UNESCO
Roving with Rohingyas: How feminine hearts can make a difference, from scare to care
The first time I was approached to work on the Rohingya community was when a non-governmental organization approached me knowing my humanitarian work as an “artivist”(artist + activist). Indeed, as a UNESCO Artist for Peace, I am using performing art to help survivors suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to better express themselves. This NGO saw my work in Congo with women victims of excision and decided to have me work in Bangladesh for the Rohingya women population especially.
This NGO is delivering access to information, education, and cultural resources on serving communities subject to systemic discrimination. My goal was to create pedagogical content to help trainers on site to deliver programs to the women population to get a better sense of autonomy and self-confidence thanks to role games. Going back and forth with those trainers allowed me to also have direct access to the Rohingya women population while some gave feedback on some parts of the training and some very interesting insights.
READ: Bangladesh pushes for early repatriation of Rohingyas
I immediately realized the willingness of those women to become more autonomous and to better understand how their own value could make a difference in order for their children could be better treated. This sense of “family first” was very present and being a mother myself I felt very close to M. in particular who was explaining that she would have extreme difficulties not only because of those horrific conditions they are living in but also due to the lack of consideration women have in the clan.
Ukraine: UNESCO World Heritage Sites
UNESCO World Heritage Sites are places of natural beauty and historical significance that are chosen by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for their outstanding universal value. Currently, there are 1,054 World Heritage Sites in 167 countries, and more are being added all the time. Among those 1,054 sites, 897 cultural, 218 natural, and 39 mixed properties. Let's get to know details about world heritage sites in Ukraine.
What are the Seven UNESCO World Heritage sites in Ukraine?
Ukraine has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These are treasures of world culture and history and include ancient monasteries, fortresses, and natural wonders.
Kyiv: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv Pechersk Lavra
Constructed in the 11th century, St. Sophia Cathedral is a superlative example of Byzantine architecture and one of Ukraine's most recognized landmarks. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990 for being an outstanding architectural masterpiece that profoundly marked the history and culture not only of Kyiv but substantially transformed Ukraine. The cathedral is located in the midst of a complex of monastic buildings constructed in the 17th and 18th centuries in Ukrainian Baroque style.
Read Top 10 Historical Mosques in Bangladesh
The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is a world-renowned monastic ensemble that has been in operation since the 11th century. Throughout its history, the lavra has undergone many changes and continued to grow in size and stature. Today, it is a major tourist attraction in Kyiv and remains an important spiritual center for Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Church of the Saviour at Berestove, adjacent to the Lavra, was added to the site in 2005 as part of an effort to restore and preserve cultural heritage sites.
Lviv – the Ensemble of the Historic Centre
Lviv, one of the most beautiful and historically significant cities in Europe, is located in western Ukraine. Lviv's architecture and urban planning are based on a unique mixture of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles. The Historic Centre of Lviv, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the best-preserved medieval city centers in Europe.
UNESCO to publish Hindi descriptions of India's World Heritage Sites on WHC website
On the occasion of World Hindi Day on January 10, the Director of World Heritage Centre has informed the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO, Paris that UNESCO's World Heritage Centre has agreed to publish Hindi descriptions of India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites on WHC website.
Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO, Paris organized the virtual celebration of World Hindi Day on January 10, 2022, reports ANI.
READ: 7pc Bangladesh families have to borrow to send children to school: UNESCO
Minister of State of External Affairs and culture, Meenakshi Lekhi gave a video message on World Hindi Day and emphasized the importance of Hindi.
India's ambassador/permanent representative to UNESCO, Vishal V. Sharma also highlighted the key points that Hindi attained during the last 75 years of India's independence.
For the celebrations, the delegation has received short videos on this occasion from Assistant-Director Generals for Education, Social and Human Sciences, Culture, Communication and Information and Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic.
READ: Doleshwar Hanafia Jame Mosque wins UNESCO award
The Ambassadors/ permanent Delegates to UNESCO from Angola, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, France, Greece, Iran, Japan, Mongolia, Palestine, Republic of Korea, Palestine, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, Vietnam also sent the video message on World Hindi Day.
Embassies / High commissions, Consulate Generals of India in Canberra, Wellington Georgetown, Doha, London, Riyadh, Washington D.C., Male, Kathmandu, Colombo, Kuwait, Windhoek, Suriname, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Dushanbe, Port Luis, Johannesburg and Gaborone also celebrated the occasion by sending the videos.
Books on Bangladesh’s traditional games launched
The Asia Foundation and UNESCO Dhaka Office on Wednesday jointly launched “Children Books on Traditional Games.”The launching event with a virtual panel discussion was part of Bangladesh’s celebrations marking the 50 years of the Independence and birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman supported by UNESCO at its 40th General Conference.The Asia Foundation in Bangladesh and UNESCO Dhaka Office joined forces to produce and disseminate books and reading materials focused on cultural heritage of Bangladesh, and to promote reading among children and youth of Bangladesh.
READ: 7pc Bangladesh families have to borrow to send children to school: UNESCO
As an outcome of this partnership, 11 books were prepared in an age appropriate manner on the Traditional Games of Bangladesh under the theme of “Let’s Read about Heritage’’.The content was developed by reputed children book writers and illustrators under the overall guidance of the Asia Foundation and UNESCO Dhaka Office, presenting traditional games of Bangladesh for children as an expression of cultural identity and living heritage of Bangladesh.The books were approved and highly appreciated by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) and the Bangladesh National Commission for UNESCO (BNCU).The e-book versions of the 11 books for Children on Traditional Games are publicly available free of charge on the Asia Foundation's Let's Read's Digital library: https://reader.letsreadasia.org/all/newChildren, parents, students, teachers and caregivers can download the books free of charge to their smartphones, tablets, or other digital devices.Thus enabling their children to learn at and from home, and giving them a chance to learn the expression of cultural identity and living heritage of Bangladesh.The launching event and panel discussion of these children books on traditional games highlighted the importance, challenges and opportunities of the creation of books and strengthening reading habits for children in Bangladesh.Md Shohel Imam Khan, Deputy Secretary General, Bangladesh National Commission for UNESCO, joined the discussion as a special guest.
READ: Doleshwar Hanafia Jame Mosque wins UNESCO award
Prof Abdullah Abu Sayeed, founder and chairperson of Bishwa Sahitya Kendra (World Literary Centre), educator, writer, television presenter and activist, Sara Zaker, actor, director and co-producer of Sisimpur, Prof AKM Reazul Hassan, Member, Primary Curriculum, National Curriculum and Textbook Board Bangladesh, Beatrice Kaldun, Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to Bangladesh, Kazi Faisal Bin Seraj, Country Representative Bangladesh, Asia Foundation joined the panel discussion and shared their experience and reflection on the significance of book creation and enhancing the reading habit for children.The panel discussion was moderated by Kizzy Tahnin, Programme Officer for Culture, UNESCO Dhaka Office.
7pc Bangladesh families have to borrow to send children to school: UNESCO
Around 7 percent of families in Bangladesh have to borrow to send their children to school, according to a new UNESCO report.
The UNESCO 2021/2 Global Education Monitoring Report was presented at the RewirEd Forum in Dubai recently.
In Bangladesh, the share of urban households paying for private tuition increased from 48 percent in 2000 to 67 percent in 2010 while the corresponding share of rural households doubled from 27 percent to 54 percent; for the poorest quartile it quadrupled from 10 percent to 40 percent.
Overall, the average expenditure increased by 80 percent in real terms, according to the report.
It shows that globally one in six families saves to pay school fees, while 8 percent of families (or one in twelve) in low- and middle-income countries have to borrow money to pay for their children to go to school.
In some countries, such as Uganda, Haiti, Kenya and the Philippines, 30 percent of families have to borrow to afford their children’s education.
The report calls for governments to keep to their promise of providing 1 year of pre-primary and 12 years of primary and secondary education free for all.
New data show that the costs of education are falling on households disproportionately in the poorest countries.
In low- and lower-middle-income countries, households cover 39% of the cost of education with the government covering the remainder, compared to only 16% in high-income countries.
Read: Dipu Moni elected to UNESCO education committee
Almost two-thirds of the total cost of education is picked up by households in Bangladesh, while only one-third is covered by governments - this is the fourth highest % covered by households in the world (after Haiti, Nigeria, and Liberia).
Public education still has many hidden costs. About one third of household education expenditure in low- and middle-income countries comes from households with children in public schools.
An analysis of about 100 low- and middle-income countries between 2009 and 2020 found that, on average, 3.2% of households’ financial outgoings were being spent on education.
In Ghana, the share of education spending is not only the world’s largest but also increased from 8.9% in 2005/06 to 13.1% in 2016/17.
Much of the cost comes from school uniforms and other school supplies; these accounted for almost two-fifths of the amount households were spending on education in 15 low and middle-income countries.
“We’ve underestimated just how much families are still paying for education when according to governments it should be free,” said Manos Antoninis, Director of the Global Education Monitoring Report.
“On top of this, the impact of Covid-19 has squeezed family budgets further. Many simply can’t afford to pay for school costs as a result. Governments must look closer at the amount that families are paying. They must focus on ensuring that education is free at the point of access – and that the poorest aren’t priced out of a good quality education.”
The GEM Report warns that, without better regulations, private education choices, such as private schools, or private supplementary tuition, are pushing up these costs for households.
Read: Covid-19 put future of 800 mn children across Asia at risk: UNICEF, UNESCO
If 3.2% of households’ outgoings are being spent on education globally on average, that rises to 6% in countries with a high percentage of private schools, such as Haiti and Lebanon, and in other sub-Saharan African countries, including Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.
The costs make some education opportunities inaccessible for the poor. While the poorest households spend practically nothing on education in Argentina, Costa Rica, the Philippines and Zambia, for example, the richest 20% spend between 0.5% and 1.7% of their countries’ GDP.
Many households are also paying for private supplementary tuition, particularly during school closures - something many of the poorest cannot afford.
In Myanmar, 42% of the amount households were spending on education was spent on tutoring. Currently, however, around half of countries do not regulate the practice at all.
Today, less than three-quarters of countries are regulating the amount of fees that are charged by private schools, which contribute to the burden carried by households.
Most private secondary schools receive at least 80% of their revenue from fees in 28 out of 51 upper-middle- and high-income education systems. In low- and lower-middle income countries, poor parents employ a variety of strategies to cope with private school expenses.
The poorest parents in Kenya and other low- and lower-middle-income countries often have to resort to schools that are unregistered and cheaper but likely to have poor facilities and offer lower-quality instruction.
Recommendations:
Increase efforts to guarantee free, publicly funded access to a year of pre-primary and 12 years of primary and secondary education.
Governments need to monitor out-of-pocket education spending with household income and expenditure surveys. Formal payments are often the only ones to which governments pay attention. They often turn their eyes away from other less well documented costs that increase inequality, such as private supplementary tuition. The effectiveness of policies that aim to target resources at disadvantaged learners needs to be evaluated and not assumed.
Strengthen government capacity to monitor and enforce regulations. Governments need to build a relationship of trust with non-state providers, encouraging them to register, eliminating arbitrariness in rules and communicating the right incentives for them to run their schools effectively for learners’ benefit.
END/UNB/MK/SAM
Students may lose around $17 trillion in lifetime earnings for Covid learning loss: Report
Students now risks losing $17 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value, or about 14 percent of today’s global GDP, as a result of COVID-19 pandemic-related school closures, according to a new report published today by the World Bank, UNESCO, and UNICEF.
The new projection reveals that the impact is more severe than previously thought, and far exceeds the $10 trillion estimates released in 2020.
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 to ensure full learning continuity during school closures.
Read: Project launched to help children overcome COVID-19 learning loss
“The COVID-19 crisis brought education systems across the world to a halt,” said Jaime Saavedra, World Bank Global Director for Education. “Now, 21 months later, schools remain closed for millions of children, and others may never return to school. The loss of learning that many children are experiencing is morally unacceptable. And the potential increase of Learning Poverty might have a devastating impact on future productivity, earnings, and well-being for this generation of children and youth, their families, and the world’s economies.”
Simulations estimating that school closures resulted in significant learning losses are now being corroborated by real data.
For example, regional evidence from Brazil, Pakistan, rural India, South Africa, and Mexico, among others, show substantial losses in math and reading.
Analysis shows that in some countries, on average, learning losses are roughly proportional to the length of the closures.
However, there was great heterogeneity across countries and by subject, students’ socioeconomic status, gender, and grade level.
For example, results from two states in Mexico show significant learning losses in reading and in math for students aged 10-15. The estimated learning losses were greater in math than reading, and affected younger learners, students from low-income backgrounds, as well as girls disproportionately.
Barring a few exceptions, the general trends from emerging evidence around the world align with the findings from Mexico, suggesting that the crisis has exacerbated inequities in education
“The COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools across the world, disrupting education for 1.6 billion students at its peak, and exacerbated the gender divide. In some countries, we’re seeing greater learning losses among girls and an increase in their risk of facing child labor, gender-based violence, early marriage, and pregnancy. To stem the scars on this generation, we must reopen schools and keep them open, target outreach to return learners to school, and accelerate learning recovery," said UNICEF Director of Education Robert Jenkins.
Read:Hasina urges UNESCO to declare online and remote learning as public good
The report highlights that, to date, less than 3 percent of governments’ stimulus packages have been allocated to education. Much more funding will be needed for immediate learning recovery.
The report also notes that while nearly every country in the world offered remote learning opportunities for students, the quality and reach of such initiatives differed – in most cases, they offered, at best, a rather partial substitute for in-person instruction.
More than 200 million learners live in low- and lower middle-income countries that are unprepared to deploy remote learning during emergency school closures.
Unite for common good: Hasina to global leaders
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday urged the world leaders to seize the moment to forge a strong partnership for the common good of global humanity as the world is now moving towards recovery from the pandemic fallouts.
“May I entreat that as the world is now moving on the way to recovery from the pandemic, let’s seize the moment to forge a strong partnership for the common good of our global humanity,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said this while speaking at a programme here at the UNESCO headquarters marking the 75th Anniversary of UNESCO with its Director-General Audrey Azoulay in the chair.
She said the 75th anniversary is a unique moment to celebrate the achievements while it is also an important occasion to introspect and revisit the organization’s activities for the next 25 years leading to its centenary.
“The pandemic menace has taken lives, and changed our lives. It has also taught us to survive through innovative acts and speed,” she said.
Read: South-South cooperation: Hasina for setting up ‘Knowledge Centre’ in Bangladesh
The Prime Minister put forward a four-point proposal before the global community.
Raising the proposals, she said, “First, the pandemic has severely disrupted the education system. For recovery, there’s a need for a global plan to prioritise learning by investing in digital tools and services, access to internet, digital content, and capacity building of teachers,” she said.
Secondly, Hasina said, public-private partnership must be forged for creating a technology-assisted meaningful learning environment.
In her third point, the PM said, Covid-19 vaccines must be considered as a global public good. We must ensure its access to all, especially students and educators worldwide,” she said.
In the 4th proposal, she said the benefit of science and scientific research must be harnessed for the welfare of peoples, with technology transfer at the core.
The PM mentioned that Bangladesh’s commitment to the principles of UNESCO is reflected by its early membership in 1972. “We consider this organization as one of the most effective platforms for promoting global peace and collective prosperity,” she said.
Guided by the peace-centric foreign policy of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she said Bangladesh always remains at the forefront of global peace initiatives. “Our participation in UN peacekeeping as the top contributor is one such case,” she added.
As a proponent of a culture of peace, Bangladesh has been disseminating the message of peace through instilling tolerance and respect, Hasina said.
Read: Hasina urges UNESCO to declare online and remote learning as public good
“To do this, we’ve chosen education, science, culture and communications as effective tools. Our investment is particularly enormous in education with targeted interventions like stipends, gender-sensitive approach, school-feeding programmes and ICT education,” she said.
Hasina mentioned that some 400 million free textbooks are distributed among around 42 million students in the beginning of school years.
The PM said the Digital Bangladesh vision has been preparing, through ICT based learning, the future generations for the 4th Industrial Revolution.
“We’ve launched ICT in our Education Master Plan under which about 83,000 schools were provided with ICT devices, and 3,26,936 teachers trained,” she said.
Investment in creative economy to accelerate development: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said investment in the creative economy will help fulfill the collective aim of accelerating socio-economic development and technological advancement.
“We believe that investment on the creative economy will result in realization of the collective aim of furthering socio-economic development and technological advancement,” she said while addressing the Award Giving Ceremony of the first-ever UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for Creative Economy.
Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Audrey Azoulay chaired the ceremony held at the UNESCO headquarters here.
Sheikh Hasina said she believes that UNESCO’s decision to establish the UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy is the most befitting tribute to his contribution to global humanity and peace.
“…what Bangladesh is today so different from what it was during the early years of independence is due to his visionary leadership and legacy,” she said.
Acknowledging the kind support of the international community in the development of the country over the decades, she said, “We also wish to contribute to the socio-economic development and technological advancement for the betterment of the global community despite our limited capacity.”
Hasina hoped that this international prize would strengthen UNESCO’s efforts in the field of creative economy, further contributing towards its global priority, that is, Gender Equality and the priority for youth as a group.
“This UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize will surely create a knowledge-sharing mechanism by capturing, celebrating, and communicating the best practice in the development of creative entrepreneurship,” she said.
The Prime Minister said this year Bangladesh is celebrating the Golden Jubilee of its Independence, which coincides with the ‘Mujib Year’, the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. UNESCO is officially associated with the celebrations.
Read: Rohingya repatriation: PM seeks strong steps from world leaders
Hasina said Bangabandhu was a strong advocate of multilateralism, who treated the United Nations ‘as the centre of peoples’ future hopes and aspirations.’ Bangabandhu had similar sentiments and attributes for UNESCO as a specialized UN organ.
“The actions of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman towards promoting linguistic and cultural diversity and investing in peace are similarly central to all fields of UNESCO's mandate,” she said.
Hasina said Bangabandhu’s policy decisions and establishing institutions in the field of education, culture, science and technology and leadership in establishing democracy as the cornerstone of governance in a newly-independent country are directly linked to UNESCO´s core objectives.
Immediately after the Independence in 1971, Bangabandhu made primary education compulsory for all and free, she said, adding that Bangabandhu believed that expenditure on education was the best investment and declared free schooling for girls up to grade eight.
In a war-ravaged newly-independent country with many economic challenges, Bangabandhu nationalized over 36,000 Primary schools and their more than 150,000 teachers and employees across the country. “This simple example reveals his priority for education and a knowledge-based society,” said the PM.
Following his footprints, the present Awami League government has given priority to education. “We’ve established a primary school in almost every village.”
She said the number of pre-primary and primary schools in the country is now 133, 000. Of those, 65,566 are government-run schools.
Since 2010, free books, numbering about 400 million copies, are distributed among students up to secondary level. School lunches are arranged for 2.9 million students in economically backward areas, she added.
Hasina said more than 13.03 million primary students are supported by stipends. Stipend money goes to mothers or legitimate guardians directly through their mobile phones. Another 7 million students from Secondary to higher education have been brought under various scholarships, she said.
“We’ve established Prime Minister’s Education Assistance Trust for the management of the stipend and scholarships at secondary and college levels,” she said, adding that the government has also introduced Bangabandhu Science and Technology Fellowship for pursuing MS, PhD and post-doctoral studies and researches at renowned universities at home and abroad. So far, 580 scholars have been awarded with the fellowships spending about Tk 2 billion, she added.
The government has also established 20 new public technological and general universities in the country since 2009 raising the total number of public universities to 52, she mentioned.
Read: Hasina urges UNESCO to declare online and remote learning as public good
Besides, as many as 105 private universities are offering higher education in the country. Currently, technical educational institutions are being opened in all 492 upazilas or sub-districts, she said.
The PM said these measures helped the government bring down dropouts drastically. Enrolment in pre-primary and primary level increased to 99 percent. Female-male school enrolment ratio rose to 53:47 in 2017 from 35:65 in 2009. The increasing female education has significantly lowered the rate of child marriage, she noted.
“The investment in education has started giving dividends. Bangladesh has made impressive progress on socio-economic fronts during the last one decade,” the PM added.
During the period, per capita income tripled to US$ 2,554 and poverty rate lowered to 20.3 percent from 31.5 percent, she mentioned.
Hasina said the infant mortality rate has come down to 23.67 per 1,000; maternal mortality rate to 173 per 100 thousand live births; and the average lifespan of people rose to 73 years.
Bangladesh also graduated to a developing country from an LDC this year, the PM said.
She said the Father of the Nation envisioned a Golden Bangladesh which will be economically self-reliant and free from hunger, poverty and illiteracy.
UNESCO DG Audrey Azoulay also spoke at the event, while PM’s younger sister Sheikh Rehana was present on the dais.
Hasina urges UNESCO to declare online and remote learning as public good
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday asked UNESCO to declare remote learning and online education as a global public good as these are creating a new divide.
“I also call upon UNESCO to work as a matter of priority with Governments, private sectors and other stakeholders to rally partnership and resources to make this happen,” she said while delivering her speech at the 41st General Conference of UNESCO held at its Headquarters here.
The Prime Minister said the pandemic has undermined the hard-earned achievements while it has revealed a major fault line in the education system.
According to UNESCO, close to half of the world's students are affected by partial or full school closures, she said.
“Online education evolved as a “new normal” during the pandemic. Yet, it also exposed a new divide,” she added.
In this connection, Sheikh Hasina said the advanced countries could swiftly move to online platforms. But the developing countries and LDCs were pushed further behind due to lack of resources and technologies. “This has jeopardized our decades of gains in school enrollment, literacy rate and learning of youth and adults,” she observed.
While digitisation has enhanced better services and free flow of information, all are worried by the misuse of digital tools and platforms for spreading harmful contents and hate speech, she said.
“This has a significant negative impact on the peace and stability of the society. World bodies like UNESCO should work for addressing this issue,” said the PM.
Read: Hasina invites French entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh
Talking about climate change, she said this is a life-threatening reality not only for Bangladesh but also for many other countries of the world.
Dipu Moni elected to UNESCO education committee
Education Minister Dipu Moni has been elected as a member of the UNESCO-led SDG4-Education Steering Committee in the Asia-Pacific region.
Her election came at a session of the 2021 Global Education Meeting held at UNESCO headquarters on Wednesday, said MA Khayer, the Education Ministry PRO.
Read: Still unsure about dropped out students’ number: Dipu Moni
The high-level steering committee has been formed to strengthen the activities of the member countries in achieving SDG-4.
Two members have been elected in the committee from each region of the globe.
Dipu Moni has thanked all for electing her a member of the committee.
Read: Nearly 240 mn children with disabilities around world: UNICEF