Marlova Jovchelovitch Noleto, Director and Representative, UNESCO Brasilia Office
The UN reform comes in the right moment. The UN and UNESCO are being challenged to prove their relevance and to show their capacity to give the right answers to a world shaken by profound transformations and by a significant humanitarian crisis.
UNESCO’s mandate is more relevant than ever and can offer innovative solutions by showing its capacity to respond to the demands of Member States in a timely manner. In that regard, the strategic transformation proposed by the Director-General is urgent. It is time to transform the Organization to become more agile, decentralized and flexible, being able to deliver concrete solutions.
In the BRICS the main challenges are reducing inequalities and distributing in a more equitable manner all the major breakthroughs brought by economic development. UNESCO must develop a strategy to support not only the BRICS but also other middle-income countries.
The cost of inequalities is high and we must address it. The access to public policies and services, especially in education, is imperative. UNESCO is the leading agency for SDG 4 and can implement flagship projects with targeted actions to achieve the 2030 Agenda, aiming to leave no one behind. An important example in the BRICS is the challenge related to the employment force and technical and vocational education where UNESCO can make a difference.
In Brazil UNESCO has a high credibility and we ensure that it keeps its relevance by supporting policy formulation, acting as a strategic think tank, with research and knowledge production that can contribute to the design of our projects. Some examples include contributing to rethink education to develop new abilities and capacities in a context of increasing new technologies, implementing the 2005 Convention supporting the governance of culture and developing innovative projects that contribute to strengthen the social protection system throughout Brazil. The Office implements projects that are aiming to diminish the environmental impact and tackling illiteracy of adults. Some of them are replicated in Portuguese-speaking countries, and promote as such South-South cooperation.
The Office closely collaborates with civil society, the academia and is expanding the cooperation with the private sector.
Finally, Brasilia Office is piloting an innovative experience within the UN reform under the Business Operations Strategy (BOS). The idea is to improve the efficiency of project implementation at the country level and the capacity to operate jointly with other UN entities, allowing UNESCO to offer a more efficient service, which can strengthen our operations in the field.
The time has come to guarantee a sustainable future for all and UNESCO must show its capacity and efficiency to contribute to this endeavor.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of UNESCO