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JAAGO Foundation: how a simple technological solution can be expanded from a classroom to a whole country
2020 UNESCO calendar of "Colors of Bangladesh"
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Dr Firdausi Qadri : fighting disease linked to humanitarian crises and climate change
Dr Firdausi Qadris research aims to understand and prevent infectious diseases affecting children in developing countries and promote early diagnosis and vaccination with global health impact In recognition of her outstanding achievements she is receiving the 2020 LOréalUNESCO For Women in Science award given each year to five exceptional women scientists from different regions of the world Globally over 800000 children die of diarrhoea each year and 56 of children in lowincome countries do not receive the recommended treatment In Bangladesh cholera and typhoid are both major causes of enteric diseases yet many people lack the knowledge or means to prevent these debilitating even lifethreatening conditions Expanding access to vaccination and promoting early diagnosis are fundamental to decreasing the countrys disease burden and helping to ensure that more children and adults lead longer healthier lives Dr Firdausi Qadri is leading pioneering work to understand the microbiological and immunological basis of bacterial diseases and treat infectious enteric gastrointestinal and diarrheagenic diseases affecting children in Bangladesh and beyond optimising vaccines for young children suffering from malnutrition Her scientific excellence and passion to help others have led to major studies of an oral cholera vaccine among nearly a million people at risk in vulnerable Bangladeshi communities with a vaccine due to be launched imminently To promote the rapid diagnosis of cholera and typhoid she has also developed innovative diagnostic tools and successfully overseen their journey from the laboratory to a practical commercially viable reality The suffering of thousands of diarrhoea patients is due to poor living conditions and highly contagious contaminated food and water she says Staying close to my roots in Bangladesh has enabled me to better understand peoples needs and find lifechanging solutions As a scientist at the unique International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh ICDDRB in Dhaka Bangladesh Dr Qadri has used biochemical immunological and molecular approaches to research the bacteria behind cholera Vibrio cholerae and typhoid Salmonella typhi as well as enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli ETEC She explores the capacity of mucous membranes to protect themselves against these pathogens and investigates the respective bacteria at a genetic level to better understand their infectious characteristics This builds on her longstanding interest in understanding Vibrio cholerae as well as ETEC and their potential to cause cholera epidemics in Bangladesh I knew I wanted to find a diagnostic method and work towards a prevention mechanism she recalls Dr Qadris groundbreaking work on cholera vaccinations has had a positive ripple effect advancing progress on vaccines against diseases including cholera typhoid and ETEC diarrhoea In particular she is working on a typhoid vaccine in the urban slums of Dhaka and both this and her cholera vaccine studies are being replicated in Asia Africa and Haiti I would like to see our work scaled up to treat many more people globally as they struggle with the risk of disease linked to humanitarian crisis and climate change she says In 2014 Dr Qadri founded the Institute for developing Science and Health initiatives ideSHi to help develop novel approaches to diagnosing genetic disorders and train biomedical scientists and clinicians in immunology and molecular biologybased research Under her leadership ideSHi also conducts humanitarian and research programmes to identify pragmatic solutions to public health challenges in Bangladesh and participates in health discussions at a global level        Dr Qadri is active in fostering a supportive national culture for biotechnological innovations and acts as an expert adviser nationally and internationally working with the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization for example Her interest in life sciences began at an early age  I felt that knowing the biochemical and immunological mechanisms of the living being was extremely important she recalls Ive been amazed by the way microorganisms grow and help humans to live on this planet But Im also alarmed by their capacity to endanger peoples lives Dr Qadris family was a real source of inspiration and support for the early stages of her scientific journey encouraging her to reach ever higher in her ambitions Yet life as a scientist in Bangladesh has not always been easy To overcome the lack of funding resources and researchers and fight entrenched cultural expectations and gender prejudice she has leveraged courage and determination and achieved excellence through rigorous multitasking and a superb team of scientists I dream that in countries like ours we will develop stateoftheart selfsustaining facilities to support the mentoring and capacity building of young people especially women in scientific research Importantly she sees international collaborations as the building blocks of my achievements These have included partnerships with leading researchers in the US Sweden France the UK the Republic of Korea  and India Balancing the demands of scientific research with family life remains the greatest challenge Dr Qadri perceives for women in science today Ultimately she believes that women scientists must play a dual role in the quest to further the cause of science both succeeding in their field and serving as role model for future generations Beyond this achieving gender balance in science means instilling the wonder of science in girls and boys and encouraging them to embrace its potential to change the world More information 22nd LOréalUNESCO For Women in Science Awards recognizes five exceptional women researchers in the life sciences   source World Health Organization httpswwwwhointmaternalchildadolescentdocuments9789 All photos © LOréal Foundation  
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Message from Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of International Women’s Day
Women are born free and remain equal to men in rights Today Article 1 of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen written in 1791 by Olympe de Gouges seems to us to state the obvious but at the time of its publication this message of justice dignity and equality was still far from being the common opinionSince then the cause of equality has made significant progress particularly in recent years The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action whose 25th anniversary we are celebrating this year was a catalyst for many initiatives in this regard ~read full message here 
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"Implementation Partners Agreement Signing Ceremony” Between the Department of Archaeology and UNESCO
Within the framework of the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and its World Heritage Funds an International Assistance project on Updating the Tentative List in Bangladesh is jointly carried out by the Department of Archaeology and UNESCO  Launching the project an Implementation Partners Agreement Signing Ceremony was held between the Department of Archaeology and UNESCO on 27 January 2020 at the Department of Archaeology  Mr Md Hannan Mia Director General Additional Secretary of the Department of Archaeology and Ms Beatrice Kaldun Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to Bangladesh together with key staff and the international expert came together and signed the agreement for Updating the Tentative List in Bangladesh   In this context UNESCO Dhaka Office provides technical guidance and advisory services having an international World Heritage expert engaged to support the Department of Archaeology in updating the Tentative List in Bangladesh for future nominations of World Heritage Sites in Bangladesh This project will analyze and reexamine the justification of the properties which were included in the existing Tentative List of Bangladesh and assess the potential Outstanding Universal Value OUV authenticity and integrity of new properties for inclusion in an updated Tentative List   Tentative List A Tentative List is an inventory of those properties which each State Party intends to consider for nomination as a World Heritage site  
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Video Campaign to Cope with COVID-19 in Bangladesh: #BeCreative to Promote Art
Like everywhere in the world Bangladesh is part of the COVID19 crisis The UNESCO Dhaka Office is fully aware of the need to activate all our potential including culture and art during this situation
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Cyclone Amphan makes landfall across Sundarbans World Heritage properties
UNESCO expresses its deep concern over cyclone Amphan which recently hit Bangladesh and eastern India and wishes to express its deepest sympathy for the loss of human life and the material damage caused by this disaster in solidarity with the people affected On 20 May 2020 cyclone Amphan made landfall across the West BengalBangladesh coast which includes two World Heritage properties Sundarbans National Park India and The Sundarbans Bangladesh inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987 and 1997 respectively This transnational mangrove ecosystem is known for being the worlds largest remaining habitats for the Bengal Tiger and other threatened flagship species such as Irrawaddy and Ganges River dolphins   Emergency impact assessments have been conducted by the respective authorities to assess the magnitude of the damage caused and a report from concerned authorities in Bangladesh indicates that there has been no major impact on the Outstanding Universal Value of the Sundarbans while significant damage was caused to infrastructure and facilities associated with the property The national authorities in India are currently assessing the impact of the cyclone on the Sundarbans National Park The World Heritage Centre stands ready to discuss with the authorities any assistance that may be required to support the World Heritage properties and the surrounding communities affected by this disaster and calls upon the international community to help support the Bangladeshi and Indian authorities in their recovery efforts For more information visit here
Press release
Official Launch of The Virtual Museum of Namibian Fashion
The Museums Association of Namibia MAN in collaboration with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO the Gerda Henkel Foundation the Berlin Ethnographic Museum EM the Ministry of Education Arts and Culture the University of Namibia UNAM and the National Museum of Namibia NMN hereby invites all Namibians and all citizens of the world to attend the virtual launch of the Virtual Museum of Namibian Fashion at 1100CAT on Friday 20th August 2021 MAN is currently working in partnership with NMN and UNAM on a project funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation This collaborative project seeks to unlock the healing and creative potential of the colonial collections from Namibia held at the Ethnologisches Museum EM in Berlin Germany and the Ethnographic Collection at the National Museum of Namibia in Windhoek It reconnects the collections with each other and with their heritage communities researchers and artists in Namibia As part of the project staff from NMN scholars students from UNAM and staff from MAN have been facilitating workshops with heritage experts and researchers community representatives and artists to engage with the collections at NMN and conducting fieldwork with digitized collections in heritage communities throughout the country The project aims to reactivate knowledge about the objects document immaterial cultural heritage and provide a vital source of inspiration for artists and designers The knowledge thus created including oral histories and artworks will be shared with the wider public in an online database a publication and an exhibition at the newly founded Museum of Namibian Fashion as well as in an exhibition at NMN in Windhoek to be conceptualized in the second phase of the project By reconnecting stakeholders in Namibia with colonial collections from Berlin and Windhoek the project seeks to engage with colonial trauma spur new cultural production and envision decolonial creative futures MAN believes that museums should be living organisms that should be updated regularly and able to easily adapt to change With that said MAN has realized that the COVID19 pandemic requires museums to adapt and to do things differently As a result the idea of a Virtual Museum of Namibian Fashion was birthed and made possible with funding from UNESCO The virtual museum will be officially opened by Ms Merja Iileka Chairperson of the Fashion Council of Namibia and will feature addresses by different stakeholders and a musical performance by Namibian multiawardwinning artist Big Ben The website enables visitors to view items and to interact with them by adding comments as well as submitting photographs for possible display on the virtual museum Ndapewoshali Ndahafa Ashipala from MAN said The COVID19 pandemic has shown us that we need to adapt and learn to do things differently A virtual museum of fashion could create an interactive educational space where we can also showcase Namibian culture to both local and international audiences The galleries in both the virtual and physical Museum will have the following Bead and shells Hair and headdresses Leather and Animal Skin processing Metal Accessories Plants Bones and rocks Tattoos and body scarification Textiles The Peoples Gallery and Deeps Root New fashion The Deep Roots New Fashion The gallery showcases the work of Namibian fashion designers who incorporate features from our cultural roots to create new styles with a uniquely Namibian flavour The Museum of Namibian Fashion will be based in Otjiwarongo Namibia and will be launched in late 2021 or early 2022 If you have an item information or photographs that you think should be part of the collection of the Museum of Namibian Fashion then you can contact MAN on infomuseumscomna or 264 61 30 22 30 Further information about the project can be found on the MAN website wwwmuseumscomna Watch the official launch and opening on YouTube Museums Association of Namibia Watch the official launch and opening on Facebook Museums Association of Namibia SPEAKERS Mr B Djaffar MoussaElkadhum Head of Office at UNESCO Windhoek Ms Maria Caley Chairperson of Museum of Namibian Fashion Mr Kavenauarue Tjiworo Documentalist based at the National Museum of Namibia Mr Kevanhu Alfred Muifi Curator of the Museum of Namibian Fashion Ms Merja Iileka Chairperson Fashion Council of Namibia Please note that the link to the Virtual Museum of Namibian Fashion will be shared on the MAN Youtube Channel Website and Social Media Pages during the launch
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Stakeholders Consultation Meeting: : “Ending Stigma and Discrimination, Breaking the Cycle of Poverty and Marginalization of Persons with Disabilities”
A Multicountry Project in Mozambique Namibia Tanzania and Zimbabwe Teusday 21 September 2021   Background   Persons with disabilities particularly women face enormous attitudinal physical and informational barriers to equal opportunities in the world of training and work The biased sociocultural medical and religious lens provide fertile ground for them to be generally perceived as unproductive and unfit to access education and training and to compete in the labor market thereby perpetuating the cycle of poverty and exclusion   This project funded by the UNPRPD MPTF aims to develop a collective understanding of the stigma and discrimination patterns in Technical and Vocational Education and Training TVET institutions and among employers thereby developing models and tools to fight this widespread phenomenon and foster exchanges of good practices and experiences among the four countries involved and beyond The TVET institutions and learning environments as well as enterprises need to be more inclusive as both are important levers of emancipation   This will be accomplished by the development and testing of three tools in the four participating countries with exchanges of experiences and lessons learnt The tools include i a model of Dialogue Committee between TVET institutions and Employers organizations that should encourage collective understanding of and commitment towards fighting disability stigma and discrimination ii a dedicated Disability Audit tool that will assist TVET institutions and employers in tracking and documenting the stigma and discrimination patterns and the shift in attitudes and perceptions iii practical and userfriendly Guidelines for Reasonable Accommodation in TVET institutions and employers organizations and iv a multicounty platform for exchanges of good practices and mutual learning Particular attention will be paid to shedding light on how the intersectional discrimination between disability gender and poverty influences the generation and perpetuation of stigma and discrimination   Please feel free to engage UNESCO on this important agenda   
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Global Media and Information Literacy Youth Hackathon
The UNESCO annual Global Media and Information Literacy Week is a major occasion for stakeholders to review and celebrate the progress achieved towards Media and Information Literacy for All and a UN international Day   Global MIL Week 2021 will be hosted by South Africa from 24 31 October 2021 under the theme Media and Information Literacy for the Public Good You can register to participate in the online feature conference via the link httpsenunescoorgglobalmilweek2021featureconferenceregistration Deadline for registration is 18th October 2021   For Youth Agenda Forum youth aged between 18 and 35 years from local schools universities youth centres and youth organizations as well as youth leaders from around the globe are invited to participate by inscribing their teams in the competition The winning teams and the outcome of the Hackathon will be presented during the Global Media and Information Literacy Week Youth Agenda Forum on 27 October 2021 Apply via the link httpsenunescoorgfeedbackmediaandinformationliteracyhackathon2021 Deadline for application is 3rd October 2021   We look forward to your participation and please do not hesitate to contact UNESCO should you have more questions     
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Outreach for Geoscience Awareness
  Geosciences provide essential information for locating and exploiting mineral deposits as well as hydrocarbon and groundwater resources and have become indispensable for an increasing spectrum of socioeconomic issues such as infrastructure development environmental monitoring landuse planning and natural hazard and climate change studies   Geosciences and geoscientists underpins sustainable economic development but also are key pieces of a puzzle in the effective implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals SDGs The SDGs aim to eradicate poverty ensure universal access to basic services tackle inequality end unsustainable consumption patterns and facilitate inclusive economic growth social development as well as environmental protection   Geoscience professions have played a key role in the implementation of national initiatives such as the National Development Plans the Harambee Prosperity Plan and Vision 2030 and will continue to do so The continental and global initiatives include the African Union Vision through Agenda 2063 and its 7 Aspirations the African Mineral and Energy Resources Classification and Management System PanAfrican Resource Reporting Code and the 2030 Global Sustainable Development Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals SDGs that aim to eradicate poverty ensure universal access to basic services tackle inequality end unsustainable consumption patterns and facilitate inclusive economic growth social development and environmental protection   Noting the above the Outreach for Geoscience Awareness workshops therefore aims to bring  media practioners to the World of Geoscience by providing enhanced knowledge and understanding of the many aspects of geosciences and their application to socioeconomic development which is not reported often enough   The objectives of the outreach for geoscience awareness are to              Increase public awareness of the vital role that geosciences play in societys use of resources resilience to natural hazards interaction with the environment and in the socioeconomic development of Namibia              Provide opportunities to expose the youth to geoscience career opportunities              Enhance knowledge of the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation NBC media practitioners on geoscience and geoscientists issues   The expected outcomes are              Improved understanding of the role of geoscience in daily life              Improved public science literacy that could influence national decisions              Enhanced knowledge and understanding of NBC media practitioners on geosciences              Enhanced awareness and access to the geoscience knowledge base and expertise   This outreach program is sponsored by UNESCO Ministry of Mines and Energy and Geological Survey of Namibia While inkind contributions have been received from NAMWATER UNAMGeology Department City of WindhoekDepartment of Infrastructure Water Technical Services Ministry of Agriculture Water and Land Reform MAWLR NAMCOR Ministry of Environment Forestry and Tourism MEFT and in collaboration with the Namibia broadcasting Cooperation NBC
Press release
Regional Workshop to Strengthening Regional Cooperation in the Fight Against Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property in Southern Africa
On 14 November 1970 the General Conference sixteenth session of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO meeting in Paris adopted the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property The treaty is signed to combat the illegal trade of cultural properties from countries of origins   In this context UNESCO in collaboration with the Ministry of Education Arts and Culture and the Namibian National Commission for UNESCO NATCOM will host a Regional meeting on the theme Strengthening Regional Cooperation in the Fight Against Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property in Southern Africa The twodays meeting will be hybrid to be held from the 27 October 08h30 16h00 and the 28 October 2021 09h00 15h30 via zoom while the physical event will take place at Sea Side Hotel Swakopmund CAT   The regional meeting contributes to UNESCOs continued efforts to raise awarness and understanding on the value of the conventions which oversee the governance of illicit trafficking of cultural property The workshop will also draw attention to the two conventions that addresses matters related to illicit trafficking of cultural objects the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the 1995 International Institute for the Unification of Private Law UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects    In addition the meeting also serves as a platform to encourage further ratification of the Conventions by African member states that are currently not signatories and to strengthen and improve collaboration between institutions dealing with the illicit trafficking of cultural property at both national regional and international levels The meeting will bring together local regional and international experts to promote peer to peer learning from countries that have ratified the Conventions   Honourable Ester AnnaLisa Nghipondoka Minister of Education Arts and Culture of Namibia will officially open the meeting on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Namibia As the meeting is virtual observers are welcome and can listen into the exchanges  Register in advance for this meeting and obtain the link to join httpsunescoorgzoomuswebinarregisterWNfCMGMPj6Tpq5T48GvygLUA
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Launch of Namibia’s Revised National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy - 15 October 2021
The Ministry in collaboration with all stakeholders launched a consultative process to comprehensively review the National Policy on Research Science and Technology of 1999 The consultation process identified strengths and weaknesses of the National System of Innovation towards the development of a revised and updated National Science Technology and Innovation Policy NSTIP 20202030   The key emphasis of the revised Policy 20202030 is to entrench the production and application of science technology and innovation in all sectors of the economy in order to achieve Namibias development aspirations The revised Policy articulates clear strategies designed to promote Research Development RD technology development and the strengthening of innovation capacities