Building Knowledge Societies in Islands
UNESCO contributes to Chapter XVIII of the Mauritius Strategy on Knowledge Management and Information for Decision-making by applying an interdisciplinary approach. In order to build inclusive knowledge societies, UNESCO fosters media pluralism and the freedom of the press, the preservation of documentary heritage, universal access to information in the public domain and a broader access to knowledge.
UNESCO assists SIDS in developing policies and cooperation mechanisms for the adoption of open education resources, open access, free and open source software. It also promotes policies related to information and communication technologies (ICTs) that are both gender-sensitive and gender-inclusive.
- Full summary in Islands of the Future – Building resilience in a changing world (pdf)
Networking TV producers on HIV and AIDS
UNESCO's Network of Young TV Producers on HIV and AIDS is a UNAIDS-supported project that has strengthened the professional skills of more than 300 young television producers worldwide since 2002, including 40 participants from 18 SIDS. The trainees have taken part in awarness-building sessions about the challenges raised by the HIV and AIDS panemic and the risks related to multiple concurrnet partners, low levels of condom use, gender-based violence, homophobia, social stigma and drug abuse.
Today, UNESCO’s Network of Young TV Producers on HIV and AIDS is active in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Maldives, Montserrat, Solomon Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Martin and St Vincent and the Grenadines and Papua New Guinea.
Rolling out open educational resources in the Caribbean
UNESCO is supporting the mainstreaming of ICTs in education policies in the Caribbean through a series of consultative workshops and by offering technical guidance to countries in the region. In June 2013, the Ministry of Education, Sports, Youth and Gender Affairs of Antigua and Barbuda announced cabinet approval of an open educational resources policy. The policy is part of a broader policy on ICTs in education that has been developed in collaboration with UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning.
Meanwhile, draft policies on open educational resources have been developed by UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning for Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis and St Vincent and the Grenadines. The draft policies were submitted to the governments of these three countries between May and October 2013 and are currently being considered for adoption. A draft policy on open access was also submitted to the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines in 2013
