The Global Media and Information Literacy Week, commemorated annually, ended Sunday which is a major occasion for stakeholders to review and celebrate the progress achieved towards "Media and Information Literacy for All."In 2021 the UN General Assembly decided to commemorate the week (October 24-31), citing the need for the dissemination of factual, timely, targeted, clear, accessible, multilingual and science-based information.The resolution recognises that the substantial digital divide and data inequalities that exist among different countries and within them can be addressed in part by improving people's competencies to seek, receive and impart information in the digital realm, said the UN Information Centre in Dhaka Sunday.The theme of this year was "Media and Information Literacy for the Public Good." During the Global Media and Information Literacy Week, the Department of Global Communication of the United Nations together with Purpose organised an event on fighting the Covid-19 Infodemic to highlight the lessons learned over the last 18 months around the Verified initiative.Since May 2020, Verified has reached over 1 billion people around the world with reliable, accurate information about Covid-19.In 2021, the campaign has moved towards a model that centres communications efforts on reaching vulnerable populations who have not yet been reached or have not responded to traditional public health communications.The 90-minute virtual event was held Thursday and brought together panelists representing governments, the private sector, the entertainment industry and the Brazilian Olympic Team who have all been close collaborators in our work this year.The aim of the event was to exchange experiences of Verified partners and collaborators and to further encourage their engagement with the Verified campaign.In the current ecosystem of complex and sometimes contradictory messages and meanings, it is hard to conceive of the public good being advanced, if the public is disempowered in the face of opportunities and threats.Each individual needs to be equipped with media and information literacy competencies to understand the stakes and to contribute to and benefit from information and communication opportunities.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Friday reached out to the global media to let the world know that Bangladesh looks for vaccines desperately and is ready to accept any shipment desperately from any country, including the United States.  "We need it desperately. If any shipment comes, we’ll take it right away," he told CNN in a live interview.  Dr Momen said the big problem is that a large number of people in Bangladesh who took the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca could not take the second dose. "Because we don't have any more. We can't give them the second dose. That’s creating a lot of problems for us," said the Foreign Minister.  Read: More countries approached for vaccines; talks with China at final stage: FM He said the government of Bangladesh is trying to get vaccines from other places and they were delighted when Bangladesh heard that the US will be distributing some of the AstraZeneca vaccines that they have.  Dr Momen said he had requested the US government and sent a letter to his counterpart US Secretary of State. "They agreed to give us by and large." Now the problem is, he said, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking a long time to approve the export of AstraZeneca. Dr Momen said they are thankful to US President Joe Biden for announcing that the USA will be distributing some of the Astrazeneca vaccine doses to developing countries, pretty large numbers - 60 million plus 20 around - 80 million doses. "This is good news for us." Exploring Multiple Options  On Thursday, Dr Momen said the government is giving its best efforts to get vaccines connecting multiple countries - the United States, China, Canada, Russia and the UK apart from its continuous request to India to meet Bangladesh's urgent needs.  He said the discussion with China is almost at the final stage while they are expecting a positive reply from the US on the vaccine front. While talking to reporters at State guesthouse Padma, Dr Momen said there are people who could not take the second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to short supply from India.  He also highlighted the ongoing discussion with Russia. "Hope, everything will be settled within a week." Responding to a question, the Foreign Minister said they came to know unofficially that Bangladesh is not in the priority list of the USA as there is a lesser number of deaths in Bangladesh. "I didn't like the idea. They (US) don't think it's a crisis in Bangladesh," he said, adding that it is an emergency issue for Bangladesh. US State Department Coordinator for Global COVID Response and Health Security Gayle E. Smith has said the United States is going to be the largest sharer of vaccine jabs putting 80 million additional vaccine doses into the mix. "I can’t tell you at this point what the allocation is going to be per country. We’ll have information for you later on. And as I think I mentioned, we are also, with respect to India and also India’s neighbors, mounting an emergency humanitarian response given the surges that are ongoing there," she said. In a telephonic media briefing on Wednesday, Smith referred to an announcement by US President Joe Biden earlier this week that they will be sharing 20 million vaccine doses from their own stocks in addition to the 60 million AstraZeneca doses that were announced previously by the President.   "So that means we’re going to be putting 80 million additional vaccines into the mix, making us the largest sharer of vaccine doses thus far," she said. Read:S Korean envoy shares historical documents with FM Momen The US official said given the surge there, India has been a major priority for the US.  "We’ve delivered $100 million in emergency assistance; mobilised with the American private sector a pretty amazing response, again, from the American private sector and public, and we’ll continue to do so." Smith said she does not have anything to say yet on the ultimate allocations, but they will reach out and make sure that all are informed when those decisions are made. Responding to a question on India, Dr Momen said India did never say that they will not give vaccine doses to Bangladesh but failed to deliver.  He said India was requested to provide vaccine doses to Bangladesh as a gift to meet its emergency need if India has an embargo on export.  "I should say we had a very positive discussion (with my Indian counterpart," Dr Momen said.