Message from Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the International Day of Peace
21 September 2020
“Peace on earth is everyone’s responsibility; it is a universal responsibility.”
On this International Day of Peace, these words, spoken by Otomí Tolteca, a member of Mexico’s indigenous Otomí community, remind us of our duty to show solidarity towards our fellow human beings; the building and defending of peace is a universal enterprise, a collective undertaking, which is carried out daily and which concerns us all.
Being responsible for peace means acting, on a personal scale, to overcome the flaws and injustices which continue to prevent us from achieving an egalitarian world. Because a fractured planet is a planet which knows no peace.
Seventy-five years ago, in the aftermath of a terrible war, the world equipped itself with an instrument for building peace over time, through dialogue and compromise: the United Nations.
At UNESCO it is our conviction that this mission must necessarily and from the very outset involve work on education, culture and science, given that, as expressed in our Constitution, “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed”.
Ours is a conviction held firmly in both the mind and the heart: every day, through our programmes and our actions in the field, UNESCO reaffirms our founders’ commitment to ensuring that peace is more than just the absence of war. It is this commitment which we resolutely honour throughout the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013-2022).
Nevertheless, because peace requires daily effort and entails transformation, the path towards universal peace is a long one. Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the first President of an independent Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, liked to say that “Peace is not a word, but a behaviour”. We celebrate his legacy by awarding the Félix Houphouët-Boigny – UNESCO Peace Prize.
Now more than ever, solidarity and cooperation are essential to building peaceful societies and fighting against discrimination, particularly the kinds of discrimination to which the world’s most vulnerable populations are subjected.
On the occasion of this International Day, our Organization calls on everyone to engage in dialogue and to share ideas about the future with due respect for diversity of opinion and of perspective. This is a challenge we must face together in order to achieve lasting peace worldwide.

To ensure that young people are at the center of the #SaveOurFuture campaign, we are asking youth (under the age of 35 ) around the world to tell us about their hopes for the future.

This survey will capture your ideas, your priorities, and most importantly, your vision for the future, and how education can help get us there.

The results from this survey will feed into a global action plan that will be presented to world leaders in September and provide an evidence-based roadmap with concrete actions to build education systems back better.

If you wish to include your organization’s logo on the campaign website (which will link to your site) – please join us by uploading your logo and info here.

In the last few months the Coordination Group of the UNESCO Collective Consultation of NGOs on Education 2030 has held two virtual meetings in order to realize our main objective to support the implementation of SDG 4 – Education 2030.

We have elaborated a very short survey (10 minutes to fill, deadline 11 June 2020) to ask you about States and civil society responses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in order to protect the right of education. This survey will guide future learning opportunities to build our capacity for action, advocacy and cooperation here

Read the interview with Muriel Poisson of UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning on open government - government-citizen interaction which relies on the principles of transparency, citizen engagement, and participation as well as government responsiveness.

Interview in English

As part of UNESCO’s response to COVID-19 education disruption (#LearningNeverStops), we asked students, teachers and parents from the UNESCO Associated Schools Network to share their stories on how they are coping with school closures and continuing to learn at home.

We received many inspiring contributions from around the world. You can watch their videos and written messages on our campaign page, on our global social media channels and YouTube playlist.

We’re now inviting students, teachers and parents everywhere to share their testimonies directly on their own social media accounts by recording and posting their short videos, tagging @unesco and using the hashtag #LearningNeverStops. More tips and instructions are available here.

Check out this short teaser and watch some of the testimonies below:

Noelle, student, Hong Kong SAR China (Facebook – Twitter)

Ndapewa, teacher & parent, Namibia (Twitter)

Jean Marc, teacher, France (Twitter)

Marwa, high school student, Lebanon (Facebook – Twitter)

Agustina, student, Argentina (Facebook – Twitter)

Many thanks for your support in promoting UNESCO’s call to amplify voices from around the world on how learning never stops – even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In these challenging times, today more than ever, sport can contribute to peace by inspiring the respect of rules, enhancing determination and hope for the future.

As you know April6, the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace is approaching and we strongly believe that this represents a propitious day to continue sending a message of global solidarity, respect of the rules and reinforce fraternity and cooperation.

This year Peace and Sport encourages everyone to honor this international day by getting mobilized digitally and using creativity. Webinars, photo contests, online tournaments, and #WhiteCard photos are all initiatives that can be set up everywhere to be part of this global and digital solidarity movement.

As a sign of your commitment, we invite you to participate in the #WhiteCard operation around April 6th.

As a reference to the yellow and the red card in the sporting world, since 2014 a #WhiteCard is a symbol representing the positive power of sport for peace and social inclusion. Behind each WhiteCard, there is a story: that’s the core message of the 2020 #WhiteCard campaign. It seeks to highlight and draw attention to the stories of individuals and beneficiaries who have been positively impacted by sport all around the globe on social media.

Below you will find further information  on the #WhiteCard campaign, a social media toolkit, some examples of meaningful stories, and some ideas to get mobilized digitally. For more detailed information, please visit the www.april6.org platform and register your initiative.

Digital mobilisation for the international day of sport for development and peace

Social media guide

The 9th Global Meeting of the Collective Consultation of NGOs for Education 2030 (CCNGO-Education 2030) was held in Hammamet, Tunisia on 2- 3 December, 2019. Over the course of 2 days, the over 150 participants deliberated on how to strengthen inclusion and equity in education as a human right and public good.

You can find the article Civil society education advocates kick off global meeting in Tunisia, the concept note and program, the photos and videos of the meeting by clicking on the following link  https://en.unesco.org/news/civil-society-education-advocates-kick-global-meeting-tunisia and on twitter @education2030UN #CCNGO2019 #Edu2030NGOs

The article Civil society: Social and political action to prioritize education on political agendas and the photo and composition of the CCNGO coordinating group will be accessed by clicking on the following link https://en.unesco.org/news/civil-society-social-and-political-action-prioritize-education-political-agendas

You can read the Outcome statement of the 9th Collective Consultation of NGOs on Education 2030 by clicking HERE : CCNGO 2019 Outcome Statement

207th Session of the Executive Board 

207EX/11. Item 11: Comprehensive partnership strategy

October 18, 2019

Speech by Marie-Claude MACHON-HONORÉ
Chair of the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee

NGOs in official partnership with UNESCO have been part of  UNESCO’s DNA since its creation when the Member States wished to associate them in order to benefit from their expertise and promote UNESCO’s values.
NGOs’ thematic working groups under the auspices of the Liaison Committee, the international forums organized in cooperation with the Secretariat, the celebration of international days as well as the field projects led by  NGO partners are all aligned with the programs and priorities of UNESCO.
Still we can go further together by strengthening our partnership so that NGOs’ competences and their ability to act effectively at the global, regional and local levels may increase the visibility of UNESCO’s actions and improve the implementation of its programs as well as of the 2030 Agenda.

UNESCO’s official NGO partners are ready to fully join in the strategic transformation to strengthen UNESCO as a think tank and provide innovative solutions to burning issues, in greater collaboration with UNESCO’s field offices and National Commissions.
Our NGOs are international and active on all continents. As ECOSOC members, for most of them, they regularly interact with their representatives at the United Nations and its other agencies.
Cognizant of our shared responsibility, we are fully aware of the urgency of strengthening our partnership to overcome the new challenges and achieve sustainable development and peace.

Video of the speech (in French), click HERE: Discours Conseil Exécutif

207th Session of the Executive Board 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ON NON-GOVERNMENTAL PARTNERS 

October 11, 2019

Speech by  Marie-Claude Machon-Honoré,  Chair of the International Conference of  NGOs & NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee

Mr Chair of the NGP Committee, Mr Representative of the Director General, Dear Mr Le Saux, Excellencies, Dear NGOs, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The role of the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee is to represent the interests of all NGOs, implement the recommendations as adopted by the International Conference of NGOs (ICNGO) and thus define a strategy for the collective cooperation of the 2 years’ mandate.

The ICNGO, which I have had the honour of chairing since December 2018’s elections, gathers UNESCO’s official NGO partners every two years; according to the 2011 guidelines, it is an element of collective cooperation, meeting and dialogue between  NGO partners and the Member states.

The last Conference’s theme was “Valuing the commitment and contribution of UNESCO’s NGO Partners” and focused on “The collective strength of NGOs” and on “Communicating, informing and engaging in dialogue.”

The Conference called for a strengthened partnership with NGOs and reaffirmed its commitment to the success of Agenda 2030.

The Conference called on the Liaison Committee to contribute to the creation of new opportunities for interaction and dialogue for more effective cooperation with Member States and UNESCO.

That is why, as part of its 2019-2020 strategy, the Liaison Committee has launched a collective reflection to strengthen our partnership.
Several proposals on new ways of dialogue within appropriate spaces, governing bodies and existing mechanisms for interaction between NGOs and Member states, have been put together in a document which aims to contribute to the reflection carried out by Member States on improving the modalities of dialogue with NGOs (Document 207EX/33).

Regarding NGO’s engagement and collective contribution to UNESCO programmes, another group of NGOs is working on a ‘Climate Campaign’. In addition, the Liaison Committee, with the assistance of NGOs, is continuing its cooperation with the CCONG/Education 2030 as an active member of the coordination group.

The 2018 Conference also reaffirmed the importance of forums organised in consultation with UNESCO, as provided by the Guidelines, in the various regions. The Conference called on the Liaison Committee to continue its efforts to better  take into account  the cultural and geographical diversity of NGOs.

The forums are the showcase of our collaboration with UNESCO. They offer an opportunity to strengthen our partnership by involving more Member States, UNESCO field offices and National Commissions.

The Committee will hold the 11th International NGO Forum, the first of its mandate, on 16 and 17 December at UNESCO Headquarters on the theme “Challenging Inequalities”.

Other themes selected for the forums in preparation are Global Citizenship;  Science, Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in support of the UN Agenda 2030, and Cultural Heritage.

We are looking forward to your important participation in these forums, in order to raise awareness and mobilize civil society organizations around UNESCO’s values and priorities both internationally and locally.

The ICNGO’s recommendations also include the NGO’s celebration of two international days in 2020: Peace, with a choir festival and youth participation, and the Girl Child , in line with our cross-cutting priorities  on youth and gender equality.

I will conclude by emphasizing the importance of strengthening the NGO-UNESCO partnership for the successful implementation of UNESCO’s programmes and the Agenda 2030 more generally speaking, and by being convinced that an active and increased dialogue with Member states and the  Secretariat is an essential part of our success for all of us.

The next UNESCO General Conference will provide us with another opportunity to engage with Member states in the NGO Space and we will welcome you there to discuss our activities and look to the future together and  for the common good.

I thank you for your attention,

Marie-Claude Machon-Honoré, Chair of the  ICNGO and NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee.

Video of the speech (in French), click HERE : Discours-PNG

INVITATION