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New Zealand, India, Ecuador and Colombia enhance their tsunami readiness

With sea level rise increasing the risk posed by tsunamis and other marine hazards countries around the globe are taking steps to protect their populations These efforts are coordinated through UNESCOs Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission IOCUNESCO

January 18, 2022

UNESCO and Norad mobilize youth to translate storybooks into ethnic minority languages in Bangladesh

In the framework of the Translate a Story campaign a book translation campaign to facilitate homebased early age reading the Ministry of Education of Bangladesh translated over 300 childrens books from English into Bangla and 100 books into five ethnic minority languages Chakma Marma Garo Tripura and Sadri The campaign is a collaboration between UNESCO and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation Norad with the support of other partners As part of this initiative UNESCO and partners through a team of the Global Digital Library GDL convene dedicated translation webinars for governmental agencies and individual translators who are interested in translating reading materials from English into relevant national languages All translated books undergo a quality assurance process and are made freely available on the GDL platform With relevant preparations and expertise made available from the governmental agencies translated books can be aligned with curriculum standards so that the books can also quickly be approved for later use in the classroom or on the national platform The Aspire to Innovate a2i Programme the Bangladesh governments flagship digital transformation program supported the translation in Bangladesh Over 100 voluntary teachers and students were mobilized to translate the books To guide them through the translation process using the online translation interface of the Global Digital Library UNESCO and Norad organized an online workshop which was attended by 150 participants To officially launch the translated ebooks on the Global Digital Library GDL a2i ICT Division and the Bangladesh National Commission for UNESCO BNCU together with UNESCO Dhaka Office jointly organized a virtual launch event on Tuesday 6 July 2021 The launch event marked an important opportunity to recognize the achievements of engaged volunteers and organizers in making early age reading materials available to children in languages they speak at home which allows for better homebased learning and reading for children The launch event of the Translate a Story initiative will contribute to the scaleup of the E9 Digital Learning and Skills for All Initiative under which a meeting of Heads of State will be convened and chaired by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh HE Sheikh Hasina and the UN SecretaryGeneral The meeting was originally planned on 14 July 2021 but has been postponed due to the surge of COVID19 cases in the country In addition to representatives from UNESCO and Norad the launch event was attended by Dr Dipu Moni Minister of Education of Bangladesh Mr Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury Deputy Minister of Education Mr Md Mahbub Hossain Secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division at the Ministry of Education and Mr Md Shohel Imam Khan Deputy Secretary General of the BNCU The Minister of Education recognized the importance of this initiative in the context of COVID19 school closures in supporting Bangladeshs efforts to ensure the continuity of education and in scaling up digital learning in the framework of the E9 Digital Learning and Skills for All Initiative She congratulated UNESCO Norad other partners and especially the young translators and their mentors for the success of this Initiative One teacher and two students were also invited to share their experience about the translation process Ms Farjana Anwar Assistant Teacher of English at the Ikkshu Gabeshawana High School Ishwardi Pabna district shared how the experience helped her practice her management skills and highlighted the resilience of the Bangladesh education system during the pandemic We are the nation of the brave and we proved it managing all the respected duties even in this pandemic situation to support our government from our position she said Anonyo Zarif Akand a student of grade 7 at The Holy Child School in Manikganj district recollected the joy of reading since he was a young child and was pleased to participate in the effort to enable learners in remote areas of Bangladesh including visually impaired children to access reading material in their mother tongues Thats where we the army of little book lovers from around the nation were allowed to translate the books so that the children can enjoy them in their native languages It was a very delightful experience to work with many other bibliophiles Samaina Sultana Shorna another student who participated in the translation said she enjoyed participating in an international project for the very first time while gathering experience and learning new skills Throughout this journey I was introduced to new features and technology so it improved my digital literacy I have learned how collaboration and teamwork is needed when it comes to solving a problem But most importantly I did something good for my country and especially for the children of this country Christer Gundersen Chief Technology Officer of the Global Digital Library GDL representing Norad underlined the success of the campaign in Bangladesh making it a pathfinding country for others to follow their example especially in mobilizing such a large number of young translators The Library currently offers over 6000 books in 84 different languages thanks to the efforts of volunteers and translators from around the world who joined the campaign The goal of this years campaign is to reach 4400 translation including 1500 governmentapproved books Midway through the campaign 2500 translations have already been completed Additionally the newly added AIpowered feature of the Global Digital Library allows visually impaired children to listen to the text in audio The cooperation between UNESCO and Norad on Translate a Story has been led and implemented by the Unit for Technology and AI in Education Future of Learning and Innovation Team of the Education Sector According to Dr Fengchun Miao Chief of the Unit Bangladesh is leading in the number of books translated followed by Palestine which translated 244 books into Arabic and then Uzbekistan which translated 130 books into Uzbek and 100 books into Russian UNESCO is also working with Cambodia Kyrgyzstan and Qatar As a next step UNESCO will follow up on the actual use of the books in the local context through online facilitation via the GDL and offline support UNESCO also seeks to create a list of inclusive digital storybooks in mothertongue languages approved by governments Resources Translate a Story campaign website UNESCO and partners launch a book translation campaign for early age reading amid the COVID19 crisis UNESCO and partners publish 130 open source childrens books in Uzbek UNESCO and partners organize translation workshops with Bangladesh and Palestine Translate a Story UNESCO NORAD and the Ministry of Education of Uzbekistan gather to celebrate the release of 130 new childrens books in Uzbek on the Global Digital Library Introduction document of the initiative Global Digital Library

Translate a Story: Online Launch Event in Bangladesh

The online launch event of the Translate a Story Initiative in Bangladesh is coming soon In the initiative more than 300 books ebooks and other early age reading materials which have been translated into the Bangla language by volunteers with the support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation Norad the Association for the Development of Education in Africa ADEA UNHCR the Global Book Alliance UNESCO and other partners will be launched in the Global Digital Library link httpsdigitallibraryio from where they can be accessed free of charge thus supporting homebased learning and reading for children in a language they speak at home The COVID19 pandemic during which most children are confined at home and therefore often struggle to access reading materials available in local languages has reinforced the need for openly available early grade reading resources in languages children speak at home In response to this need the Translate a Story Initiative mobilizes and engages volunteers in the highquality peerreviewed translation of publicly available early grade reading books into different languages In Bangladesh as part of the Translate a Story Initiative the Ministry of Education in cooperation with UNESCO and Norad mobilized volunteers for the translation and translation peer review of more than 300 children books into Bangla Placed in the Global Digital Library the books are openly available to use by schools and families in Bangladesh and other countries free of charge

Director-General calls for investigation into death in detention of writer and blogger Mushtaq Ahmed in Bangladesh

Director-General condemns killing of journalist Burhan Uddin Mujakker in Bangladesh

February 26, 2021

Firdausi Qadri: improving vaccines and diagnostic to ensure children live longer, healthier lives

December 21, 2020

Bangladesh brings education to the airwaves

October 27, 2020

Director-General calls for the murderers of journalist Elias Mia in Bangladesh to be brought to trial

The DirectorGeneral of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay has condemned the killing of print journalist Elias Mia in the municipality of Bandar in Bangladesh on 12 October

October 22, 2020

Call for applications: International Mother Language Award 2021

September 14, 2020

UNESCO Dhaka Office joins virtual inauguration ceremony of project - “Bridging the Digital Education Divide to Reduce the Gap”

Across the world the COVID19 coronavirus has disrupted schooling and education Similar to many other countries in Bangladesh all education institutions are currently closed presenting an unprecedented challenge to learners parents teachers and caregivers all over the country UNESCOs aim is to ensure that learning never stops and that no one is left behind To achieve this and to reach each and every learner it is imperative to use a mix of distance learning information and communication technologies including TV and radio as well as digital and mobile devices that allow learners to access lessons and learning materials from home Huawei Bangladesh a member of the UNESCO Global Education Coalition has partnered with Bijoy Digital to provide digital solutions to TT Boys High Schools in Dhaka and other schools in Bangladesh to facilitate distance learning The twoyear initiative Bridging the Digital Education Divide to Reduce the Gap under which Huawei Bangladesh will provide tablet devices with the Bijoy Digital App along with Internet connectivity to selected schools was successfully launched during a virtual inauguration ceremony on July 8 2020 Mr Mustafa Jabbar Minister PTD Ministry of Posts Telecommunications and Information Technology Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh attended the ceremony as the chief guest On behalf of UNESCO Ms Beatrice Kaldun Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to Bangladesh presented congratulatory remarks Other speakers and highlevel guests included Mr Zhang Zhengjun CEO Huawei Technologies Bangladesh Limited Ms Jasmine Jui CEO Bijoy Digital as well as Ms Halima Begum Head Teacher TT Boys High School For more information click here both Bangla and English press releases attached

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