Regional Office of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on response to COVID-19 in West African countries.
The signing was done by Mr Yao Ydo, UNESCO Regional Director and Mr Leopoldo Amado, ECOWAS Commissioner for Education, Science and Culture in Abuja, a report by the News Agency of Nigeria stated.
According to the report, Ydo said the response is in line with UNESCO’s mission of contributing to the building of a culture of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue.
He stated also that the move is in line with the mandate of ECOWAS to promote socio-economic integration and development in all its Member States.
“Conscious of the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, education, socio-cultural and economic activities of all 15 member-states of ECOWAS, the two entities developed a joint work plan of interventions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
“The strategic work plan with clear expected results for the immediate and long terms includes programmes in the fields of education, science and culture.
“It includes capacity building interventions to ensure continuity of learning during the pandemic and training in pedagogical and administrative reforms for the reopening of schools in post COVID-19.
“It also includes assistance in strengthening Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), Systems and support for the promotion of cultural heritage and artistic expressions,” Ydo was quoted.
It was made known, according to the director, that UNESCO and ECOWAS had pooled financial and technical resources for the actualisation of the joint response.
Ydo added that both institutions welcome this important step in their cooperation and commit to further strengthening it to ensure the achievement of the regional and global developmental goals in ECOWAS member states.
Said to had commented also was Mrs Magdalene Anene-Maidoh, UNESCO Partnerships Officer, who explained that COVID-19 pandemic took ECOWAS member States by surprise, hence the need to mitigate such occurrences in the future.
Anene-Maidoh stated further that the framework of the MoU was targeted at building resilience in the education, science and cultural sectors.
“In the education sector, we are working to improve the capacity of teachers to conform to the requirements of distance learning.
“We have few teachers that qualify for distance learning, so we are engaging master trainers to coach teachers in the 15 member states.
“We also want to conceptualise the global report requirements of UNESCO in the safe reopening of schools.
“Our schools need to be reopened in a safe and healthy condition,” she was quoted.
She noted that the bodies were engaging science experts, Ministers of Science and Technology in the 15 member states through a webinar for solutions to mitigate future crisis.
Hinting on culture, the Anene-Maidoh stated that artists were engaged to create messages on their art works and avail them virtually.
“Artists are not working now; most of them have lost sources of livelihood because nobody goes to the museums.
“We are engaging these artists so as to create virtual access to museums and what they have,” Anene-Maidoh was again quoted.
She added that the implementation of the framework has been drawn to last from June until December 2020.
DISCLAIMER
The OPINION / COLUMN is authored by independent contributors to the National Accord Newspaper. While contributors adhere to our editorial guidelines, they are not employed by the National Accord Newspaper. The perspectives and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the National Accord Newspaper or its staff.