Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies The International Literacy Day will be celebrated one more time on the 8th September. Each year, a specific theme is chosen to focus the event on one important problematic. For 2023, the theme is: “Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies”.[1]   This theme serves as a reminder of the utmost importance of literacy in an ever-changing world. Therefore, it becomes necessary to adapt the means of promoting literacy. Indeed,...

The 37th Universal Periodic Review Working Group (UPRWG) Session was held from the 18th to the 29th of January 2021. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a mechanism of the Human Rights Council that reviews the human rights situation of each of the 193 UN Member States once every 4 ½ years. It provides an opportunity for all States to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and which recommendations they will have to implement before the next review. Istituto Internazionale Maria...

Since 1994, World Teachers’ Day is held annually on 5 October to commemorate the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers (https://en.unesco.org/themes/teachers/ceart ), which sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions. In 2020, World Teachers’ Day will be dedicated to the theme “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future”, providing the occasion to celebrate the teaching profession and draw attention to the voices of teachers worldwide. This...

IIMA and VIDES Human Rights Office is currently participating remotely in the 44th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (30 June – 17 July 2020). An oral statement was delivered through video message on July 3 during the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education (Item 3). In their statement, IIMA and VIDES welcomed the Report of the Special Rapporteur addressing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the right to education (A/HRC/44/39). Indeed, the health crisis has aggravated pre-existing inequalities in education, especially for those...

On June 24, 2020, IIMA members from East Asia met online to discuss the topic on how to “guarantee the right to education in the time of the pandemic”. The meeting was moderated by Sarah Garcia, IIMA Main Representative at the UN and Director of IIMA Human Rights Office in Geneva. IIMA members and educators from Cambodia, Myanmar, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam attended the meeting.  “One of the biggest challenges of the current situation is ensuring education for all. This meeting is a...

On the occasion of the 42nd Session of the Human Rights Council, IIMA and Vides International, together with the permanent Mission of the Philippines, organized the side  event: “Promoting a Safe and Empowering Environment for all Children and youth - best practices for child and youth protection and participation through human rights education” held at the Palace of the Nations on September 25, 2019. The event was co-sponsored by sixteen Permanent Missions: Egypt, El Salvador, Italy, Portugal, Ethiopia, Montenegro, Poland, Sierra Leone, Brazil, Thailand, Colombia, Haiti, Mexico, Spain, Holy See, Uruguay; and also...