Month: March 2022

Symposium Comprehensive sexuality education: A global learning and sharing symposium on health, well-being, values and equity I 1-3 June 2022

Symposium Comprehensive sexuality education: A global learning and sharing symposium on health, well-being, values and equity I 1-3 June 2022

The Global Partnership Forum on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), gathered by UNESCO and UNFPA, aims to consolidate knowledge management and share strategic information, good practice and research to inform stronger programming on CSE. The forum brings together an active and visible community of CSE advocates and stakeholders, advancing policy and social dialogue on CSE.

In order to take this agenda forward, UNESCO and UNFPA, on behalf of the Global Partnership Forum on CSE, will organise a three-day international virtual symposium from 1-3 June 2022.

The symposium will bring together young people, education professionals, academic experts, donors, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) practitioners and advocates, government representatives, religious and traditional leaders, artists and activists, along with other stakeholders, to present the latest evidence, promote dialogue and provide guidance for advancing effective, evidence-based approaches on education for health, wellbeing and positive values on sexuality.

The symposium will cover three overarching themes:

  • Day 1: Social, cultural and political environment of CSE,
  • Day 2: People’s participation and involvement in CSE,
  • Day 3: Processes and methods of teaching CSE

The symposium will be held in English, with simultaneous translation into French and Spanish.

More information on the symposium

Call for abstracts – deadline 6 April 2022

Up to 65 speakers from different regions of the world will be invited to participate, of which approximately 16 will be selected through a call for papers. Young people, i.e. those aged 25 or younger, will be particularly encouraged to participate and will be invited to present their work.

Contributions are expected on research as well as non-research activities, i.e. innovative programmes, conceptual frameworks and advocacy findings related to comprehensive sexuality education. Successful abstracts will be invited to make oral presentations at the symposium, and may be presented in any of the three languages of the symposium, namely English, French or Spanish. Oral presentations will be 10 minutes long, as part of a panel on a similar theme, with additional time for discussion.

More information on the call for abstracts

Deadline for submission: 6 April

Posted by Didier in News
Call for participation: Collection of case studies on genuine participation of children and young people

Call for participation: Collection of case studies on genuine participation of children and young people

The UNESCO Chair has launched a call for participation to collect case studies of successful projects and initiatives on how to involve children and young people in improving their health and wellbeing. The collection and analysis of case studies is part of a global initiative on genuine participation of children and young people in health promotion. The case studies will help us to improve, test and implement models and approaches for children’s and young people’s genuine participation in the future. They will be included in a publication, edited by Professor Didier Jourdan, chair holder of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education, and colleagues. Everyone who is involved in or has experience with initiatives and projects that actively involve children and young people in promoting their health and well-being is invited to contribute.

For more information download the Call for participation or visit the dedicated webpage.

We would be grateful if you could share this call for participation with your relevant contacts and networks.

Posted by Didier in News
UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education and JOGG: joining forces for a Lifestyle Transition

UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education and JOGG: joining forces for a Lifestyle Transition

Press release – The UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education and JOGG are combining forces to put a Lifestyle Transition on the agenda of national and international policymakers. A Lifestyle Transition for and together with today’s young people. A healthy future demands cross-domain cooperation focused on creating a healthy environment and a healthy lifestyle. Something which does not end at national borders.

Unhealthy environment

A healthy future begins with a healthy younger generation. Among children and young people who grow up in a healthy environment. But at the moment that environment is far from healthy. Everywhere children go they are constantly being bombarded with messages to eat both unhealthy food and too much of it, while they enjoy less and less physical exercise. On top of which the differences in health between those from poorer backgrounds and those who are better off, are only growing. The result has been a huge increase in diseases of affluence, including among children. Together with all the adverse effects that this has, both for the individual and for society.

Joined action for a Lifestyle Transition

“The present lifestyle crisis demands action. Action to narrow the health gap and improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people,” says JOGG director, Marjon Bachra. “We need to move towards a society where being able to have a healthy lifestyle is the norm. But we can only achieve that by taking a holistic approach. One which embraces all domains and sectors. Something on which both JOGG and the UNESCO Global Health & Education Chair agree. It is high time for a Lifestyle Transition.”

From today JOGG and the UNESCO Chair will support one another on the road to creating a healthier society, both nationally and internationally. The active involvement of children and young people themselves plays an important part in this. For example, the JOGG Youth Health Community is supporting the UNESCO Chair with an international project aimed at actively involving young people in creating a world which is healthy and pleasant to live in. Not just because participation is their fundamental right, but because it is also vital if the interventions to improve health are to be effective.

About JOGG – Healthy Youngsters with a Healthy Future

JOGG is a driver of the Lifestyle Transition in the Netherlands. The organisation has developed and facilitates a worknet which connects more than 200 Dutch municipalities and roughly a hundred other partners in society, fundamental and applied research and the business community. It is described as a ‘worknet’ because all the parties are working to achieve this. Based on the integrated JOGG approach, together they are working to create a healthier environment for the young, in policy and in practice. An environment in which it is easy to eat healthy food, get sufficient exercise and relax.

About the UNESCO Chair for Global Health & Education

The UNESCO Chair for Global Health & Education is a UNESCO Chair associated with the Clermont Auvergne University in France, with Professor Didier Jourdan as chairholder and Goof Buijs as manager. The UNESCO Chair works globally to strengthen health promotion and disease prevention, targeted mainly towards young people and aimed at lifelong learning. The emphasis is on creating the right conditions whereby children and young people can take more control of their own lives, as individuals, as members of their community and as world citizens.

Posted by Didier in News
Save the date – Global Community Health Annual Workshop 2nd edition

Save the date – Global Community Health Annual Workshop 2nd edition

The second edition of the Global Community Health Annual Workshop will take place from 28 till 30 June 2022. The interactive workshop will take place online and is free of charge. Practitioners, students, policy makers and researchers from all over the world are welcome to join. More information about this second workshop will follow soon.

Would you like to stay informed about the workshop? Please send an email to info@unescochair-ghe.org.   

The second edition of the Global Community health Annual Workshop is organised by the UNESCO Chair on Global Health & Education, EHESP School of Public Health and the International Union for Health Promotion and Education IUHPE.

Posted by Didier in News
New publication: Questioning Education. Moving from What and How to Why and Who

New publication: Questioning Education. Moving from What and How to Why and Who

This new book “Questioning Education. Moving from What and How to Why and Who” by Sean Slade was published early March 2022.

How can we rethink the future of education as a system, process, and tradition to make lasting changes in the post-pandemic world? This book reminds us that education prepares students for their futures and yet has become stuck in the past. The author, Sean Slade, asks us to move from our focus on education as a content-delivery system and instead reflect on its overarching purpose(s). He shows how we can shift our systems and our curriculum discussions away from beginning with the What and How, and instead start with the Why and Who.

This book will inspire you to reconsider what school is and what power you have to make changes, so we can all play a role in improving ourselves, our systems, and our world.

The book contains three parts:

  • Part 1: The Educational Solar System 
  • Part 2: Diving Deeper into Each Question or Visiting Each Planet: From Why to Who to Where and When to How and What 
  • Part 3: A Flipped Solar System

More information

Posted by Didier in News
Webinar Transitioning to a sustainable food system and delivering on the SDGs – The potential of school meals

Webinar Transitioning to a sustainable food system and delivering on the SDGs – The potential of school meals

EURAGRI and CIRAD invite you to join the online webinar “Transitioning to a sustainable food system and delivering on the SDGs – The potential of school meals” on 21 March 2022 from 14.00 – 16.30 CET.

The first United Nations Summit on Food Systems (UNFSS) took place in 2021. It addresses food security and food systems’ sustainability and their contribution to achieve the SDG’s. These issues are widely recognised to be among the most significant challenges humanity is facing today together with associated issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss.

Many people lack access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. Furthermore, food has enormous social, cultural and political significance influencing how policies are formulated and how pathways to a more just and sustainable food system are identified.

In preparation of and during the summit, actors at many levels, government representatives, civil society, the research community, and the private sector, engaged in discussions which resulted in several coalitions. Among them the “School Meals Coalition: Nutrition, Health and Education for Every Child” was established, and actively supported by most states. It is accompanied by a Global Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition led by Professor Donald Bundy (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine).

This coalition approach is of great interest to develop best practices concerning transformational research and systematic evaluation of the impact of interventions to achieve transformation.

Download the programme here

Register here 

Posted by Didier in News
UNICEF report: Preventing a lost decade

UNICEF report: Preventing a lost decade

Two years into the pandemic, the widespread effects of COVID-19 continue to worsen, increasing poverty and deepening inequalities. While some countries are recovering and rebuilding a ‘new normal’, for many, COVID-19 remains a crisis. The human rights of children around the world have not been so threatened for more than a generation.

The global response so far has been very uneven and inadequate. The world now stands at a crossroads. The actions taken today will determine the well-being and rights of children for years to come.

As UNICEF celebrates its 75th anniversary, the report “Preventing a lost decade. Urgent action to reverse the devastating impact of COVID-19 on children and young people” takes stock of the effects of the ongoing impact of  COVID-19 on children and outlines the road to respond and recover to reimagine the future for every child.

For more information and to download the report (available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic)

Posted by Didier in News