PARIS, France, November 11, 2021 –UNESCO’s 41st General Conference opened in Paris on Tuesday, November 9, and will conclude on November 24 to discuss issues such as cultural policies, the future of education and ethics in science.
The Bahamas’ delegation at the conference is headed by the Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin, Minister of Education, Technical and Vocational Training.
A special ceremony is scheduled for Friday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the specialized UN agency in education, science and culture, an event in which at least 25 heads of State and Government, in addition to a large number of ministers, are expected to participate.
UNESCO Communication and Public Information Director Matthieu Guevel said that the General Conference will address issues of great relevance for the international community and will have important decisions to make.
All 193 Member States will have the opportunity to adopt the first global recommendations for the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence and Open Science, Guevel stressed.
UNESCO has spearheaded revolutionary concepts such as the Universal Copyright Convention, the conservation and protection of World Heritage sites, the creation of Biosphere Reserves and international cooperation on those and other issues, Guevel said.
The ongoing 41st UNESCO General Conference focused on education issues and called on the international community to increase investment in education.
During this conference, heads of state, government and education ministers from more than 40 countries passed the “Paris Declaration” on the 10th local time. This global appeal initiated by UNESCO and France is aimed at the COVID-19 crisis. Increase investment in education as soon as possible.
Among them, each seat represents 1 million children, and schools in the countries where these children are located have been completely closed for nearly a year.
According to reports, at the worst moment of the epidemic, 1.6 billion children and young people around the world were unable to go to school. Among them, 500 million children, mainly students from developing countries, still cannot enjoy distance education.
UNESCO quickly mobilized governments, international organizations and enterprises to form a global education alliance, ensuring the continuity of education in 112 countries.
However, according to the latest statistics from UNESCO, schools in 65 countries are still completely or partially closed, affecting 750 million students.
In countries where schools have reopened, there is another worrying issue: some children do not return to the classroom, and girls are particularly affected.
UNESCO estimates that 11 million girls worldwide are at risk of not being able to return to school after the epidemic.
Since 2015, UNESCO member states have pledged to invest 4-6% of GDP or 15-20% of public expenditure in education, but most countries have not yet reached this threshold.
In addition, low-income countries seem to spend only 1% of post-epidemic stimulus funds on education, even in the wealthiest countries, this proportion is only 2.9%.
SOURCE: Compiled from reports on the Internet.
