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UNESCO & Columbia University collaborate on case law on freedom of expression in the context of COVID-19

In partnership with UNESCO Columbia Universitys Global Freedom of Expression initiative published an online collection of case law related to COVID19 from across the world in English French and Spanish These decisions highlight the essential role of judicial actors in upholding the rule of law and human rights especially in exceptional states of emergency

UNESCO launches a Report on the impacts suffered by the creative industry during the pandemic

According to the study the crisis generated by the pandemic led the Gross Value Added in the cultural and leisure sectors to decrease by US$ 750 billion and 10 million jobs were lost in 2020

February 10, 2022

Monitoring teacher vaccination against COVID-19

UNESCO and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 are collecting data on the percentage of primary and secondary teachers who have been fully vaccinated against COVID19 as well as information on teacher prioritization within national COVID19 vaccine deployment including data from the UNESCOUNICEFWorld BankOECD Survey on National Education Responses to COVID19 School Closures Fully vaccinated represents those having received the 1st dose for Johnson Johnsons Janssen COVID19 or 2nd dose for other vaccines

September 27, 2021

Disruption and Resilience: UNESCO reports reveal new data on impact of COVID-19 on culture

UNESCO is launching a series of reports that reveal the scope of the impact of COVID19 on the culture sector The pandemic is disrupting lives communities and businesses around the world and has deeply impacted the entire cultural ecosystem At the same time the crisis has further revealed the important role of culture as a major resource for resilience connection and recovery

Interview with Azra Akšamija – “What matters most, at the time of crisis, are qualities of our human connections”

Dr Azra Akšamija on the left in the picture Jury member of the UNESCOSharjah Prize for Arab Culture shares with us her personal experience of the current complex situation related to the COVID19 pandemic With the support of her community she has started the global CoMASK initiative to inspire people to create their own masks and by doing so to promote hope humanity solidarity and efficient hygiene practices

Waters of Latin America and the Caribbean: contributions in times of COVID-19

Adequate integrated water resource management is one of the most powerful tools to ensure the supply of drinking water and wastewater treatment In a pandemic situation it will significantly prevent the spread of the disease

Dealing with obstacles to distance learning

How does the COVID-19 crisis affect the culture sector in Central America?

In Central America the sector of culture art and creative industries becomes one of the most affected by sanitary measures all over the world

UN Call for Technology Solutions for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts

In support to the UN SecretaryGenerals initiative in assisting Member States at the COVID19 crisis the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs requests your inputs in response to this Call for Technology Solutions for addressing the COVID19 pandemic and its immediate impacts This effort is undertaken in the context of the UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism TFM in particular experts active in its UN Interagency Task Team on Science Technology and Innovation for the SDGs including UNESCO and its 10Member Group for the TFM We are looking for proven affordable and scalable technology solutions that can accelerate progress towards providing basic health functions especially for vulnerable people We are looking for solutions from diverse sources and communities from all parts of the world All relevant submissions using the template provided below are welcome and will be reviewed carefully For this purpose it is very important to please include endorsements or validation information on your solution where available Upon review and acceptance promising solutions will be featured on the UN Website and used in UN materials in support of policy makers private sector leaders civil society and key representatives of the global scientific and technological communities We very much hope this Call will support building a community of likeminded innovators from around the world focused on technology solutions for COVID19 Thank you very much for your consideration Please provide your inputs no later than 20 May 2020 to ktzinovaunescoorg using the template for further submission to the Coordinator of the UN Interagency Task Team on Science Technology and Innovation for the SDGs For more information httpssustainabledevelopmentunorgtfm Download the template for Submission pdf Template for Submission Description and rationale When and where was it demonstrated Where was it used What were the results Validationendorsements Approximate cost Funding sought Contact details and further information please specify which elements could be published

Startling digital divides in distance learning emerge

Half of the total number of learners some 826 million students kept out of the classroom by the COVID19 pandemic do not have access to a household computer and 43 706 million have no internet at home at a time when digitallybased distance learning is used to ensure educational continuity in the vast majority of countries These figures were compiled by the Teacher Task Force an international alliance coordinated by UNESCO on the basis of data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the International Telecommunication Union Disparities are particularly acute in lowincome countries in subSaharan Africa 89 per cent of learners do not have access to household computers and 82 lack internet access Furthermore while mobile phones can enable learners access to information connect with their teachers and with one another about 56 million learners live in locations not served by mobile networks almost half in subSaharan Africa While efforts to provide connectivity to all must be multiplied we now know that continued teaching and learning cannot be limited to online means stated Audrey Azoulay UNESCO Director General To lessen already existing inequalities we must also support other alternatives including the use of community radio and television broadcasts and creativity in all ways of learning These are solutions we are addressing with our Global Coalition partners Globally at least 15 billion students and 63 million primary and secondary teachers are affected by the unprecedented disruption caused by the COVID19 pandemic with school closures in 191 countries see also our global monitoring interactive map on school closures Click on the image to see more Even for teachers in countries with reliable information and communication technology ICT infrastructure and household connectivity the rapid transition to online learning has been challenging For teachers in regions where ICT and other distance methodologies are less available the transition has been even more difficult or impossible Teachers also require training to deliver distance and online education effectively but such support is particularly scarce in lowincome countries Across subSaharan Africa just 64 of primary and 50 of secondary teachers have received minimum training and this frequently does not include ICT skills These inequalities are a real threat to learning continuity at a time of unprecedented educational disruption said Stefania Giannini UNESCO Assistant DirectorGeneral for Education Addressing these gaps was the impetus for launching the Covid19 Global Education Coalition which brings together more than 90 public and private sector partners to develop universal and equitable solutions and make the digital revolution inclusive The Global Education Coalition includes the International Telecommunication Union and key groups that support teachers such as Education International the Varkey Foundation the International Labour Organization and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 which recently released a Call for Action to support teachers affected by the pandemic UNESCO held its fifth Covid19 Educational Response Webinar on Friday 17 April to share country experiences in distance education learning strategies during the Covid19 pandemic See httpsenunescoorgcovid19educationresponsewebinars for information about the webinars See COVID19 a global crisis for teaching and learning infographic See also the Joint Statement of the International Commission on the Futures of Education and UNESCOs response to COVID19 Media inquiries Clare OHagan UNESCO Press Service cohaganunescoorg 33 1456 81729 44 7715 991279

ICT in Education Prize laureate Kiron offering free online teaching during COVID-19 outbreak

Kiron Open Higher Education won the 2016 UNESCO King Hamad Bin IsaAl Khalifa Prize for the use of ICT in Education for its education platform to help refugees and asylum seekers in Germany France Belgium Turkey and Jordan access higher education

Uganda and Kenya organize national webinars with artists following World Art Day to discuss impacts of COVID-19 on creative industries

In the spirit of the UNESCO ResiliArt Movement two Eastern African countries held online public debates with key stakeholders in the cultural and creative industries sector to share experiences and perspectives on the effects of COVID19 on artists performers and other actors working in the sector

How the Republic of Korea flattened the COVID-19 curve: openness, transparency and democracy

The Republic of Korea discovered its first COVID19 case on 20 January 2020 The Korean Centres for Disease Control immediately organized a meeting with biomedicine companies to provide the genetic map of the coronavirus released by the WHO and to ask them to develop test kits After two weeks the test kits were developed and approved for use after one week On 20 February 2020 the number of cases began to explode in and around the City of Daegu to nearly 9000 cases in less than a month making the Republic of Korea one of the most dangerous places in the world The size and the speed of the outbreak seemed to be uncontrollable