To NGOs in official partnership and foundations in official relations with UNESCO
Ref.: BSP/DPA/CSP/20/010
Paris, 24 April 2020
Dear Partners,
As you may know, our programme related to non-governmental organizations has successfully been integrated within the Bureau of Strategic Planning approximately a year ago, under a new Division for Partnerships.
I am writing to you within this framework and would like to express my support to you, your colleagues and families in the context of this extremely challenging situation related to the COVID-19 outbreak, that has affected all of us since December.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global public health crisis, whose consequences have resonated deeply at the heart of UNESCO’s mission. Since the very start of the outbreak, UNESCO has been following very closely key priority areas as identified by United Nations Secretary-General Mr António Guterres, and has concentrated its immediate action on supporting open science, ensuring distance learning, promoting reliable information, as well as sharing knowledge and culture.
In line with the United Nations’ response, UNESCO has launched several initiatives, globally and locally, and is working on the ground to answer to the most urgent needs in its fields of competence. It has also already started considering the post-COVID-19 world in terms of recovery and resilience.
In the last two months, UNESCO has convened ministerial roundtables in the fields of education, science and culture, and has launched, for instance, the Global Education Coalition COVID-19, bringing together international organizations, civil society and the private sector to find solutions to the worldwide educational disruption; and recently the global movement #Resiliart, aiming to show the resilience of art and develop mechanisms to help artists overcome this crisis.
I strongly encourage you to consult this link: https://en.unesco.org/covid19 in order to find out more about UNESCO’s ongoing and upcoming activities related to COVID-19.
Civil society engagement with UNESCO has always been important in helping us realize our common mission, and we hope that, together, we will rise to this challenge. We also count on our NGO partners to consider contributing to UNESCO’s efforts in this regard, and to raise awareness and play a multiplying role in relaying our campaigns and activities.
Ms Sabina Colombo and her team within the Unit for Civil Society Partnerships stand ready to guide you as appropriate, so as to facilitate your engagement and possible contribution to UNESCO’s action, and will not fail to keep you informed on future developments and other important initiatives.
Yours sincerely,
Jean-Yves Le Saux Director
