Cameroon has made education a priority and it was essential for UNESCO to support these efforts. Thanks to the Global Partnership for Education, today we're mobilising $44.5 million to boost the improvements of the country's school system. This is yet another example of UNESCO's firm commitment to supporting all its Member States in their efforts to achieve universal access to education.
Audrey AzoulayUNESCO Director-General
With these new funds, UNESCO and Cameroon will work together to modernise school curricula, with a particular emphasis on multilingual education. The Organization will provide more than 4 million school textbooks and teaching manuals. It will also support the training of 15,000 teachers as well as 13,000 headteachers, trainers and educational professionals. Finally, this initiative will provide school meals to children from the poorest families to further support their schooling.
This initiative in Cameroon joins those already undertaken by UNESCO in many other African countries. In recent years, the Organization has notably raised $15.7m for education in Burundi, $48.2m in Chad, $39.5m in Côte d'Ivoire, and $10.7m in the Republic of Congo - again as part of the Global Partnership for Education. At a time when the African Union has dedicated 2024 as the year of education, UNESCO is once again demonstrating its role as a leading partner of African states in this field.
20 African countries to access UNESCO's educational TV channel
As part of her visit, Audrey Azoulay also visited the Yaoundé Distance Education Centre, set up in 2020 to ensure the continuity of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the health emergency having subsided, the centre has found a new purpose in spreading educational content to pupils living in the most remote areas of the country. It now boasts more than 300 teachers who have already created and distributed online more than 1,800 multilingual courses covering every general and technical secondary education subject.
The Yaoundé Centre will take on a new role this year, hosting the very first recording studios for EDUCA-TV, UNESCO's new educational channel. Broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, this television channel will offer two types of programmes: school content to help students prepare for exams, and non-formal education content on issues such as public health, environmental protection and media and information literacy. It will be accessible free of charge in twenty countries across the region.
Cameroon praised for its multilingual education
The Director-General of UNESCO also took part in the International Literacy Day celebrations, hosted this year by Cameroon at the initiative of President Paul Biya. The event was an opportunity for Audrey Azoulay to pay tribute to Cameroon's efforts in promoting multilingual education, while recalling that 40% of the world population still do not have access to education in their native language.
The celebrations were marked by the presentation of the UNESCO International Literacy Prizes, which each year seek to reward outstanding literacy initiatives around the world. The six winners - from Austria, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria and Panama - received grants ranging from $20,000 to $30,000 to support the continuation of their projects.
Literacy remains a major global challenge: today 754 million adults (aged over 15) cannot read or write, nearly two-thirds of them women. And in developing countries, three quarters of children aged 10 are unable to read and understand a simple text. UNESCO is calling on all countries to work together to make education a reality for everyone.
About UNESCO
With 194 Member States, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization contributes to peace and security by leading multilateral cooperation on education, science, culture, communication and information. Headquartered in Paris, UNESCO has offices in 54 countries and employs over 2300 people. UNESCO oversees more than 2000 World Heritage sites, Biosphere Reserves and Global Geoparks; networks of Creative, Learning, Inclusive and Sustainable Cities; and over 13 000 associated schools, university chairs, training and research institutions. Its Director-General is Audrey Azoulay.
"Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed" - UNESCO Constitution, 1945.
