The Recommendation on OER - adopted unanimously by the UNESCO General Conference at its 40th session in November 2019 - supports the creation, use and adaptation of inclusive and quality OER, and facilitates international cooperation in this field.
The Recommendation is the only existing international standard-setting instrument on OER and is the fruit of over a decade of efforts to bring together a wide diversity of stakeholders.
The Recommendation outlines five Areas of Action, namely:
- Building the capacity of stakeholders to create, access, re-use, adapt and redistribute OER;
- Developing supportive policy for OER;
- Encouraging inclusive and equitable quality OER;
- Nurturing the creation of sustainability models for OER; and
- Promoting and reinforcing international cooperation in OER.
The UNESCO OER Recommendation, which supports the creation, use and adaptation of inclusive and quality OER, and facilitates international cooperation in this field, is the fruit of over a decade of multistakeholder efforts in the area of OER. highlighted by an inter-governmental meeting in May 2019 . This Inter-governmental meeting organised by UNESCO brought together some 100 Experts nominated by UNESCO Member States as well as Observers from civil society and partner Intergovernmental Organizations. This meeting resulted in a draft text that was adopted by consensus by all UNESCO Member States at the 40th Session of the UNESCO General Conference in November 2019.
At an international level, the adoption of the Recommendation constitutes a decisive step towards building more open and inclusive knowledge societies and towards the achievement of the UN 2030 Agenda. Indeed, the implementation of the Recommendation will contribute to the achievement of at least six Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), namely SDG 4 (Quality education), SDG 5 (Gender equality), SDG 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure), SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities within and across countries), SDG 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the goals).
In order to implement the actions laid out in the Recommendation, UNESCO has established a multi-stakeholder mechanism to facilitate international and regional cooperation, namely the OER Dynamic Coalition.
Consult the Recommendation on OER.