Released for 2024 International Women’s Day, “Her Education, Our Future” is a documentary film following the lives of Anee, Fabiana, Mkasi and Taina – four young women across three continents who struggle to fulfill their right to education

Multilingual education policies, highlighted by this year's International Mother Language Day (21 February) are crucial for inclusive education and the preservation of indigenous languages. Research underscores the benefits of using learners' native languages in education, fostering better learning outcomes and self-esteem. Multilingual education not only promotes inclusive societies, but also aids in preserving non-dominant, minority, and indigenous languages. It is a cornerstone for achieving equitable access to education and lifelong learning opportunities for all individuals.

The core message of the new UNESCO Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development is that education plays a transformative role in shaping a peaceful future for all.

Abdullahi Mire's foundation has supplied over 100,000 books donated by education charities and former refugees living in the diaspora to support schools in Kenya's Dadaab camp and to establish three public libraries. 

Being a teacher provides a unique opportunity to make a transformative and lasting impact on the lives of others, contribute to shaping sustainable futures and achieve personal fulfillment. World Teachers’ Day (5 October) this year is observed under the theme "The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage". The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) highlights the importance of putting at the top of the global agenda stopping the decline in the number of teachers and starting to increase that figure

Education is a fundamental human right. For children and youth caught up in emergency situations, education not only means the continuity of learning, but it also provides a sense of normalcy and the key to a different future, alerts the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). With the knowledge, skills and support gained through education, generations survive crises and lead the world toward a sustainable future. This is particularly true for vulnerable groups including girls, migrants, refugees and people with disabilities, among others.

“It's not just food and assistance, you need to give these children a life, a life of full opportunities..."

When thousands fled the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, fearing the loss of millions of lives, stayed on. Every day since, the former UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in the country has fought to ease the acute suffering of its people. “I believe we are the last, best hope that humanity has. And we have to stand for it. For [many] we represent this larger world of justice, the moral compass. We must keep that.”

More than 9 in 10 Afghans now live in poverty, with 24.4 million reliant on humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, mounting restrictions on freedoms have excluded millions of women from work and study. In this episode, Dr. Alakbarov reflects on three painful years of Taliban rule, on the desperate need for long-term prospects, and on finding hope amid the darkness.

Photo credit: ©UN Afghanistan

School health and nutrition has a positive effect on children's academics, yet 1 in 3 schools lack access to drinking water and basic sanitation, according to UNESCO, UNICEF and WFP.

Children worldwide are being denied their basic human right to an education. UNICEF-financed Education Cannot Wait brings us the stories of perseverance and hope emerging on the frontlines.

Mary Nkisonkoi is a community project facilitator in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya and a beneficiary of an ILO project aimed to reduce poverty and improve living conditions through decent work.

Today, as Afghan girls and women face growing education and work restrictions — and are hardest hit by the country’s hunger crisis — reaching students like Hazra is more important than ever. Indeed, nearly half the children WFP reaches with school feeding support are girls. Launched in Afghanistan more than two decades ago, WFP’s school feeding programme — which also includes nutrition snacks made of local ingredients — aims to link food security and better nutrition with education among school-aged children.

Education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility. Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving the SDGs, including gender equality or breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind. It's time to transform education. UNESCO is dedicating year’s International Day of Education to girls and women in Afghanistan who have been deprived of their right to education. It is calling for the immediate lifting of the ban restricting their access to education.

This year’s OxFID Global Youth Challenge 2022 focused on the advancement of the implementation of the fourth phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education. “People cannot protect, defend, and promote something that they do not fully understand,” said Jean Linis-Dinco, the leader of one of the three winning teams, “It is imperative for young people to come together and understand human rights.” UN Human Rights strives to ensure that the work on human rights education is not only conducted for youth, but also with and by youth.

UNESCO and Google have begun distributing 50,000 computers to Ukrainian teachers to help them deliver distance learning. Training in digital tools will also be provided to them.

On the International Day of the Girl, a project promoting girls’ education in low-income communities in Cambodia, and a Tanzanian mentoring initiative helping girls at risk of dropout through crucial school transitions have both been awarded this year’s UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women's Education. The two laureates, selected by the international jury of the UNESCO Prize are “Room to Read Cambodia’s Girls’ Education Programme” and the “Girls' Livelihood and Mentorship Initiative” (GLAMI) from Tanzania. Each laureate will receive an endowment of US$ 50,000 to advance its work.