Learning is key to finding solutions and creating a more sustainable world. We must change the way we live and care for our planet. Join UNESCO’s campaign calling on the world to invest in education for sustainable development and ensure that it is embedded in learning systems globally. For the survival of our planet, we need to #LearnForOurPlanet.

UNESCO and partners released findings about LGBTQI students in Europe. 54% of LGBTQI people have experienced bullying in school at least once based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or variations of sex characteristics, according to a survey of more than 17,000 children and young people aged 13 to 24. The survey also showed that 83% of students had at least sometimes heard negative comments towards LGBTQI students, and 67% had been the target of negative comments at least once.

UNESCO's Director-General has welcomed the decision by the United States and many other countries to call for the lifting of patent protection on COVID-19 vaccines. This growing momentum comes in response to the joint appeal made by UNESCO, the WHO and the UNHCR to open up science and boost scientific cooperation. The idea behind Open Science is to allow scientific information, data and outputs to be more widely accessible (Open Access) and more reliably harnessed (Open Data) with the active engagement of all the stakeholders (Open to Society).

Investigative journalist and media executive Maria Ressa of the Philippines has been named as the 2021 laureate of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, by an international jury of media professionals. The Award Ceremony will take place in Windhoek, Namibia, on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day, and be streamed  online. In her thirty-year career, Ressa has been a target of attacks, arrests and has been involved in many international initiatives to promote press freedom.

Discover the 8 new UNESCO Global #Geoparks​ as they join our efforts to build a better, more inclusive and more sustainable world.

There are now 169 sites participating in the Global Geoparks Network in 44 countries. UNESCO Global Geoparks are single, unified geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development. Their bottom-up approach of combining conservation with sustainable development while involving local communities is becoming increasingly popular. Learn more about Geoparks and their commitments to our planet.

This year’s World Press Freedom Day serves as a call to affirm the importance of cherishing information as a public good. Strengthening journalism though the production, distribution, and reception of content to advance transparency and empowerment while leaving no one behind is of urgent relevance. The leading minds of the world of journalism, media and technology as well as experts, policy makers, and activists, will come together to affirm information as a public good in the 2021 World Press Freedom Day Global Conference (29 April – 3 May), hosted by UNESCO and the Government of Namibia.

UNESCO’s Executive Board has approved the designation of eight new UNESCO Global Geoparks, which brings the number of sites participating in the Global Geoparks Network to 169 in 44 countries. UNESCO Global Geoparks are single, unified geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development. The newly designated UNESCO Global Geoparks are in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy and Poland.

UNESCO’s Futures of Education initiative aims to reimagine how knowledge and learning can shape the future of humanity and the planet.

UNESCO World Art Day (15 April) reinforces the links between art and society, encourages greater diversity of expression and highlights artist contributions to sustainable development.

Together with 6 youth representatives, Dr Jane Goodall, DBE is patron of the 50th Anniversary of the UNESCO-MAB programme. UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme was created in 1971 with a vision: promote a sustainable connection between people and nature.

Following UNESCO’s Forum on Biodiversity on 24 March, the Organization has called for the mobilization of governments, citizens and civil society, including the private sector, in favour of biodiversity through the a multi-partner fund currently being set up. The aim of the mobilization is to counter the ongoing collapse affecting all living species. The United Nations is expected to invite Member States to implement a protection target of 30% of land and marine areas by 2030, at the COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to be held next October in Kunming (China).

The United Nations World Water Development Report, published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water, shows that the inability to recognize the value of water is the main cause of water waste and misuse.

UNESCO marked the International Day of Mathematics, 14 March, under the theme “Mathematics for a Better World."  Celebrating the beauty and relevance of mathematics, the Day highlights the essential role played by this discipline in reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

UNESCO and Guerlain have launched a state-of-the-art female beekeeping entrepreneurship programme, “Women for Bees,” with activist Angelina Jolie, helping promote its twin objectives of women’s empowerment and biodiversity conservation.

The first UNESCO scientific assessment of its World Heritage marine sites’ blue carbon ecosystems highlights the critical environmental value of these habitats in fighting climate change.