UNESCO's Youth Hackathon was a key component of Global MIL Week 2023, designed to engage and empower youths under the theme “Youth powering media and information literacy in digital spaces”.

With a focus on the Social Impacts of Climate Change, the 13th edition of the UNESCO Youth Forum (November 14-15) underscores the need for an equitable climate transition. As young people’s voices ring loud in their assertion that climate change jeopardizes their future, the event seeks to amplify their role in shaping solutions. With the belief that the social impacts of climate change demand center stage, the Forum provides a crucial platform for young changemakers, offering them the chance to influence policies and collaboratively devise strategies for a just and sustainable future.

UNESCO has initiated a global conversation on how to foster peace and dialogue in the digital sphere to fight disinformation and hate speech. 

UNESCO’s General Conference meets every two years to determine the policies and main lines of the work of the Organization. This year’s high-level segment will focus on the commons - the cultural and natural resources shared by all members of society – and how they should be thought of and protected in the context of the major disruptions the world is currently experiencing. An inaugural lecture and a high-level session on partnerships will address climate disruption and digital transformation in a way that benefits people and the planet.

UNESCO, the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030, the Varkey Foundation, and Dubai Cares are collaborating to highlight the importance of teachers. During the 2023 Global Teacher Prize ceremony (8 November), the UN agency and the Teacher Task Force will present the highlights of the first Global Report on Teachers. The event will also include a poetry recital by a young laureated poet, Ms Alexandra Huynh, a musical performance curated by Ms. Rachel Modest, and the announcement of the one million dollars prize winner and nine finalists selected from over 8,000 nominations across 121 countries.

On World Cities Day, 55 cities joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), acknowledging their strong commitment to harnessing culture and creativity as part of their development strategies.

Audiovisual archives represent not only the past images and sounds of our shared experiences, but also serve as a valuable source of cultural, social, and linguistic diversity. Conserving this heritage and ensuring it remains accessible to the public is a vital goal for all memory institutions and the public. On the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage (27 October), UNESCO highlights the theme "Your Window to the World," emphasizing that audiovisual heritage allows us to witness events beyond our own experiences, listen to the voices of the past, and create narratives that inform and entertain.

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has added 42 new sites (33 cultural, 9 natural) to the World Heritage List, bringing the total to 1199. These sites will now benefit from the highest level of heritage protection worldwide. With five new locations inscribed this year, Africa has reached the symbolic milestone of 100 sites on the World Heritage List. Rwanda had its first two inscriptions and Uganda removed the "Tombs of the Buganda Kings at Kasubi" from the World Heritage in Danger list. Two Ukrainian sites were inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, due to threats linked to shelling, and three Sites of Memory linked to recent conflicts were added to the List.

Summer grazing in the high mountain meadows has been part of the landscape in the Central Balkans Biosphere Reserve for centuries, as it ensured livelihoods for local populations on both sides of the range. Since the early 1990s, there has been a dramatic decline in the traditional practice. Considering that improved management is paramount for successful biodiversity conservation and restoration efforts, the Central Balkan Biosphere Reserve reached out to the Earth Network. This project, which is generously supported by the Government of Italy, matches the challenges of UNESCO-designated sites with the expertise of senior and young scientists.

Being a teacher provides a unique opportunity to make a transformative and lasting impact on the lives of others, contribute to shaping sustainable futures and achieve personal fulfillment. World Teachers’ Day (5 October) this year is observed under the theme "The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage". The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) highlights the importance of putting at the top of the global agenda stopping the decline in the number of teachers and starting to increase that figure

UNESCO World Heritage sites are known for their exceptional biodiversity. Despite covering less than 1% of the Earth’s surface, they harbor more than 1/5 of mapped global species richness.

The Heritage sites are estimated to protect over 20,000 globally threatened species. Today, up to 1/3 of remaining elephants, tigers and pandas can be found in these sites, as well as at least 1 in 10 great apes, giraffes, lions and rhinos. For some species on the brink of extinction, UNESCO World Heritage sites have become the last line of defense. They are home to all remaining Javan rhinos, vaquitas (the world’s smallest cetacean) and pink iguanas, as well as more than half of all Sumatran rhinos, Sumatran orangutans and mountain gorillas.

However, biodiversity in UNESCO World Heritage sites is threatened by human pressures and climate change.

Teachers, schools, families, communities, policy-makers and young people all have essential roles to play in preventing and responding to school-related, gender-based violence (SRGBV), affirms UNESCO. In this video, SRGBV prevention advocates from Asia-Pacific and beyond, share their diverse yet complementary perspectives on why efforts to #EndSRGBV and ensure that all education settings are #SafeToLearn require that all actors work together.

The one thing UNESCO is sure of, is that the pictures were taken between 1950 and 1980. Their vintage colours and gelatin-silver grain give off a curious air of innocence – and melancholy. Started by British filmmaker Lee Shulman “The Anonymous Project” has been collecting films and slides taken by unknowns around the world and exhibiting selections in London, New York, Paris and Seoul. Many of the images represent when color photography was becoming widely available. Deprived of their original meaning, they nevertheless transmit an unexpected emotion, fantasy and aesthetic force.

The pandemic deepened pre-existing gender inequalities, but Gloria is advocating for girls continued education through UNESCO’s Keeping girls in the picture  campaign.  

Why is cultural diversity important? What are some of the current challenges that undermine it? And what can we do to protect and promote cultural diversity? Cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. This new UNESCO-Khalili Foundation film "A Thousand Colours" aims to humanize the notion of cultural diversity.