Inscription on the lists promotes the safeguarding of knowledge and skills necessary for traditional craftsmanship and cultural practices transmitted from generation to generation, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals and festive events, and knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe. At this session of the intergovernmental committee four elements were inscribed on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding and 39 elements on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

This generation of students now risks losing $17 trillion in lifetime earnings, or about 14 percent of today’s global GDP, as a result of COVID-19 pandemic-related school closures, according to a new report by the World Bank, UNESCO, and UNICEF. In addition, The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery report shows that in low- and middle-income countries, the share of children living in Learning Poverty – already 53 percent before the pandemic – could potentially reach 70 percent given the long school closures and the ineffectiveness of remote learning.

Oceans present a huge opportunity for (Blue) economic growth and employment for the region, if properly tapped into (maximizing benefits), and if properly managed (minimizing the challenges). For the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, UNESCO identifies an opportunity to optimally utilize Ocean’s substantial blue economy potential as a new frontier for development.

Liverpool striker Mo Salah gave children at Al Farooq Omar school in Cairo a day to remember when he paid a surprise virtual visit to share his views on the benefits of digital learning. Salah, is an Ambassador for Instant Network Schools. The initiative, set up in 2013 by UNHCR and partners, works in some of the most marginalized communities in Africa to give young refugees, local communities and teachers access to digital learning content and the internet. To date, INS supports 56 schools across six African countries, benefitting 129,000 students. Eighteen of the schools are in Egypt.

UNESCO marked its 75th anniversary this month. The history of UNESCO is a journey into often titanic projects with the aim to nurture reconciliation and unite people around a common heritage. This exhibition tells the story of UNESCO’s endeavors to understand, preserve and convey the best of our shared humanity: the common thread that joins us in our efforts to transform of the world.

Grammy-nominated musician and United Nations Regional Goodwill Ambassador - Africa for environment, Rocky Dawuni straddles the boundaries between Africa, the Caribbean and the United States to create an appealing sound that unites generations and cultures.

Let’s reflect on education as we look to 2050: What should we continue doing? What should we abandon? What needs to be creatively invented afresh? UNESCO is proposing answers to these three essential questions in its new global report on the Futures of Education entitled Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education. The foundational principles of this new social contract are: assuring the right to quality education throughout life and strengthening education as a public common good.

UNESCO’s Futures of Education initiative, launched in 2019, aims to rethink education and shape the future in the face of accelerated climate change, persistent inequalities and social fragmentation. While advances in digital communication, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology have great potential, they require investment in digital literacy and infrastructure. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres said of the COVID-19 crisis: “We have a generational opportunity to reimagine education.” Find out more in the Futures of Education report launched on 10 November.

Meet Aya, Lucas, Alex and Sophia. Like all young people, they want to be healthy and happy, to understand their bodies, have good relationships and avoid unintended pregnancy, violence and sexually transmitted infections including HIV. To make this a reality, they need good quality Comprehensive #SexualityEducation (CSE). Learn more about UNESCO’s efforts in CSE.

A UNESCO scientific assessment has found that forests in World Heritage sites play a vital role in mitigating climate change by absorbing 190 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.

New UNESCO data from 100 countries shows that only 53% of the world’s national education curricula make any reference to climate change and when the subject is mentioned, it is almost always given very low priority. Furthermore, fewer than 40% of teachers surveyed by UNESCO and Education International were confident in teaching about the severity of climate change and only about one-third felt able to explain the effects of climate change on their region or locality. Over a quarter of those surveyed felt some approaches to teaching climate education were not suited to online teaching.

Ending impunity for crimes against journalists is vitally important to guarantee freedom of expression and access to information for all citizens. The level of impunity for crimes against journalists remains extremely high globally, with nearly nine out of ten crimes going unpunished. This year’s campaign for the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists highlights the psychological trauma experienced by journalists, who are victims of threats, and raises awareness of the importance to investigate and prosecute these threats.

Netflix & UNESCO have launched a groundbreaking competition in Sub-Saharan Africa to find Africa’s next generation of filmmakers.

UNESCO Memory of the World (MoW) Programme launched a free, online course for teachers and educators on how to integrate important historical items from all over the world in their teaching.

Hate speech is on the rise. Hatred, conspiracy theories and prejudice infiltrate our societies and affect all of us. We are flooded by information - and disinformation - more than ever before both on- and offline. UNESCO and the UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide (OSAPG) are convening the Global Multi-stakeholder Forum on addressing hate speech through education.