help them qualify for enrollment in formal education. The General Literacy Office in Sanaa is part of the Literacy and Adult Education Organization of the Yemeni ministry of Education, which operates in 21 provinces and supervises over 215 literacy centres in 11 districts in Yemen.    Just Commit Foundation (JCF) for its programme ‘Inspirational Business Stories,’ Ghana. This programme has an innovative approach to literacy teaching and learning through business story books that inspire and guide children and youth to create sustainable businesses with limited resources. It promotes the use of waste such as paper, plastic, fabric and e-waste to create new, inexpensive and reusable products. The beneficiaries learn eco-entrepreneurship in both their local language and English, including how to develop business models, set up and run successful, sustainable and environmentally-friendly businesses. The programme also develops young peoples' personal skills such as confidence, team-work, leadership and problem-solving, and combines literacy and sustainability for the broader community. JCF was established in 2017 as a non-profit organization to leverage innovation at the service of youth and children. URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/while-covid-crisis-increases-inequalities-unesco-recalls-reading-basis-development ⓒ WHO سؤال وجواب: المدارس وكوفيد-19 2020-09-03 A new school year has begun! Find out here what precautions should be taken to keep children, teachers, other staff and the wider community safe.  Q: Are children at lower risk of COVID-19 than adults?  Children are less often reported as cases when compared with adults, and the illness they experience is usually mild. From data reported to WHO, children and adolescents up to 18 years of age represent 1 to 3% of reported infections, even though this age group makes up 29% of the global population. While children may be less affected, they may also have a greater number of contacts in school and community settings. Further studies are underway to assess the risk of infection in children and to better understand transmission in this age group. Q: What is the role of children in transmission? The role of children in transmission is not well understood. To date, few outbreaks involving children or schools have been reported. However, the small number of outbreaks reported among teaching or associated staff also suggests that spread of COVID-19 within educational settings may be limited. As children generally have milder illness and fewer symptoms, cases may sometimes go unnoticed. Importantly, early data from studies suggest that infection rates among teenagers may be higher than in younger children. Some modelling studies suggest that school re-opening might have a small effect on wider transmission in the community, but this is not well understood. Further studies are underway on the role of children in transmission in and outside of educational settings. WHO is collaborating with scientists around the world to develop protocols that countries can use to study COVID transmission in educational institutions, which will soon be available at this link. Q: Should children with underlying health conditions (asthma, diabetes, obesity) return to school?  Whether a child should go to school depends on their health condition, the current transmission of COVID-19 within their community, and the protective measures the school and community have in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. While current evidence suggests that the risk of severe disease for children is lower overall than for adults, special precautions can be taken to minimize the risk of infection among children, and the benefits of returning to school should also be considered. Current evidence suggests that people with underlying conditions such as chronic respiratory illness, obesity, diabetes or cancer are at higher risk of developing severe disease and death than people without other health conditions. This also appears to be the case for children, but more information is still needed. Q: Should teachers and other staff with underlying health conditions return to school?  Adults 60 years and older and people with underlying health conditions are at higher risk for severe disease and death. The decision to return to a teaching environment depends on the individual and should include consideration of local disease trends, as well as the measures being put in place in schools to prevent further spread. Q: What is the incubation period for children?  The incubation period for children is the same as in adults. The time between exposure to COVID-19 and when symptoms start is commonly around 5 to 6 days, and ranges from 1 to 14 days. Q: What should be considered when deciding whether to re-open schools or keep them open?  Deciding to close, partially close or reopen schools should be guided by a risk management approach to maximize the educational, well-being and health benefit for students, teachers, staff, and the wider community, and help prevent a new outbreak of COVID-19 in the community. The local situation and epidemiology of COVID-19 may vary from one place to another within a country, and several elements should be assessed in deciding to re-open schools or keep them open: 1. Benefits and risks: what are the likely benefits and risks to children and staff of open schools? Including consideration of :  Disease trends: are COVID-19 cases being reported in the area? Effectiveness of remote learning strategies Impact on vulnerable and marginalized populations (girls, displaced, disabled, etc.) 2. Detection and response: are the local health authorities able to act quickly? 3. Collaboration and coordination: is the school collaborating with local public health authorities? In addition to the local situation and epidemiology, a careful assessment of the school setting and ability to maintain COVID-19 prevention and control measures needs to be included in the overall risk analysis. Q: What benefits would school re-opening provide?  The decision to open schools should include consideration of the following benefits:  Allowing students to complete their studies and continue to the next level Essential services, access to nutrition, child welfare, such as preventing violence against children Social and psychological well-being Access to reliable information on how to keep themselves and others safe Reducing the risk of non-return to school Benefit to society, such as allowing parents to work Q: What are the prevention and control measures to be prepared and put in place in schools?  There are several actions and requirements that should be reviewed and put in place to ensure the safety of children and school staff while at school.  Special provisions should be considered for early childhood development, higher learning institutions, residential schools or specialized institutions. WHO recommends the following: Policy, practice and infrastructure: Ensure the necessary resources, policies and infrastructure are in place that protect the health and safety of all school personnel, including people at higher risk. Behavioural aspects: Consider the age and capacity of students to understand and respect measures put in place. Younger children may find it more difficult to adhere to physical distancing or the appropriate use of masks. Safety and security: School closure or re-opening may affect the safety and security of students and the most vulnerable children may require special attention, such as during pick-up and drop-off. Hygiene and daily practices: Hand hygiene and environmental cleaning measures should be in place to limit exposure. Schools should consider training of staff and students, a schedule for daily cleaning, availability of hand hygiene facilities and national/local guidance on the use of masks. Screening and care of sick students, teachers and other school staff: Schools should enforce the policy of “staying home if unwell”, waive the requirement for a doctor’s note, create a checklist for parents/students/staff to decide whether to go to school (taking into consideration the local situation), and consider options for screening on arrival. Communication with parents and students: Schools should keep students and parents informed about the measures being implemented to ensure their collaboration and support. Additional school-related measures such as immunization checks and catch-up vaccination programmes: Ensure continuity or expansion of essential services, including school feeding and mental health and psycho-social support. Physical distancing: Physical distancing of at least 1 metre between people should be implemented in the school premises and in the classrooms. This includes increasing desk spacing and staging recesses, breaks and lunchbreaks; limiting the mixing of classes or age groups; considering smaller classes or alternating attendance schedules, and ensuring good ventilation in classrooms. Remote learning: Tele-schooling and distance learning options such as delivering assignments, broadcasting lessons on radio or television and frequent follow-up support should be adapted to the situation. Q: What are the risks during transportation to and from schools?  The following adaptations to transport to and from school should be implemented to limit unnecessary exposure of school or staff members.  Promote and put in place respiratory and hand hygiene, physical distancing measures and use of masks in transportation such as school buses, in accordance with local policy. Provide tips for how to safely commute to and from school, including for public transportation. Organize only one child per seat and ensure physical distancing of at least 1 metre between passengers in school buses, if possible. This may require more school buses per school. If possible and safe, keep the windows of the buses, vans, and other vehicles open. Q: Does WHO recommend staff and children to wear masks at school? And if yes, what type of masks?  The decision to wear a mask depends on the assessment of risk. For example, how extensive is COVID-19 in the community? Can the school ensure physical distance of at least 1 metre from others? Are there students or teachers with underlying health conditions? Fabric masks are recommended to prevent onward transmission in the general population in public areas, particularly where distancing is not possible, and in areas of community transmission. This could include the school grounds in some situations. Masks may help to protect others, because wearers may be infected before symptoms of illness appear. The policy on wearing a mask or face covering should be in line with national or local guidelines. Where used, masks should be worn, cared for and disposed of properly.  It is important that anyone feeling unwell should stay at home and call their health provider. Q: Are there any specific recommendations on school ventilation and air conditioning use?  Clean, natural ventilation should be used inside buildings where possible, without re-circulating the air. If air re-circulation is necessary, filters and duct systems should be cleaned regularly and routinely changed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Heating and cooling systems should be well maintained. Q: What should be monitored after re-opening of school?  Monitoring of the following should be considered through a range of mechanisms:  Detection of new COVID-19 cases in educational institutions and success of contact tracing Implementation of and adherence to recommended public health measures in school settings Information on school drop-out, disaggregated for sex, age, disability and socio-economic status Effectiveness of remote education strategies Effects of policies and measures on educational objectives and learning outcomes Effects of policies and measures on the health and well-being of children, siblings, staff, parents and other family members Based on what is learned from this monitoring, further modifications should be made to continue to provide children and staff with the safest environment possible. URL:https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-schools-and-covid-19 © 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/Salma Khalil Terre 疫情威胁活态遗产，乍得湖区妇女做出回应 2020-08-11 Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is an indigenous woman from the Mbororo pastoralist community in Chad. As nomadic cattle herders residing in the far west of the country near Lake Chad, her community have developed an array of traditional practices and weather forecasting knowledge, based on their interactions, over generations, with their living environment. During periods of drought or unexpected weather events, the Mbororo turn to such knowledge of changing seasonal patterns to adapt, often travelling vast distances over the semi-arid Sahel in search of water and pastures. Today, Ibrahim works to empower indigenous peoples’ voices and ensure their inclusion on international platforms. She is President of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT) and is currently serving as a Member of the UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues and UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocate. She collaborated with UNESCO to conduct a 3D participatory mapping of Chad’s Sahel desert region, where some 250,000 Mbororos make their living from herding and subsistence farming. She is also a member of the technical and scientific committee of the BIOPALT-UNESCO project. She recently spoke with the Living Heritage Team in UNESCO’s Culture Sector about how her community is coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on their way of life, as well as their knowledge and cultural practices related to the natural environment and climate change.  © ami_vita How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your community and its living heritage? I am very scared for my community because we’re mainly pastoralists and we depend on the seasons. When it is the dry season, we migrate to other regions and sometimes to other countries – actually most of the time – then we come back to our region or to our country. So, with the lockdown of frontiers and regions, a lot of cattle will be stuck and not able to cross the border. While the ecosystem of the Sahel is very fragile, you can’t manage it, it will be very bad... all the cattle will die, communities will fight among themselves to access the resources, there will not be enough water to drink. These are really the big consequences that I am scared of. We can’t control the season, just as we can’t control the coronavirus. We can’t just say that now we will stop the rainy season until this pandemic is finished so we can produce the pasture or produce the water.  Another consequence is that people do not have access to clean water to drink so they can’t access clean water to wash their hands. You can’t ask them to use soap every four hours, it’s completely impossible. And while they do not have access to the market to exchange their products, food security is a big concern; it is a big consequence and it will damage the very fragile people who are there. There is also a lack of information on the pandemic for the community. All the information given in town, is given through social media, TV, radio and in the major languages: Arabic and French. But people do not always speak Arabic or French, so they can’t get access to this information. They do not know what to do, they do not know what is happening, so they can’t avoid the sickness. How can culture and heritage be a source of resilience during such a crisis?  People are turning to their traditions and traditional medicine. We always use our traditional medicine to heal ourselves. For us in the community, if you have a fever, or if you have a headache there are some plants that you can use. We can’t maybe heal COVID-19, but people turn a lot to traditional medicine to heal the symptoms that they have in their daily lives. While they can’t go to the hospital because everything is in lockdown, they protect and turn to the traditional knowledge that they do have. I found it very interesting because even the modern medicine is based on plants in the Earth and this can maybe also help people to protect the environment they are living in. They are doing this a lot in the community and hopefully those people that have that knowledge can share it with others and it can be one of the solutions.  Another example, when I was talking to one community chief, is about supporting each other when old people need more support. So, when people have food, they need to take it to the more vulnerable. That’s the wonderful culture of the community: you can’t eat alone, if you have food and someone does not, you have to decide to prioritise the kids first, then the old people. This culture of sharing is so useful, even before COVID-19, and now people are coming back to this kind of culture.  Can you see parallels between the current pandemic and other contemporary crises we now face, such as climate change? Climate change and COVID-19 have something in common: women leadership is key. Because women fight a lot: in my community they fight climate change and they’re innovators. They know how to share all the resources, what to protect, how to do it. Now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, even in developed countries, when you go to the hospital, the nurses, most of them are women. The women are the ones who work to care for others, as cooks, teachers. They are innovators in developed countries and in communities, and that’s a positive thing. If we can turn our leadership to women, then I think we can save the world. When you turn to the communities and to the general people, women are living in harmony with nature. They are not only protecting our environment but protecting our health.  The health crisis has also made us realize how much our health depends on the environment. The food we eat around the world – in developed or developing countries – relies on sharing natural resources. For example, the borders were closed, but food shipping was still allowed as we found that we are not so self-sufficient, but that we depend on each other’s environment. So, environmental protection is becoming more evident for everybody. There are a lot of lessons learnt that we could take from the COVID-19 pandemic. Hope and solidarity, human values can help us to transform our world in a positive way -- and women leaders of course! Do you have a message for other living heritage stakeholders and communities about the future after the pandemic?  Looking forward, I think the crisis has made us value our humanity and give us hope. We understand the need to live all together and the fact that we rely on each other. Living in solidarity, harmony, sharing within families and across communities. This protects our health and also the environment. If the world is smart, we can learn from the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments were able to mobilize billions and billions in a month around the world. So, if they inject that money in the right economy, using for example the SDGs, that can help to recover the climate. If we compare the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate, we will see that they both increase food insecurity, vulnerabilities, lack of adaptation, and neither of them recognize frontiers. We can build a big leadership and say hey guys if we managed to respond to COVID-19, we can also respond to climate change and if we want to improve our health, we must protect the environment. Conversation has been edited for length and clarity. To learn more about:  The UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage  The UNESCO survey results on how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting living heritage  The resilience of living heritage in emergencies click here Indigenous Peoples UNESCO Indigenous Peoples Bulletin Issue 1: Indigenous Peoples and the COVID-19 pandemic (August 2020) URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/covid-19-threatens-living-heritage-around-lake-chad-women-respond © 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 ⓒ UNESCO We are Resisting Disinfodemic: Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2020 2020-07-22 The recent pandemic has confronted the world with a new wave of disinformation, which affects the fight against the disease. This “disinfodemic” not only fuels risks to public health, but also feeds socio-political polarization, providing grounds for hate and division. This is the reason why the Republic of Korea and UNESCO are jointly organizing the Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2020 (24 to 31 October) under the theme “Resisting Disinfodemic: Media and Information Literacy for Everyone and by Everyone”. The feature events of Global Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Week 2020 will take place fully online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of issuing the traditional call for papers, this year’s Global MIL Week will involve select government representatives, experts, practitioners, and youth leaders to address the importance of MIL in building resilience to disinfodemic beyond the current public health crisis. Conundrum for different sectors of society is not a new phenomenon. UNESCO has been striving for decades to tackle disinformation using MIL as a potent tool. The theme for Global MIL Week 2020 thus responds to the exponentially increasing demand for MIL worldwide. It highlights the necessity of recognizing our shared interest in improving everyone’s competencies to interact with media, technology, and information, in order that they can be engaged in societies as critical-thinking citizens. It also underlines the pivotal role of MIL in fostering quality journalism, critical access to information and freedom of expression, which all have implications on how the war against disinformation can be won. To synergize with the International Day for Universal Access to Information on 28 September 2020, Global MIL Week 2020 will kick off with a set of webinars on MIL and access to information, involving various groups of youth leaders. It will be followed by a Global MIL Youth Hackathon, an international competition for youth to design innovative solutions (games, websites and applications) to disinfodemic. This year, the traditional components of Global MIL Week – its Feature Conference and Youth Agenda Forum will take the shape of a series of webinars called “In-Focus Sessions”. Experts, practitioners, policymakers, and youth in related domains will share expertise and good practices and explore avenues for cooperation during these online sessions. Global MIL Week 2020 will also aim to forge strategic partnerships around MIL by holding a United Nations Roundtable and a Virtual Partners Forum. The schedule of the In-Focus Sessions will be available shortly. Local celebrations will take place worldwide before, during and after the Week. UNESCO invites government agencies, media organizations, NGOs, private sector organizations, schools, libraries, municipalities, and other MIL stakeholders to join the Global MIL Week celebrations. See here different ways to celebrate Global MIL Week. The official website of Global MIL Week 2020 is https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/globalmilweek. The annual Global MIL Week was initiated in 2011 and celebrated on (or around) 24-31 October. It is a major occasion for stakeholders around the world to gather every year, raise public awareness, share good practices, enhance international cooperation, and most importantly, review and celebrate the achievements towards “MIL for all citizens”. To explore opportunities to become an official partner of Global MIL Week 2020, please contact Alton Grizzle (a.grizzle@unesco.org) or Xu Jing (ji.xu@unesco.org). URL:https://en.unesco.org/news/we-are-resisting-disinfodemic-global-media-and-information-literacy-week-2020 © 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