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Green economies, a bulwark against COVID 19 for Lake Chad communities

COVID 19 is causing a shockwave around the world and is now the number one concern of the international community It is fundamental and legitimate to focus on the present of the pandemic But we must not forget the root causes It is also essential to think now about the postcrisis the reconstruction phase which should be about not only health economic and social issues but also the environment

As COVID-19 threatens Living Heritage around Lake Chad, women respond

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 semiarid 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 Chads Sahel desert region where some 250000 Mbororos make their living from herding and subsistence farming She is also a member of the technical and scientific committee of the BIOPALTUNESCO project She recently spoke with the Living Heritage Team in UNESCOs Culture Sector about how her community is coping with the COVID19 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

UNESCO and UNHCR call for the inclusion of refugees in the post-Covid-19 education effort

UNESCO joins Technovation to launch free, online, 5-week tech education programme for girls in 6 countries

New drive to protect early childhood education in the context of the COVID-19 crisis

No to Racism: Special #COVID-19 Edition of the Master Class

Webinar 6 May 2020 The UNESCO Master Class Series aims to sensitize young people to the phenomena of racism in society understand its origins and discuss concepts related to racism It is a means of conveying fundamental knowledge on the construction of prejudice and sharing experiences through testimonies so that everyone can at his or her own level fight against racism and discrimination Beyond raising awareness of racism and discrimination the Master Class is also designed to collectively reflect on a list of commitments to be made by students so that they can then apply them in their own schools and within their networks

UNESCO joins Technovation to launch free, online, 5-week tech education programme for girls in 6 countries

Science, responsible research and innovation at the forefront of COVID-19

Poetry takes on center stage to dispel mis- and dis-information on COVID-19

Misinformation is a dangerous weapon for it takes one man to hit the trigger but a lot more are sure to hear the sound of the gun whether as pictures as voice notes or in writing Excitement or fear refusing us to let rationalitys light in we share Believing we are doing the right thing Forgetting a half truth is worse than a lie

Girls solve community issues through technology at the new Technovation Idea Lab

Technology has played a dominant role in education throughout this pandemic that has exposed deep digital and gender divides said Stefania Giannini UNESCOs Assistant DirectorGeneral for Education Now is the time to empower girls with the confidence and skills to harness technology and support their schools and communities to build back better and differently UNESCOs Global Education Coalition partner Technovation is launching the Technovation Idea Lab today The Idea Lab is a place where the global community comes together to pilot test new programme ideas and approaches with a select group of students volunteers and Technovation staff It will be key to understand how to slow or stop learning loss for students when they are out of school First pilot targeting girls The first Technovation Idea Lab pilot starts today 27 July and will run until 28 August 2020 in partnership with UNESCOs Global Education Coalition and learning organizations around the world The pilot focuses on artificial intelligence AI and will engage girls aged 1018 living in Brazil India Kenya Mexico Nigeria and Pakistan While participation is free all participants and volunteer leaders must have the ability to access Google Classroom on the internet Interested Register here Participating girls will learn what AI is how it works and make a plan for an AI invention that solves a problem they will have identified in their community They will also learn how to build their own AI model The goal of this pilot is to empower and support girls in selfdirected technology entrepreneurship programmes while also involving industry mentors to serve as rolemodels and further engage girls throughout the multiweek programme Mentorship opportunities Girls will have the opportunity to interact with and learn from mentors around the world and other students from their country Mentors include volunteers from Ericsson Uber both members of UNESCOs Global Education Coalition and SAP who will support and encourage participating girls in several different capacities Based on interest and availability mentors will help answer questions as girls work through the curriculum and share learning resources hold office hours to connect with girls and provide insights about career prospects The Microbit Educational Foundation has also donated microbits devices with opensource software that teach creativity and coding to girls who will have made exceptional contributions over the fiveweek programme Why now A recent UN report warned that girls and women are in the crosshairs of this pandemic said Tara Chklovski CEO and Founder of Technovation We are proud to be partnering with UNESCO as well as community and corporate partners all over the world and are committed to doing all we can to support vulnerable groups and ensure the progress humanity has made in education and equality are not wiped out Many factors impact girls education and learning especially as they are exacerbated in moments of uncertainty such as the COVID19 pandemic Providing girls with interesting projectbased curriculum that empowers them to contribute to and lead change in their communities using technology is one way to combat the harmful impact this pandemic is having on education said Chklovski Our collaboration with Technovation under the Global Education Coalition opens the way for girls to be creative leaders and have a say in shaping more inclusive and genderresponsive education systems for the future said Giannini Partner organizations for the pilot include Edufun Technik CRUIZ BIZ Brainfacio Data Science Nigeria Odyssey Educational Foundation and Godigitech in Nigeria Safaricom in Kenya the Pakistan Science Club in Pakistan Instituto Paramitas in Brazil and Scientax Icommunity Mentoralia AC and Instituto de Innovación Mentes en Movimiento in Mexico as well as dedicated individuals leading the programme in their local communities At the peak of the pandemic over 15 billion learners around the world have seen their education disrupted due to COVIDrelated school closures Under UNESCOs Global Education Coalition a Gender Flagship was established to safeguard progress made on gender equality and education and promote girls and womens empowerment in and through education

Indigenous Peoples and COVID-19: The view from Mexico

COVID19 has had a strong impact in Mexico UNESCOs office in Mexico City has been engaging with indigenous peoples to support targeted actions to respond to the crisis and their particular needs Indigenous Peoples in Mexico face particular vulnerabilities in the context of COVID19 and the UNESCO Office in Mexico has carried out actions to address this in the framework of the COVID19 response and recovery UNESCO in Mexico has been invited to lead pillar 5 Social cohesion and community resilience of the socioeconomic response to COVID19 from the United Nations System in Mexico with special attention to the peoples indigenous youth and women The COVID19 pandemic is having drastic social and economic consequences for indigenous peoples and for everyone on the path to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs According to the 2015 Intercensus survey the indigenous population accounts for 12 250 947 people and constitutes 101 of the total national population Historically this population group has lived in conditions of social and economic precarity indicated by the fact that 695 of the indigenous population 84 million people lives in poverty situation and 279 in extreme poverty 34 million people as stated by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy Official data from the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples INPI to 27 July 2020 reported 4140 positive cases of COVID19 and 719 casualties among indigenous language speakers Meanwhile the pandemic is continuing to evolve in the Mexican territory The momentum of the pandemic and the prior inequalities already faced by indigenous people in Mexico are not favorable for the wellbeing of indigenous peoples in the face of the pandemic Among the disadvantages experienced by indigenous peoples access to water stands out as critical in the context of the current health crisis Of the rural population in Mexico 21 of those who speak an indigenous language lack water due to access problems while among those who do not speak an indigenous language the lack of service is 168

What UNESCO is doing to address learning challenges for indigenous peoples during COVID-19 pandemic

UN Secretary-General warns of education catastrophe, pointing to UNESCO estimate of 24 million learners at risk of dropping out