Plenary Sessions

Opening session - High-level ministerial segment

2.00 p.m. – 3.45   p.m. 

Session 1 - Advancing on the SDGs through Media and Information Literacy in Digital Spaces 

for people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnerships

4.15 p.m. – 5.30 p.m.

Policymakers and development experts recognize the essential role that information plays in sustainable development. Media and information literacy and digital competencies enable citizens to understand and critically analyze information and engage with digital technologies, media and information repositories effectively. They also develop critical thinking and life-long learning skills of individuals to become active citizens participating in sustainable development processes. This session sheds light on: 

1. The concrete way of linking MIL and digital competencies to the SDGs. 

2. The role of MIL and digital competencies to contribute to achieving the global categories (5Ps) of the sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda for people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnerships.  

4th UN Round Table 

Coordinating joint actions across UN Programs and Funds for Media and Information Literacy for all

10.00 a.m. – 11.15 a.m.

Media and information literacy is related to all the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda. The UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation calls for joint UN action to address issues surrounding the digital transformation. This session will outline some ways in which media and information literacy is relevant to the mandates of different members of the UN family, and concrete areas of co-operation. 

1. What strategies can be developed to strengthen international cooperation on Media and Information Literacy?  

2. What are some key projects on Media and Information Literacy and digital competencies in digital spaces that can be jointly expanded? 

Session 2 - Defining a multi-stakeholder action-plan on MIL in digital spaces

11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Media and Information Literacy in digital spaces require multistakeholder cooperation.  The UNESCO Guidelines for regulating digital platforms: A multi-stakeholder approach to safeguarding freedom of expression and access to information, which were discussed at the UNESCO “Internet for Trust” Global Conference on 21-23 February 2023, set out actions needed to strengthen media and information literacy. A multistakeholder approach on media and information literacy necessitates purposeful inclusive design, implementation, and evaluation of strategies and policies. This panel will scope actionable steps that digital platforms and stakeholders can take to integrate MIL in their strategic plans, policies, and products. It will advance collaboration among stakeholders to operationalize the user empowerment through media and information literacy aspects of the UNESCO guidelines for regulating digital platforms. 

1. What should be the next steps for the operationalization of the Guidelines?  How do we ensure a multistakeholder participation through this process?

2. What are some best practices for promoting MIL in the digital space? 

3. What are key strategies for monitoring and evaluating the process? 

Session 3 - Better Digital Spaces 

Countering disinformation, hate speech and discrimination

2.00 p.m. – 3.30 p.m.

Media and information literacy and digital competencies can contribute to seeking and defending truth, preventing the spread of disinformation and hate speech, and thereby create inclusive societies, through promoting fair representation and participation. Developing MIL competencies enables individuals to distinguish between fact and opinion, verified information and misleading content and to develop critical skills to counter disinformation, hate speech, intolerance and racism.  Better digital spaces will in turn contribute to tackle the disruption of democratic processes and ultimately contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.   

1. How does MIL contribute to ensuring the availability and reliability of information in a safe and open digital sphere? 

2. What are the good practices of MIL as an integrated set of competencies to tackle disinformation, misinformation and to address hate speech in digital spaces? 

3. How does MIL contribute to strengthening democratic institutions, protecting electoral integrity, and preventing conflict in the context of electoral-related conflicts. 

Session 4 - Agents of Change 

Social media influencers championing media and information literacy 

3.45 p.m. – 5.15 p.m.

We are facing a new digitized social era dominated by a growing number of influencers of all backgrounds on social media platforms, who have a significant social media impact on their followers, both positively and negatively, and notably onyouth.  This reality requires great professionalism, ethics and responsibility. Enhancing media and information literacy competencies among social media influencers and opinion leaders will enable them to become MIL peer educators and frame how they produce and share content in digital spaces. This is an untapped area of intervention for media and information literacy.  

1. What are some effective approaches that social media influencers and opinion leaders can use to promote media and information literacy among their followers and audiences? 

2. What can be done to penetrate the social media platforms with MIL learning content and to motivate MIL peer education? 

3. What role can these influencers play in combatting disinformation and hate speech on social media platforms through MIL? 

Session 5 - Media and Information Literacy Cities 

Better cities, better life! 

5:15 p.m.  –  6:30 p.m.

Cities are learning spaces; they also benefit from digitalization. This session will demonstrate how MIL cities can enable smart critical thinking citizens by using Media and Information Literacy. A key focus will be on how non-traditional actors in cities ecosystems such as the transportation, health, entertainment and city planning industries as well as local authorities and others, can promote MIL in physical and digital spaces to foster more sustainable and inclusive cities through media and information literacy. Cities around the world are called on to become MIL Cities. 

1. How can MIL contribute to the development of smarter, more sustainable and inclusive cities and what are some examples of what could be done? 

2. How can MIL Cities be tailored to the unique needs and contexts of different urban populations, tending to the specific needs of women and girls, youth and marginalized and underserved communities? 

3. How can a city become a MIL City? 

4. What are some key adaptable resources and tools needed to facilitate MIL Cities development?

Session 6 - Child and adolescent wellbeing in a digital age   

Online harassment, bullying, and discrimination  

9.30 a.m. – 10.45 a.m.

Adolescents’ transition from childhood to adulthood in an era of rapid digitization makes them particularly exposed to both the benefits and harm of social interactions in digital spaces. New generations will increasingly experience the evolution of an immersive "metaverse" of augmented and mixed reality in their daily lives.

To enable them to thrive, there is an urgent need to not only protect them but also strengthen the competencies of children and adolescents to create, use and share information, connect and engage positively and responsibly with others to effect social change while upholding fundamental human rights. This is paramount for addressing cyberbullying, disinformation, hate speech and other harmful content and challenges of the digital age.

Media and Information Literacy and Digital (global) Citizenship Education could be complementary multisectoral approaches that enable children and adolescents as well as their parents to protect their wellbeing, shape their digital environments and take full advantage of the benefits of digital transformations for wider societal flourishing. 

Drawing on this background, the session will try to unpack the challenges that impact the wellbeing of adolescents in the digital age. Specifically, it will strive to answer the following:  How Digital Global Citizenship Education and Media and Information Literacy can help create safer digital spaces for children? How to strengthen the capacities of children to be more resilient to harmful content and harmful contact? How can youth’s rights in the digital age be better protected?
What more can be done to support parents in this respect?

Session 7 - Innovative MIL learning   

Gamification, entertainment  

11.00 a.m. – 11.40 p.m.

Gamification is an innovative and dynamic approach to learning. The application of play and fun to learning processes can provide an "easier and motivating" way of educating, especially after the deep changes due to the health crisis of COVID-19 on the transition to online learning. 

Learning through gamification could be an effective method of facilitating and reinforcing of media literacy and information literacy competencies of online users. This is because learning through games and entertainment creates unique experiences, stimulate positive emotions leading to higher motivation, better engagement, and a social cohesion among learners. This session explores how by applying games and entertainment in the teaching of media and information literacy young users can be better engaged. 

1. What are the prospects, practices, and methods nowadays to gamify media and information literacy learning?  

2. How can media and information literacy edutainment be stimulated, sustained and impact monitored?   

3. How can practitioners of traditional learning methods harness the power of technology and games for learning media and information literacy competencies? 

Session 8 - Media and Information Literacy Curricula in education and lifelong learning 

Training, education, and assessment 

11.40 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. 

Achieving MIL for all begins in the classroom, and UNESCO has been working with education systems for decades along these lines. This session will advance MIL as an   essential component of the 21st-century education and learning. The session will bring together educators, policymakers, activists, and experts in MIL to offer policy advice and technical support.  

1. What are best practices on MIL in national education policies and systems focusing on a whole school approach?  

2. What are the potential benefits of integrating media and information literacy into education curricula, and how can they be measured and evaluated? 

Session 9 - Media and Information Literacy and AI competencies  

2.00 p.m. – 3.30 p.m.

Most of the information and knowledge that people access from digital and electronic media come to them by design. This means that someone or some form of algorithm is behind the creation and dissemination of that information, and with intended audiences. This is the case for digital technologies, including social media platforms based on algorithms that filter and feed information to individuals and groups. Is it possible to design AI systems in a way to prompt people towards media and information literacy (MIL) learning? This session will explore innovative, interdisciplinary, and transparent approaches to expand MIL learning without compromising people’s right to choose.  

1. How are Media and Information Literacy competencies key to address human rights considerations related to AI, including generative AI? 

2. How can media and information literacy address the inequalities of resources and opportunities that can be created by AI? 

3. How to advance data literacy as a MIL component to better understand algorithms and their influence on users' digital experiences? 

Session 10 - Journalism and media policies and practices  

Empowering users

3.30 p.m. – 4.45 p.m.

UNESCO is the specialized UN agency with a particular mandate on media development. This panel will focus on media and information literacy in journalism and journalism education. The focus will be on MIL in media self-regulated editorial polices and programming, including capacity enhancement for media as a contributor to MIL learning. The session will promote the use of the UNESCO resource Media and Information Literacy in Journalism: A handbook for journalist and journalism education.   

1. How can media and information literacy initiatives contribute to building trust between media organizations and their audiences? 

2. What are the most effective ways for media organizations to integrate media and information literacy into their work to support quality journalism? 

3. How should journalism education integrate media and information literacy as civic education to journalists in training? What are the benefits? What alliances can be advanced among media teachers, school, and youth networks? 

Session 11 - Closing Ceremony 

5.00 p.m. – 6.00 p.m.

1. Recap of the key highlights during Global MIL Week 2023 

2. A way Forward on Media and Information Literacy in digital spaces  

3. Global MIL Youth Hackathon Winners Acknowledgement  

4. Amman Declaration