UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning Bulletin, May 2020

Dear readers,

In most countries around the world, educational institutions remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are implementing distance education measures while at the same time planning for reopening where the health situation allows.

UNESCO and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) continue to support Member States during this time of crisis to ensure that learning does not stop. During the past month, UNESCO learning cities have shared their experiences in facing current challenges through webinars on issues such as distance education, refugees and migrants, and health, as well as through video interviews.

With this Bulletin, I invite you to read about these experiences but also to find out more about further UIL initiatives such as the African launch of the Global Report on Adult Learning and Education, and our new landscape study 'From Radio to Artificial Intelligence: Innovative Literacy Learning and Education for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons.'

Wishing you good reading!

David Atchoarena

IN FOCUS: COVID-19 response

Many of the 173 UNESCO learning cities around the world have developed targeted approaches to ensure learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. In webinars organized by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, hundreds of city representatives and further experts have joined forces to share expertise and discuss the way forward. Issues such as distance education, health, migrants and refugees, and higher education were at the centre of the most recent meetings.

Find out more about the outcomes and future webinars.

In UIL video interviews, mayors and experts from UNESCO learning cities around the world explain how they are providing education to all of their citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic, what challenges they are confronted with and what steps are being taken to prepare for reopening education institutions. Learn more

UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Food Programme and the World Bank issued new guidelines on the safe reopening of schools amidst ongoing closures affecting nearly 1.3 billion students worldwide.The guidelines offer practical advice for national and local authorities on how to keep children safe when they return to school. Learn more

As part of the #LearningNeverStops campaign, UNESCO is calling on learners, teachers and parents from around the world to record and share a video on their social media channels to tell the world how they are keeping up with their education and handling this unprecedented interruption. Join in!

UNESCO learning cities from around the world are currently working hard to provide learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. But what is a learning city and how does it work? Find out more in our multimedia stories about the UNESCO learning city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Learn more

The current crisis need not result in a further erosion of social and economic rights and the widening of inequalities – it also represents an opportunity to appeal to global solidarity and rehumanize lifelong learning, writes Maren Elfert. Learn more

On World Book Day 2020, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) launched the German translation of the publication Books beyond Bars. It argues that the human right to education is particularly important in prisons, as they often come from disadvantaged socio-economic and educational backgrounds. Learn more

Educational interventions to address the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic need to acknowledge the realities of life in the most disadvantaged communities if they are not to exacerbate existing inequalities, argues Rakhat Zholdoshalieva in her UIL blog post. Learn more

On the occasion of World Book Day, Lisa Krolak highlights the transformative potential of providing incarcerated parents with the opportunity to practise literacy skills while bonding with their children,in a post on the UIL blog. Learn more

In her remarks at the African GRALE 4 launch, Sarah Anyang Agbor, the African Union’s Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, explained ‘I am confident that the findings of GRALE 4 will guide policy-makers on the continent to position learning and education for adults, starting with women, at the core of their efforts towards sustainable development.'
Watch the full statement

‘Rising participation in adult learning and education is pivotal for achieving all Sustainable Development Goals,’ affirmed UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education Stefania Giannini in her address for the African GRALE 4 launch.
Watch the full statement