Press release
UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture awarded to poet Dunya Mikhail and actress Helen Al-Janabi
Dunya Mikhail an AmericanIraqi poet and Helen AlJanabi a Swedish actress of SyrianIraqi origin will be awarded the 18th UNESCOSharjah Prize for Arab Culture based on the recommendations of an international jury of experts
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Costa Rica launches implementation of UNESCO indicators to measure impact of culture on sustainable development
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Transforming Education: an Imperative for the Future We Want
24 January 2022 Celebrating the power of education to uplift individuals and transform societies the global community honored teachers and champions for education Amidst the 3rd year of the global pandemic the fourth International Day of Education marked an increased focus on continuing learning and sent out a message of hope Coorganized by UNESCO and UN Group of Friends for Education and Lifelong Learning under the theme Changing Course Transforming Education the celebration brought together diverse perspectives on the crucial triggers of transformations for a more equitable and inclusive education system In the opening segment moderated by Ms Stefania Giannini UNESCO Assistant DirectorGeneral for Education leaders and education advocates such as UN Secretary General UNESCO Director General President of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly Chair of the Global Partnership for Education and the Permanent Representative of Argentina to the UN championed education as key driver for progress across all SDGs as well as peace and human rights UN leaders called on international communities to unite around education as a public good Mr Antonio Guterres UN Secretary General will convene the Summit on Transforming Education in September  2022 to identify innovative approach for the transformation of the national education systems
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UNESCO cities mobilize against COVID-19
Over 50000 doctors from public hospitals in Beijing Peoples Repof China offer since January 2020 free consultations related to coronavirus on WeDoctor a private medical care platform An outdoor digital advertisement about social distancing during the COVID19 outbreak in Chicago USA In Rome Italy the international cinema festival Alice nella città launched the Cinema da casa initiative projecting movies on buildings so people could watch from home
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Sustainability initiatives improve lives in Costa Rica and Uzbekistan
In Costa Rica an innovative recreational park has opened new horizons for people living with the dire social and environmental consequences of extreme poverty Meanwhile in Uzbekistans Aral Desert a programme is encouraging the local population around the rapidly disappearing Aral Sea to adapt and live sustainably
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Improving tsunami readiness around the South China Sea
The South China Sea region and its neighbouring basins including the Sulu and Celebes seas comprise one of the worlds most vulnerable areas to earthquakes and tsunamis owing to seismic activity in the Manila Cotabato and Negros and Sulawesi trenches
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The project ‘Young Leaders of the Diquís’ concludes with the creation of a youth association
Young people from southern Costa Rica have formed a youth association to take part in the management of the preColumbian cacique settlements with stone spheres of the Diquís inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2014 The creation of this association has been formalized during the closing ceremony of the project Young Leaders of the Diquis which has been implemented by UNESCO and the National Museum of Costa Rica and financed by the World Heritage Fund thanks to a financial contribution from Germany The formation of this association is a remarkable result of this project whose objective has been to involve young people from neighboring communities including indigenous peoples and territories in the management of the four archaeological sites inscribed on the World Heritage List Finca 6 El Silencio Grijalba and Batambal located in the canton of Osa in southern Costa Rica To this end a series of workshops have been organized focused on strengthening knowledge about cultural heritage as well as strengthening soft skills to enhance the leadership capacity of the young participants In total more than 160 young men and women from the districts of Palmar Ciudad Cortes Sierpe Bahia Ballena Drake Bay and Piedras Blancas as well as from the indigenous territories of Boruca and Rey Curré have been involved In addition to gaining knowledge and skills in heritage management through the workshops this project has allowed them to generate youth networks carry out volunteer activities and participate in various initiatives of the National Museum of Costa Rica in the area The closing ceremony of the project took place on Saturday December 18 2021 with the participation of Mr Julio Carranza Director ai of UNESCO Cluster Office in San Jose Mrs Martina NibbelingWriessnig Ambassador of Germany in Costa Rica Mrs Rocío Fernández Director of the National Museum of Costa Rica Mrs Yanina Chaverri Vice Mayor of the Canton of Osa Mr Jeison Ariel Bartels Quirós General Coordinator of the project as well as young participants of the project and members of the benefited communities
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United Nations alert that education should be a clear priority
On 17 December 2021 United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus the resolution entitled Education for sustainable development in the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and called on member states to strengthen their efforts to prioritize education in the response and recovery from the pandemic Amidst COVID 19 continued crisis the international community agreed that the focus should be put on safely reopen educational institutions for inperson learning based on scientific evidence and in consideration of local contexts Member states also recommitted to prioritize students and educators health ensuring that reopening plans are equityoriented genderresponsive and inclusive mainstreaming education for sustainable development as key in building resilient systems United Nations General Assembly acknowledge the important Berlin Declaration on Education for Sustainable Development the outcome statement of the 2021 World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development organized by UNESCO and the Government of Germany as the next milestone in advancing environmental education It also reminded the international community of previously taken agreements under the 2014 World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development the World Education Forum 2015 and the Education 2030 Framework for Action UNESCOs leadership on Sustainable Development Goal 4 and on Education for Sustainable Development has been reiterated in this edition of the resolution as well Expressing concern on the impact of COVID19 on Education which exacerbated preexisting inequities between and within education systems the resolution also reaffirmed the importance of investing in accessible learning platforms and safely reopening schools as soon as possible It further appreciated success stories in the response to the COVID 19 schools closures such as concerted efforts by the Global Education Coalition UNESCO is called upon to continue its mandate role to lead and coordinate the Education 2030 Agenda particularly through the renewed Global Education Cooperation Mechanism a remodelled Sustainable Development Goal 4Education 2030 Highlevel Steering Committee to serve as the global education coordination body in the framework of the 2030 Agenda
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Central American Parliament examines the situation of cultural sectors in Central America
Following the invitation of the Central American Parliament PARLACEN UNESCO through its Offices in San Jose and Guatemala City participated in an ordinary meeting of the Commission on Education Culture Sport Science and Technology of this regional body which is part of the Central American Integration System SICA During the session held virtually on Wednesday December 1 Ms Caroline Munier Culture Programme Specialist at the UNESCO Cluster Office in San José addressed the important challenges faced by the regions cultural sectors in the context of the COVID19 pandemic Since the onset of the pandemic people engaged in cultural and creative work have seen many preexisting challenges exacerbated particularly related to the high rate of labour informality that prevails in these sectors UNESCO emphasized to the members of the Commission the importance of promoting measures to improve the socioeconomic conditions of these people and at the same time contribute to enhance the multiple contributions they make to the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations for Sustainable Development UNESCO has also called on PARLACEN to get involved in the preparatory process for the next World Conference on Cultural Policies Mondiacult to be held in September next year in Mexico City Mondiacult 2022 seeks to strengthen the role of cultural policies for sustainable development at the global level To gather regional perspectives for this important event a series of regional consultations will be carried out through an inclusive and participatory process involving not only national authorities but also regional intergovernmental organizations academia and civil society organizations among other stakeholders
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Conclusion of the project "Música FFWD" for the strengthening of Costa Rica's music sector
The FFWD Music project implemented together with the Ministry of Culture and Youth of Costa Rica in the framework of the UNESCOEuropean Union cooperation programme for the development of cultural and creative industries and SouthSouth cooperation has come to an end This project was developed throughout 2021 with the technical assistance of a team of international and local experts including Nicolas Madoery Eva Moraga and Roberto Montero Música FFWD focused on strengthening the Costa Rican music sector through actions to boost its professionalisation associativity and visibility as well as its transition to the formal economy   The formal closure of the project took place through a virtual event held on December 2 with the presence of the Minister of Culture Sylvie Durán Salvatierra the Head of Cooperation of the Delegation of the European Union in Costa Rica Alberto Menghini and the Culture Programme Specialist of the UNESCO Office in San José Caroline Munier as well as the international team of experts in charge of the implementation of the project and members of the Costa Rican music sector The closing event provided an opportunity to present the sector with the main results achieved in the different phases of the project Between April and July four training modules were held which were aimed at the entire sector These modules were attended by 26 international specialists from 8 countries mainly from Latin America and focused on topics such as the music ecosystem associativity digital music and new business models More than 300 people from the Costa Rican music sector were involved in these activities The second phase of the project consisted of a mentoring program in which seven selected projects were guided by four international professionals to establish their objectives and medium and longterm planning The third phase consisted of a Music Ecosystem Forum in which a limited number of representatives from the public and private sectors academia professional associations and various roles in the value chain of the Costa Rican music industry participated to address strategic issues and to establish a roadmap for the development of the sector in the future Within the framework of Música FFWD a pilot project was also carried out with the music sector to promote the transition to formality of the creative sectors in Costa Rica The project sought to identify barriers or obstacles to the transition to the formal economy through research and analysis thanks to an inclusive consultation process involving multiple public institutions as well as organizations and individuals from civil society The results of this study provide an overview of a diversity of perspectives on the social and economic conditions of the music sector and set forth the basis for future research and dialogue to improve the living conditions of those working in the arts and culture and to highlight the important role they play in the development of society Costa Rica is one of the twelve countries selected worldwide to benefit from technical assistance provided by the UNESCOEuropean Union Cooperation Programme for the Development of Cultural and Creative Industries and SouthSouth Cooperation This programme seeks to position the creative and cultural industries as important sectors for the fulfilment of the objectives of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development     For more information httpsmusicaffwdculturacr httpsenunescoorgnewsstrengtheningitscompetitivenessmusicsectorcostarica httpsenunescoorgnewscostaricasmusicsectorstrength httpsenunescoorgnewscostaricasmusicsectorreceivesdigitalcontenttraining httpsenunescoorgnewscostaricanmusicsectorendsroundtrainingmodulestrainingnewbusinessmodels httpsenunescoorgnewscostaricastrengthensitsmusicecosystemthroughvirtualforum      
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Education to take center stage at the United Nations in 2022
On 29 November gearing up for major educations milestones in 2022 the Group of Friends for Education and Lifelong Learning met to discuss its strategic positioning to take forward the global education advocacy   Ambassadors deliberated how to scaleup commitments on education and advance key stakeholders engagement in the year 2022 Chaired by HE Ambassador Kimihiro ISHIKANE Permanent Representative of Japan to the UN the Ambassadorial meeting also featured the participation of UNESCO Assistant DirectorGeneral for Education Ms Stefania GIannini and Dr Fernando Reimers Director of the Global Education Innovation Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education   Opening up meeting HE Ambassador Ishikane voiced concerns on the global trends in education and the unprecedented shock caused by the COVID19 pandemic to the education systems worldwide Highlighting the driving force of education for development he commended the Group for being an active champion as it had raised visibility and ascertained the centrality of education for all sustainable development goals at the UN Headquarters Referring to momentum around education he stressed the need for the Group to reimage its role and become a stronger complementary player for mainstreaming SDG4 into the latest most pressing global issues such as peace climate change and digitalization Importantly the 4th edition of the International Day of Education 24 January 2022 is expected to kick off the preparatory process of the Transforming Education Summit as well as the indepth review of SDG4 by the High Level Political Forum thus paving the way for increased political will to ensure every child and young person goes to school and learns
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UNESCO Windhoek +30 Declaration recognized in the UN Resolution on “Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity”
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Costa Rica strengthens its music ecosystem through virtual forum
Some 30 representatives from various sectors of the Costa Rican music ecosystem met virtually in a forum organized by UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture and Youth in the framework of the project Musica Fast Forward FFWD