Thursday, January 17, 2008

Culture and Human Rights

Culture and Human Rights

Created in 1945 to combat "the denial of the democratic principles of the dignity, equality and mutual respect of men", UNESCO, through its founding ideals, prefigured the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed sixty years ago. For the signatory states of the UNESCO Constitution, the “dissemination of culture” is more than a right; it is a sacred obligation.

UNESCO and partners help teachers bring technology to the classroom

UNESCO initiated, in 2006, a project aimed at providing core standards for the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) into the classroom. Competency Standards for Teachers (CST) were launched on 8 January 2008 after two years of development, at the Moving Young Minds conference, an international seminar gathering 100 education ministers from around the world to discuss the role of technology in enhancing education.

  • ICT competency standards for teachers: policy framework
  • ICT competency standards for teachers: competency standards modules
  • ICT competency standards for teachers: implementation guidelines: version 1.0
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    UNESCO takes Mini-laboratories and Microscience to the Middle East

    For a decade now, UNESCO has been introducing the methodology for microscience into the education systems of both developed and developing countries. One of UNESCO’s key partners in this endeavour is the RADMASTE Centre, Witwatersrand University, South Africa. Training workshops in microscience have been organized in some 84 countries and recently, UNESCO has turned its attention to the Middle East.

    In collaboration with the Islamic Organization for Education, Science and Culture (ISESCO), UNESCO has introduced the microscience project into Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories and Syria. As project coordinator at UNESCO, Maria Liouliou took part in the first training workshops in Beirut and Ramallah, in November 2006 and February 2007.


    The microscience methodology gives primary and secondary school pupils and university students alike an opportunity to conduct practical scientific experiments in physics, chemistry and biology using kits that come with a textbook. These kits are veritable mini-laboratories. They are perfectly safe, insofar as pupils never need to use more than a couple of drops of chemicals for each experiment. The kits are also affordable and far cheaper than conventional laboratory material. Each kit is compact, can be reused and is unbreakable because made of plastic. In addition, the small quantities of chemicals used make it environment-friendly.


    Friday, January 11, 2008

    UNESCO and HP Sign Strategic Partnership Agreement

    UNESCO and Hewlett-Packard (HP) signed a strategic partnership agreement on 19 December to strengthen their collaboration around existing education projects.

    “UNESCO’s education priorities are very much in line with the goals of HP’s education strategy. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, HP has supported more than 200 education projects in over 20 countries, reaching over 50,000 young people in 2007. On a worldwide level, HP contributed grants to more than 850 schools in 36 countries, worth €30 million between 2004 and 2007,” said Gabriele Zedlmayer,vice president, Global Citizenship HP Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

    Tuesday, January 8, 2008

    UNESCO photo contest on The Changing Face of the Earth


    UNESCO’s International Geoscience Program (IGCP) is running a photo contest on the theme of The Changing Face of the Earth, to raise awareness among youth of the state of the planet. There are several cameras and 40 book prizes to be won. Entries close on 30 June 2008.

    Happy One-hundred Years, Unesco!

    LIEN / LINK, the journal of the former employees of UNESCO, has just published its 100th issue. Jacques Richardson has written an interesting article for the issue titled "Happy One-hundred Yeats, UNESCO." His abstract:
    Just as the world’s educational, scientific and cultural atmosphere helped shape Unesco’s programs during the 20th century, so would certain emergent factors help lend new form and dynamism to the Unesco of the first half of the 21st century and its future.

    Here is the story of how this happened.

    UNESCO: 2008: The Year Ahead in Education

    Quality, inclusion, financing and governance in education are some of the major themes UNESCO will address in 2008.

    Among key UNESCO events to advance Education for All (EFA) are two regional literacy conferences, the International Conference on Education, the EFA Working Group and High Level Group meetings and the launch of the 2009 EFA Global Monitoring Report. More
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