Tag: Culture and education

He called for countries to deliver education systems “that can support equal societies, dynamic economies and the limitless dreams of every learner in the world.”

Data from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) shows that some 244 million boys and girls are still out of school this year.

Additionally, 70 per cent of 10-year-olds in low and middle-income countries are unable to read and understand a simple text.

Potential in peril

The theme for the International Day this year is “to invest in people, prioritize education”.

Special focus is being given to girls and women in Afghanistan who have been prohibited from attending secondary school and university in the wake of the Taliban takeover in August 2021.

The Secretary-General said education is a fundamental human right and the bedrock of societies, economies, and every person’s potential.

However, he warned that this potential will “wither on the vine” without adequate investment.

“It has always been shocking to me that education has been given such a low priority in many government policies and in international cooperation instruments,” he commented.

Reimagining the classroom

Mr. Guterres recalled that at the Transforming Education Summit, held last September, countries gathered together to “reimagine education systems so every learner accesses the knowledge and skills required to succeed.”

More than 130 nations made commitments to ensure that universal quality education becomes a central pillar of public policies and investments.

The Summit outcomes included a Call to Action on Educational Investment, as well as the establishment of the International Financing Facility for Education.  

Several global initiatives were launched there, including to mobilize support for education in crises settings, girls’ education, transforming teaching, and ‘green’ education systems.

End discriminatory laws

“Now is the time for all countries to translate their Summit commitments into concrete actions that create supportive and inclusive learning environments for all students,” said Mr. Guterres.

“Now is also the time to end all discriminatory laws and practices that hinder access to education,” he added.

“I call on the de facto authorities in Afghanistan in particular to reverse the outrageous and self-defeating ban on access to secondary and higher education for girls.” 

‘Serious attack on human dignity’

UNESCO has dedicated the International Day of Education to all the girls and women in Afghanistan who have been denied the right to learn, study and teach.

“The Organization condemns this serious attack on human dignity and on the fundamental right to education,” Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement. 

Currently, 80 per cent, or 2.5 million school-aged Afghan girls and young women are out of school.  This includes 1.2 million who have been banned from secondary schools and universities following the decision of the de facto authorities.

Ms. Azoulay reported that her agency continues to work in Afghanistan, in close liaison with local communities, to ensure that schooling can continue, whether by means of literacy courses or via radio.

“UNESCO also remains the primary source for the monitoring of education data in Afghanistan, particularly data related to higher education.  We will continue to mobilize the international community in order to uphold Afghan girls’ and women’s right to education,” she added.

‘A basic human right’

Other UN agencies and senior officials have signalled their support for the universal right to education.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, took to Twitter to urge governments to ensure everyone has an opportunity to learn.

“There’s no excuse for holding #education hostage,” he wrote.  “It’s a basic #humanright – NOT a privilege – and a powerful investment for ending poverty, promoting justice, driving sustainable development & building (world) peace.”

‘Let women and girls learn’

The UN humanitarian affairs agency, OCHA, recalled that nearly 200 million crisis-affected children and adolescents are either out of school or not learning.

OCHA tweeted that “especially in times of crisis, education must be prioritized so that no one is left behind!” 

In a separate tweet, the agency underscored that “women and girls in Afghanistan belong in schools” with the simple message “Let women and girls learn.”

OCHA chief Martin Griffiths is currently in Afghanistan, together with senior UN and NGO leaders, to examine the aftermath of the Taliban’s ban on Afghan women working with local and international humanitarian organizations, announced last month.

The decision has forced the suspension of some aid operations and sparked fears that the dire humanitarian situation in the country will only worsen. This year, 28.3 million people, two-thirds of the population, will require urgent assistance.

Courage and resilience

The visit follows a UN mission last week headed by the Organization’s highest-ranking woman official, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, focused on the impact of the humanitarian ban in an effort to promote and protect women’s and girls’ rights.

Ms. Mohammed was accompanied by Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, and Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for UN political, peacebuilding and peace operations.

“We have witnessed extraordinary resilience. Afghan women left us no doubt of their courage and refusal to be erased from public life. They will continue to advocate and fight for their rights, and we are duty bound to support them in doing so,” said Ms. Bahous.

On Friday, the UN launched the International Decade of Indigenous Languages to help them survive, and protect them from extinction. 

The Organization has long advocated for indigenous peoples, who are the inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the environment. 

A benefit for all 

Preserving their languages is not only important for them, but for all humanity, said the President of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi. 

“With each indigenous language that goes extinct, so too goes the thought: the culture, tradition and knowledge it bears. That matters because we are in dire need of a radical transformation in the way we relate to our environment,” he said. 

Indigenous people make up less than six per cent of the global population but speak more than 4,000 of the world’s roughly 6,700 languages, according to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). 

Alarm bells ringing  

However, conservative estimates indicate that more than half of all languages will become extinct by the end of this century. 

Mr. Kőrösi recently returned from the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal and left convinced that “if we are to successfully protect nature, we must listen to indigenous peoples, and we must do so in their own languages.” 

Indigenous peoples are guardians to almost 80 per cent of the world’s remaining biodiversity, he said, citing data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

“Yet every two weeks, an indigenous language dies,” he remarked.  “This should ring our alarms.” 

The General Assembly President urged countries to work with indigenous communities to safeguard their rights, such as access to education and resources in their native languages, and to ensure that they and their knowledge are not exploited. 

“And perhaps most importantly, meaningfully consult indigenous peoples, engaging with them in every stage of decision-making processes,” he advised. 

More than words 

During the launch, indigenous persons and UN Ambassadors – sometimes one and the same – made the case for protection and preservation. 

Language is more than just words, said Mexican Ambassador Juan Ramón de la Fuente, speaking on behalf of the 22-member Group of Friends of Indigenous Peoples. 

“It is at the essence of the identity of its speakers and the collective soul of its peoples. Languages embody the history, culture and traditions of people, and they are dying at an alarming rate,” he warned. 

Cultural identity and wisdom 

Leonor Zalabata Torres, an Arhuaco woman and Colombia’s UN Ambassador, drew applause for her address, delivered partly in Ika, one of 65 indigenous languages spoken in her homeland. 

“Language is the expression of wisdom and cultural identity, and the instrument that gives meaning to our daily reality that we inherited from our ancestors,” she said, switching to Spanish.  

“Unfortunately, linguistic diversity is at risk, and this has been caused by the dramatic reduction of the use and the accelerated replacement of indigenous languages by the languages of the majority societies.” 

Ms. Zalabata Torres reported that the Colombian government has underlined its commitment to implementing the 10-year plan on indigenous languages, which is centred around pillars that include strengthening, recognition, documentation and revitalization. 

Language and self-determination 

For Arctic indigenous communities, language is critical to political, economic, social, cultural and spiritual rights, said representative Aluki Kotierk. 

“In fact, every time an indigenous person utters a word in an indigenous language, it is an act of self-determination,” she added. 

However, Ms. Kotierk said native tongues and dialects “are in various levels of vitality”. 

She envisions a time where Arctic indigenous peoples “can stand taller in their own homelands with dignity, knowing that they can function in all aspects of their lives, in their own language, receiving essential public services in the areas of health, justice, and education.” 

Towards linguistic justice 

Mariam Wallet Med Aboubakrine, a doctor from Mali, advocates for indigenous peoples in Africa, particularly the Tuareg. 

She urged countries “to deliver linguistic cultural justice to indigenous peoples”, which will only contribute to reconciliation and lasting peace. 

She expressed hope that the International Decade will culminate with the adoption of a UN Convention “so that every indigenous woman can cradle and comfort her baby in her language; every indigenous child can play in their language; every young person and adult can express themselves and work in security in their language, including in digital spaces, and to ensure that every elder can transmit their experience in their language.” 

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), despite the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, this bucked previous economic downturn trends.

Latest data shows “continued and sustained growth” in intellectual property filings, “driven largely by increases from Asia, with other regions also trending mostly upward”, said WIPO Director General Daren Tang. 

“IP filing strength during the pandemic showed that people across the world continued to innovate and create despite the economic and social disruptions caused by the pandemic”, he added.

Asia major

Data published in WIPO’s latest World Intellectual Property Indicators report indicates that innovators filed 3.4 million patent applications globally last year, which was up 3.6 per cent from 2020 – with Asia driving more than two-thirds of requests.

Up by 5.5 per cent, China and India showed strong growth in local patent filings along with South Korea, which jumped 2.5 per cent.

In the United States, patent filing dropped by 1.2 per cent, in Japan by 1.7 per cent and in Germany by 3.9 per cent, last year.

“Most countries registered increases in trademark filing activity in 2021, with 18.1 million trademark class counts worldwide in 2021, up 5.5 per cent, on 2020”, the Geneva-based agency explained.

Post-pandemic boom

WIPO also noted that the growth in registering new brands coincided with a boom in entrepreneurial activity and venture capital deals that was prompted by the COVID-19 disruption.

“Industrial design filing activity rose by 9.2 per cent,” WIPO’s report said, with the largest growth in designs also from Asia.

Amid an uncertain geopolitical outlook and unresolved problems relating to the climate crisis, the WIPO Director General argued that intellectual property resilience “should not be taken for granted”.

“Another economic downturn is looming and geopolitical tensions have increased”, he warned. 

Mr. Tang insisted that challenges including climate change and ensuring the success of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) means that “we have to continue supporting innovators and creators to use the IP system to bring their ideas to reality, and create the impact that will change our lives for the better”.

“If you do something in a video game and then it appears in real life, you notice that you have this power to change your community, to change the world, and you start getting involved in other projects,” explains Mr. Gastelum, the first person in UN history to hold the title “Video Game Expert”.

Mother’s pride

This skillset has been put to good use in the workshops he leads, where young people redesign renderings of public spaces on the Minecraft platform – where players build and tend their own virtual worlds – and get the chance to see those plans turned into reality, transforming neglected, unwelcoming urban environments into safe, vibrant, and popular parts of town.

“We go to the community, teach them how to play Minecraft, and then the community members are the ones who change the public space into what they desire or what they need in Minecraft,” he says. “It’s the best job in the world! I’m playing video games, I’m travelling, I’m meeting people, and I’m teaching. I’m improving the planet.”

Looking back on his childhood growing up in Mexico City, Mr. Gastelum laughs when he recalls how his mother used to scold him for wasting his time on screen. Now she takes pride in the fact that he’s not just gaming – he’s a game-changer.

The workshops are organized by the Block by Block Foundation, a collaboration between Microsoft, Mojang (the makers of Minecraft), and UN-Habitat, the UN programme for human settlements.

Access all areas

The foundation says that it has implemented over 50 projects in 30 countries since 2012, giving millions of young people access to a public space they designed in Minecraft.

“Millions and millions of people play Minecraft,” says Shipra Narang Suri, Chief of UN-Habitat’s Urban Practices Branch. “And we’ve actually allowed children as young as six or seven to express their views on the re-design of public spaces. And then we help put it into proper design and take it to city leaders and make sure that it gets done.”