The organization has launched a series of initiatives to support the education of young people across the globe.
Rabat – UNESCO Maghreb has launched an initiative called “Maghreb youth in action to meet the challenges of COVID-19,” in partnership with NGOs from the Maghreb region, to empower young people and support them throughout the global COVID-19 crisis.
The initiative, launched today, April 21, is a consultation campaign with the youth of the region to aggregate their visions and actions in the face of the pandemic’s challenges.
The challenges that UNESCO is prioritizing are those of remote education, access to information, combatting disinformation, promoting human rights and gender equality in times of crisis, and access to culture and science, said UNESCO Maghreb in a press release.
According to UNESCO, young people are essential actors in the reflection process to face the crisis and develop the fundamental post-crisis mechanisms.
“They have the creativity, the potential, and the ability to improve societies for themselves and for the rest of the world,” said the document.
UNESCO launched the initiative in partnership with three NGOs–the Association Initiatives Citoyennes from Morocco, SIDRA from Algeria, and Nefzawa from Tunisia–as well as Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya as a media partner.
The partners have set up a regional platform to launch an exchange between the Maghreb youth about the current COVID-19 challenges.
The initiative will also allow young people from the Maghreb to participate in the international awareness campaigns launched by UNESCO around the world to prepare for the period following the COVID-19 crisis.
UNESCO, like all UN-affiliated organizations, is actively participating in the global effort to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the world’s population.
On March 18, the organization promoted free access to its digital library for learners across the world. The library contains thousands of articles, books, documents, and photos.
According to recent statistics from UNESCO, approximately 1.5 billion children and young people around the world are unable to go to school due to the novel coronavirus. The figure represents 87% of school-aged children globally.
