Information Integrity: UNESCO, Cabo Verde host 400 stakeholders from West Africa and the Sahel - ITREALMS

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Over 400 stakeholders drawn from across West Africa and the Sahel converged in Praia, Cabo Verde, for the Regional Conference on Information Integrity, hosted by the UNESCO Regional Office in Dakar in collaboration with the Government of Cabo Verde, reports ITREALMS.

The three-day high-level gathering held between September 3 to 5, 2025, brought together government officials, regulatory agencies, electoral commissions, civil society, media practitioners, academia, the technical community, and international organizations, to deliberate on safeguarding information integrity in an increasingly digitalized society.

African Women in Media partners UNESCO to launch TRAKD tools - ITREALMS

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African Women in Media (AWiM) in partnership with the UNESCO IPDC-funded programme, has launched "TRAKD: Developing Tools and Resources towards adoption of the Kigali Declaration in newsrooms in Africa," reports ITREALMS.

This two-month programme, ITREALMS gathered, will be in collaboration with UNESCO under the IPDC framework. Through the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), UNESCO works to create a supportive environment for media development, critical dialogue, and media independence.

UNESCO unveils data sharing for public good - ITREALMS

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The The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has unveiled its latest compendium on data sharing to foster information as a public good, reports ITREALMS.

The 17-page policy brief, ITREALMS gathered speaks to the case of media viability and safety of journalists in the digital ecosystem, stressing that trends in access to data are mixed, but allows for progress in data-sharing by digital platforms.

UNESCO seeks comments on guidance document ahead of Internet for Trust - ITREALMS

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The United Nations Education, Scientific and Children Organisation (UNESCO) has released the guidance document seeking comments ahead of the 2023 Internet for Trust slated for Paris, reports ITREALMS.

The global conference, Internet for Trust, a regulating digital platforms for information as a public good, ITREALMS gathered has been scheduled between February 21 and 23 at UNESCO headquarters.

Impunity! Killings journalists is unacceptably high at 86% says UNESCO - ITREALMS

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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has released a damning figure of impunity against journalist, lamenting that killings have reached unacceptably high at 86 per cent, reports ITREALMS.

UNESCO, a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) has published its latest figures on the global impunity rate for journalists’ killings.

UNESCO, African ICT Foundation to explore ROAM-X @West-Africa Internet Governance Forum 2022 - ITREALMS

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The duo of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the African ICT Foundation would next month co-host a joint session at the forthcoming West-Africa Internet Governance Forum 2022, reports ITREALMS.

This session on knowledge sharing, ITREALMS gathered would explore the UNESCO ROAM-X framework for understanding and improving digital governance.

World Bank, UNESCO join forces to enhance right to access - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The World Bank and UNESCO have joined forces for enhancement of the right of access to information by victims of the armed conflict in Colombia, reports ITREALMS.

A promising joint endeavor by UNESCO and World Bank is underway in Colombia to foster more effective access to information on victims’ rights through the capacity building of key pilot stakeholders responsible for managing related communications.

After almost 50 years of internal armed conflict in the country, currently, over 8.5 million people have been recognized by the State as victims. With unprecedented progress having been made in recent years in the peace process, the development and implementation of effective transitional justice programs and policies is critical to building peace in Colombia.

Government outreach programs and efforts by civil society organizations to raise awareness of victims’ rights and their exercise have a critical role to play in informing citizens about the programs and benefits for which they may be eligible, how to access them, and the ways in which these can participate in the creation and monitoring of related public policies. 

However, recent research has shown that many of the municipalities in regions most affected by the conflict lack media producing local news and that efforts to provide victims with access to information about their rights are not always having their intended impact due to challenges associated with coverage, understanding of the communicated information, and continuity in follow-up.

In response to this complex scenario, the World Bank and UNESCO, through funding provided by the World Bank’s Nordic Trust Fund, are working with the Government of Colombia and civil society organizations to develop a series of activities to strengthen their capacity to communicate to victims about their rights.

Nenye Dom/GEE

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GEM report says 100m youth can’t read

ITRealms:

The 2017-2018 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report on accountability in education has revealed that an estimated 100 million youth globally cannot read, reports ITRealms.

The second in the GEM Report series, ITRealms reports, showed that there remain major education problems around the world that accountability could help solve, including meeting of commitments, and capable of assisting in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 4.

According to the extract of GEM 2017-18 made available to ITRealms, “Only 1 in 10 children in sub-Saharan Africa has basic reading skills. Around the world, 100 million youth cannot even read. One in seven primary school teachers are not trained. Millions continue to be taught in a language they don't speak at home. Meanwhile, the share of education in total aid has fallen for the sixth year in a row, and one in four governments do not meet the agreed education financing thresholds.“

The Report also looked at who is responsible for achieving the global education goal, SDG 4, which showed that calling on individuals and institutions to report how they tried to meet their responsibilities - a process commonly known as accountability - can help achieve an equitable education system of good quality.

Accountability, GEM report underscored, starts with governments, which are ultimately responsible for fulfilling the right to education, stressing that this right should be written into law and strictly enforced.

“Currently, citizens can take their governments to court for violating the right to education in only 55 per cent of countries,” part of the GEM report read, insisting that “everyone has a role to play in improving education.”

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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Education: Government must ensure rules are followed

Commentary@ITREALMS: 

No matter your job, you need standards to ensure that you are working to meet your objectives. Unfortunately, where education and schools are concerned, these standards sometimes do not exist. Or, more often, they are not enforced. Schools are decidedly sub-standard in some places, with those in sub-Saharan Africa facing particularly strong challenges. Many teachers are not sufficiently prepared in the region, classrooms are often overcrowded, infrastructure is crumbling and learning is suffering.

More than one in four young people cannot read in sub-Saharan Africa today, while by some other recent estimate nine in ten children do not acquire minimum reading skills. Standards are slipping where they could be applied, which is putting our global education goal at risk.

Even though the number of children not in school globally has stagnated between 2008 and 2015, this doesn’t mean that the number going to school is stagnating too. During the same period, 30 million more children enrolled in primary school in sub-Saharan Africa alone - that’s more than all the children enrolled in primary school in the United States. Is it any wonder that standards are slipping?

Depending on what side of the fence you sit, the diversification of education providers, often in the form of low-fee private schools, can be a blessing or a curse. Many of these schools sprouted in densely populated slums, including in Kibera, Kenya, where governments did not wish to set foot. They attracted families aspiring to improve the education of their children. But oftentimes these schools have not lived up to expectations.

What the newest Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, Accountability in education: meeting our commitments, shows us is that governments must establish standards and regulations that lay down the law for all education providers, public and private. If they do not, negative practices quickly take hold.

At present, governments may not have standards in place even for public schools. We found that there are no regulations on class sizes in primary school in 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mali and Togo. This is a major challenge for teachers and a big contributor to low learning outcomes. Less than half of low and middle income countries reviewed by the World Bank had established standards for early childhood education – and even fewer monitored and enforced those regulations.

When governments relinquish control of education to private providers, it is equally if not more important that standards be in place to regulate them. By 2021, it is expected that one in four primary school age pupils in sub-Saharan Africa will be in private schools, up from 13.5 per cent in 2015. If these schools’ way of working does not meet the aspirations of our global education goal, SDG 4, it is highly unlikely we will achieve it.

The reality, we found, is that regulations are not being created or streamlined to adjust to the fast rate with which education systems are expanding. The very first step of accrediting schools in the first place is often cumbersome, prone to corruption, and therefore slow, leaving many operating without meeting even minimum safety and infrastructure standards. In 2010/11, for example, only 26 per cent of private schools in Lagos had been approved by the Ministry of Education. In Kenya and Uganda, some private schools were operating without qualified teachers and with inadequate infrastructure before regulations were put in place and courts shut them down.

An education system is not the work of just one person or body. An education system of good quality is a shared responsibility between multiple actors, governments, teachers, schools, parents and the private sector. But governments need to set the example, and introduce clear regulations that lead towards the global education goal. They are the missing link for restoring trust in the education system.

*Contributed by Dr. Manos Antoninis, Director, Global Education Monitoring Repor at  UNESCO

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DNS Women Nigeria endorses L’Oreal, UNESCO Women in Science Manifesto

ITRealms:

A gender parity group, the Domain Name System (DNS) Women Nigeria, has endorsed the Women in Science Manifesto being championed by L’Oreal in partnership with the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), reports ITRealms.

President and founder of (DNS) Women in Nigeria, Nkemdilim Nweke made this disclosure in Lagos, Friday in a chat with news men after endorsing the manifesto as the 435^th signer
of the For Women in Science Manifesto on behalf of her organization.

She said that DNS Women Nigeria, a not-for-profit making organization went through the manifesto and understood every part of it, hence, her group endorsed the article, which is an extended call to service for more women in the field of science.

According to her, women in science like in the DNS industry globally have the power to change the world they want to see.

Nweke invited more women groups to join forces for such proclamations capable of spurring more women in the field of science and technologies.

She maintained that DNS Women Nigeria is keen and ever ready to partner with like-minded organizations like L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science emancipation.

Reacting to the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science recognition ceremony held yesterday in Parish, the founder of DNS Women Nigeria extended her congratulations to all the winners, and mostly the five leading women scientists and 15 promising young researchers who were honoured at the 18^th edition of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Ceremony at the Maison de la Mutualité in Paris.

She singled out Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO and Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman and CEO of L’Oréal and Chairman of the L’Oréal Foundation for taking the opportunity to launch the For Women in Science Manifesto. 

Pointing out that just like this Manifesto aims to take a stand against the under-representation of women in the sciences, DNS Women Nigeria is ready to collaborate with relevant organisations to enthrone similar stand within the Nigeria’s Domain Name industry.

The manifesto, Nweke noted, is available on http://www.ForWomenInScience.com so that everyone can, in turn, support this cause.

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Samsung, UNESCO partner to bridge Digital gap at Oban Community

ITRealms:

Rural dwellers in Oban community, Akamkpa local government of Cross River State has breathed an air of relief as Samsung Electronics West Africa partners with United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to launch its Digital village project which will provide access to the world’s most advanced information and communication technologies, education and health services to under-resourced areas, bridging the digital divide and serving as a catalyst for local business development and government service delivery, ITRealms reports.

In a report presented by UNESCO at the launch, ITRealms learnt that out of 100 million children who are school dropouts, 58 million did not complete primary education, while healthcare in remote areas is non-existent due to shortage of facilities and urban-rural gap.

Mr. Brovo Kim, Managing Director of Samsung Electronics West Africa, speaking on the initiative said that a sizeable proportion of rural areas across the continent do not have access to electricity, resulting in isolated communities with limited access to education, healthcare and connectivity, which are necessary components of socio-economic development.

“We are not only bridging the digital divide but also providing a facility that meets the most critical health and education needs of the rural community,” he said.

ITRealms gathered that the components of the Samsung Digital Village include: a Solar Powered Internet School, built to accommodate up to 24 learners; a Solar Powered Tele-Medical Centre, and a Solar Power Generator that powers up the Admin Centre which can be used as office space for local entrepreneurs and any other nearby school or community centre personnel with limited electricity supply.

Equally, in addition to providing the appropriate technologies, Samsung is also working to ensure that people of the Oban community take ownership of the Digital Village and receive adequate training to optimise use of the facilities.

ITRealms learnt that Samsung Electronics Company Limited is a global leader in consumer electronics and the core components that go    into them and has through relentless innovation and discovery, transformed the worlds of televisions, smartphones, personal computers, printers, cameras, home appliances, medical devices, semiconductors and LED solutions.

Daniel Nsolibe/GEE

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Nigeria partners UNESCO, Nokia on Education for All goal 6

ITRealms:

As part of its efforts to help developing countries reach Education for All goal 6 (EFA Goal 6) which is on improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all, the United Nation Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has undertaken projects in Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Senegal, reports ITRealms.

Also, ITRealms learnt from the latest State of Broadband released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), this is a project being handled in partnership with Nokia.

According to ITRealms gathered, the partnership would assist in integrate mobile technologies into teacher professional development in ways that enhance both teacher capacity and pedagogical practices. UNESCO is also working to improve the skills of teachers and to promote competency standards.

“Its flagship ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (ICT CFT 6) sets guidelines to help teachers develop skills and competencies to make the most of ICTs to support better learning,” part of the report read.

This framework, ITRealms further gathered has become a well-known international reference in terms of empowerment of teachers and the pedagogical use of technology.

UNESCO’s strong commitment to assisting developing countries formulate national policies to

improve education quality and integrate ICTs in teacher training is illustrated by the ongoing UNESCO-China Funds-in-Trust project, “Enhancing Teacher Education for Bridging the Education Quality Gap in Africa”, launched at the 2012 Global Education for All Meeting

Remmy Nweke:

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JACITAD to Jonathan: Make broadband democracy dividend

A non-governmental organisation, the Joint Action for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Awareness and Development (JACITAD), has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to turn the availability of broadband initiatives in the country into democracy dividends for Nigerians.

The group made this call in its 2011 agenda for the ICT sector in the country.

Speaking through its president, Prince Ogbonnia Osuagwu, they called on President Jonathan to use the accessibility of broadband with the commercial launch of MainOne Cable and Glo-1 since last year.

To achieve this, Prince Osuagwu in the company of the Secretary-General of JACITAD, Mr. Oluwaseun Ayotokun informed ITRealms Online that the government led by President Jonathan, should as matter of urgency consider broadband as digital right of the citizens.

This call, JACITAD said is in line with the recent recommendations of the global telecom body of the United Nations, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

“We all know today that broadband has become the life wire of any economy,” Osuagwu said.

The group pointed out that in any society where broadband is scarce or the cost is high as it is in Nigeria, “no matter other natural resources that may be available in that society they may still be groping in the dark.”

Apart from other rich natural and human resources available to Nigeria, JACITAD noted that two monolithic initiatives berthed at the shores of Nigeria in the preceding year of 2010, but there is nothing to suggest that the government of the day has plans to drive this plan to the populace.

“We feel that all it takes is for the government of the day to cash-in on that to transform the economy,” the group said, advising President Goodluck Jonathan to emulate the United States President, Mr. Barrack Obama, who has since launched a dedicated fund for broadband penetration drive to the rural areas of the country.

“We wouldn’t mind if he would take it as his efforts of delivering democracy dividends,” JACITAD said.

ITRealms Online recalls that last May, at the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2010 in Geneva, ITU and United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) proclaimed the establishment of a top level Broadband Commission for Digital Development (BCDD), which will define strategies for accelerating broadband rollout worldwide and examine applications that could see broadband networks improve the delivery of a huge range of social services, from healthcare to education, environmental management, and safety to name a few.

The Commission, which comprised of some 30 top names from around the world, represents technology, business and social enterprises leaders with President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and the Honorary Lifetime Chairman of Grupo Carso, Mr. Carlos Slim Hélu, as co-chairmen, while ITU Secretary-General, Dr. Hamadoun Touré and UNESCO Director-General, Ms. Irina Bokova, will serve as joint vice chairpersons.

The Commission has the support of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who received the Commission’s findings during the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Summit in New York last September.

Speaking then at the launch of BCDD, Dr Touré said that governments now need to view broadband networks as basic national infrastructure.

“In the 21st century, affordable, ubiquitous broadband networks will be as critical to social and economic prosperity as networks like transport, water and power,” he said, pointing out that not only does broadband deliver benefits across every sector of society, it also helps promote social and economic development, and will be key in helping us get the MDGs back on track.

JACITAD was formed in 2003 to champion and assist in molding the understanding of media practitioners within the information and communication technology sector.

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