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Tag: UNESCO

  • UNESCO, Lagos State Govt partner to train 4,000 youths on ICT

    The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) says it is partnering with the Lagos State Government to train four thousand youths on Information Communication and Technology (ICT) skills.

    Mr Ydo Yao, the Regional Director of UNESCO, made this known on Thursday in Abuja.

    Yao spoke at the graduation ceremony of 418 youths in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on development of mobile applications for entrepreneurship.

    He said that UNESCO was committed to remodel ICT by engaging youths in the country meaningfully to be self-reliant economically and contribute to nation development.

    According to him, the training is in line with the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development to reduce unemployment rate.

    “UNESCO is engaging young women and men in promoting peace and ensures the prevention of violent extremism.

    “We have already started discussion on how to work with the Lagos State Government to empower 4,000 unemployed youths within two years,” he said.

    The regional director said that the demand to train youths in ICT skills across the country was high, noting that the organisation was committed to support the government, both at national and state levels.

    Also, Mr Moses Viho, the Assistant Director Planning in the Lagos State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, said that the state had a great number of unemployed youths which makes the training imperative.

    According to Viho, the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund is willing to provide counterpart funding and technical skills to train youths.

    He said: “UNESCO has shown competence in the training of youths in ICT skills and that is why we are looking forward to commence this YouthMobile Project in Lagos.

    “We are looking forward to starting the programme in May, to engage our youths and reduce the rate at which social vices happen in the state and its environs.”

    Viho recalled that the Technical Working Group of the project recently took a stock of the facilities in Government Technical Colleges in the state to assess the level of infrastructure in the institutions.

    He said that they wanted to ascertain their readiness toward actualising the project.

    Viho, however, called on supporters of the project in the FCT to extend its support to Lagos for an inclusive ICT development in the country.

     

  • 1 out of world’s 6,000 languages disappears every 2 weeks – UNESCO warns

    The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), has warned that at least one out of the world’s estimated 6,000 languages disappears every two weeks.

    According to the UN cultural agency, at least 43 per cent of the estimated 6,000 languages spoken in the world are endangered.

    UNESCO said only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given a place in education systems and the public domain, and less than a hundred are used in the digital world.

    Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, said on the occasion of the 2018 International Mother Language Day that “our values, beliefs and identity” are embedded within language.

    Pointing out that every two weeks a language disappears, Azoulay underscored that “promoting multilingualism also helps to stop this programmed extinction.”

    “Every two weeks, one of the world’s languages disappears, along with the human history and cultural heritage that accompanies it,” the chief of the UN cultural agency warned.

    Azoulay called for greater efforts to preserve and promote mother languages and indigenous languages, to bolster inclusion, diversity and ultimately, sustainable development.

    “A language is far more than a means of communication; it is the very condition of our humanity. Our values, our beliefs and our identity are embedded within it.

    “It is through language that we transmit our experiences, our traditions and our knowledge. The diversity of languages reflects the incontestable wealth of our imaginations and ways of life,” she added.

    The 2018 theme for Mother Language Day is: “Linguistic diversity and multilingualism count for sustainable development.”

    The UNESCO chief quoted Nelson Mandela as saying: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”

    Calling the Day an “essential component of the intangible heritage of humanity,” Azoulay underscored UNESCO’s long-standing commitment to preserving and vitalising language, defending linguistic diversity and promoting multilingual education.

    “This commitment concerns mother languages in particular, which shape millions of developing young minds, and are the indispensable vector for inclusion in the human community, first at the local level, then at the global level,” she elaborated.

    Azoulay said UNESCO supports policies, particularly in multilingual countries, which promote mother languages and indigenous languages and recommends using them from the first years of schooling, because children learn best in their mother language.

    The UN agency also encourages their use in public spaces and especially on the Internet, where multilingualism should become the rule, she added.

    “Everyone, regardless of their first language, should be able to access resources in cyberspace and build online communities of exchange and dialogue,” said Azoulay.

    She called access to language resources “one of the major challenges of sustainable development, at the heart of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.”

    “On the occasion of this international day, UNESCO invites its Member States to celebrate, through a variety of educational and cultural initiatives, the linguistic diversity and multilingualism that make up the living wealth of our world,” she concluded.

     

  • UNESCO to empower 50,000 girls, women in ICT

    UNESCO to empower 50,000 girls, women in ICT

    UNESCO will on Tuesday launch the second phase of its project to empower illiterate girls and women in low Performing Junior Secondary Schools through Information Communication Technology in Bauchi State, an official has said.

    The project is targeted at 50,000 girls and women, Mr Olushola Macaulay, the National Officer, Communication and Information, UNESCO, said in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.

    The first phase of the project, “Revitalising Adult and Youth Literacy in Nigeria” supported by the Federal Government, addressed the challenges of illiteracy.

    In the previous project, 60,000 illiterate women, girls in low Performing Junior Secondary Schools were trained in life skills and use of ICT in the Federal Capital Territory and Rivers in 2016, Macaulay said.

    According to him, the second phase of the project is funded by Procter and Gamble, an American-based consumer product company, and targets schools in Bauchi State.

    He said that the strategy to be deployed in the current project would be “School Meets the Learner Approach’’.

    “This is to empower additional 50,000 illiterate women and girls in low-performing Junior Secondary Schools.

    “The objective of the second phase of the project is to bring schools to the doorsteps of the learners using technology, where learners have difficulties in accessing education in a formal setting.

    “The launch of the project, School Meets the Learner Approach, marks the beginning of the UNESCO new initiative to Education.

    “This is where ICT devices, such as television, tablets, and mobile phones are deployed to learners in their homes, workplaces to facilitate teaching and learning,” Macaulay said.

    He said over the years, various government institutions had instituted policies, established structures and supported interventions aimed at addressing the high level of illiteracy in the country.

    According to him, statistics by the Federal Ministry of Education indicates that only 500,000 out of 40 million adult illiterates are enrolled in adult learning classes.

    He said there were also 3.5 million school age children roaming the streets with only 450,000 accessing any form of schooling.

  • Over a quarter of African population connected to Internet in 2016

    Over a quarter of African population connected to Internet in 2016

    Expanded connectivity has enabled about 341 million people in African countries to have access to the Internet, a report said.

    The report was released by the Internet Society during the Africa Regional Internet and Development Dialogue on Monday.

    “Thanks to increased access to mobile broadband and the development of submarine cables, more than a quarter of the African population had Internet access in 2016.

    “This represents a significant opportunity to use the Internet to provide education and learning opportunities,’’ the report said.

    The report entitled: “Internet for Education in Africa, Helping Policymakers to Meet the Global Education Goals”, assesses how the Internet is used in the education sector in Africa.

    It also looked at the untapped opportunities by examining experiences in other regions, and provides recommendations for policymakers to help encourage learning via the Internet.

    Dawit Bekele, Africa Regional Bureau Director for the Internet Society, said that a skilled workforce that can use ICT effectively to solve Africa’s problems will determine Africa’s competitiveness in the global economy.

    “Policymakers have a critical role to play in creating the necessary ecosystem for integrating ICT in education,” he said.

    The first Africa Regional Internet and Development Dialogue was organised in partnership with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation and Rwanda’s Ministry of Youth and ICT.

    Government and inter-governmental organisation officials, business and educational leaders from across Africa will discuss how Africa can use the Internet to advance education, innovation and job creation.