Putting SDG 4 Back on Track After COVID-19: The Essential Role of Multilingualism in Education

A High-Level Political Forum Side Event on 11 July 2022

co-hosted by the NGO Committee on Language and Languages, the Universal Esperanto Association, and the Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations

Register here by July 10!

About:

Even before COVID-19, alarms were sounded that progress on SDG 4 was too slow and that the achievement of its targets by 2030 was in jeopardy. Linguistic inequality in access to education has been a key factor. The 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report showed that 40% of the global population was not accessing education in a language they understand. The onset of the pandemic exacerbated such inequalities as over 1.6 billion learners experienced school closures, cutting them off from language and literacy learning opportunities. Moreover, the digital divide prevented vulnerable populations, especially in least developed countries, from accessing online education, including resources for language development. In order to achieve inclusive and equitable education for linguistically diverse student populations, multilingualism must be foregrounded in post-pandemic educational planning.

Accordingly, this side event focuses on recommendations for the role of languages in education put forth in Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education, the UNESCO report on the Futures of Education initiative. Specifically, it brings together leading experts in the field of language education from diverse global contexts who address what it means in practice to take a multilingual perspective on the targets of SDG 4. Drawing upon empirical research and documented best practices, they demonstrate how schools can cultivate multilingual resources, including mother tongues, major world languages, national and regional languages, Indigenous languages, and international languages like Esperanto to achieve inclusive and equitable education that empowers students as global citizens prepared for participation in social, economic, and political life.

Programme:

Pedagogical Translanguaging to Make the Most of Multilingualism, Professor Jasone Cenoz, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU
Multilingualism as a Resource for Learning and a Decolonial Strategy, Dr. Xolisa Guzula, University of Capetown, School of Education

Moderated by Professor Humphrey Tonkin and Professor Francis M. Hult with welcoming remarks by Mr. Guillermo Escribano, Director General for the Spanish Language around the World at the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Spain

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Language and Languages is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations – for more information, please email the co-chairs at tonkin@hartford.edu or fmhult@umbc.edu. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN.

Putting SDG 4 Back on Track After COVID-19: The Essential Role of Multilingualism in Education

A High-Level Political Forum Side Event on 11 July 2022

co-hosted by the NGO Committee on Language and Languages, the Universal Esperanto Association, and the Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations

Register here by July 10!

About:

Even before COVID-19, alarms were sounded that progress on SDG 4 was too slow and that the achievement of its targets by 2030 was in jeopardy. Linguistic inequality in access to education has been a key factor. The 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report showed that 40% of the global population was not accessing education in a language they understand. The onset of the pandemic exacerbated such inequalities as over 1.6 billion learners experienced school closures, cutting them off from language and literacy learning opportunities. Moreover, the digital divide prevented vulnerable populations, especially in least developed countries, from accessing online education, including resources for language development. In order to achieve inclusive and equitable education for linguistically diverse student populations, multilingualism must be foregrounded in post-pandemic educational planning.

Accordingly, this side event focuses on recommendations for the role of languages in education put forth in Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education, the UNESCO report on the Futures of Education initiative. Specifically, it brings together leading experts in the field of language education from diverse global contexts who address what it means in practice to take a multilingual perspective on the targets of SDG 4. Drawing upon empirical research and documented best practices, they demonstrate how schools can cultivate multilingual resources, including mother tongues, major world languages, national and regional languages, Indigenous languages, and international languages like Esperanto to achieve inclusive and equitable education that empowers students as global citizens prepared for participation in social, economic, and political life.

Programme:

Pedagogical Translanguaging to Make the Most of Multilingualism, Professor Jasone Cenoz, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU
Multilingualism as a Resource for Learning and a Decolonial Strategy, Dr. Xolisa Guzula, University of Capetown, School of Education

Moderated by Professor Humphrey Tonkin and Professor Francis M. Hult with welcoming remarks by Mr. Guillermo Escribano, Director General for the Spanish Language around the World at the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Spain

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Language and Languages is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations – for more information, please email the co-chairs at tonkin@hartford.edu or fmhult@umbc.edu. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN.

Torture in Our Name: A Moral Call to End Solitary Confinement

Please join us for a film screening and discussion about how survivors of solitary confinement and religious communities are working together to abolish torture once and for all. Join live via Zoom or Facebook!

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hIAox0YhQOCLvRJgLqxMHA

Religions for Peace (RFP) USA is the largest and most broadly-based representative multi-religious forum in the United States, with participants from more than 50 religious communities, representing each of the major faith traditions. The organization identifies shared commitments among religious communities in the U.S., enhances mutual understanding among these communities, and facilitates collaboration to address issues of common concern.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@yahoo.com. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit crngo.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, please visit crimealliance.org.

Torture in Our Name: A Moral Call to End Solitary Confinement

Please join us for a film screening and discussion about how survivors of solitary confinement and religious communities are working together to abolish torture once and for all. Join live via Zoom or Facebook!

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hIAox0YhQOCLvRJgLqxMHA

Religions for Peace (RFP) USA is the largest and most broadly-based representative multi-religious forum in the United States, with participants from more than 50 religious communities, representing each of the major faith traditions. The organization identifies shared commitments among religious communities in the U.S., enhances mutual understanding among these communities, and facilitates collaboration to address issues of common concern.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@yahoo.com. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit crngo.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, please visit crimealliance.org.

Common security, nuclear risks and the OSCE in the wake of the Ukraine conflict

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yqRRAyjZR8KLbjkYmMi7Xw

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is impacting significantly on the European security framework. The European Union has facilitated a sweeping package of economic sanctions against Russia, unlike anything undertaken by the EU in any previous conflict. The invasion has elevated the risks of nuclear war, and stimulated Sweden and Finland to abandon their historical neutral status and apply to join NATO – a nuclear alliance.In light of Russia’s violation of the UN Charter and security arrangements such as the Budapest Memorandum and Minsk agreements, it would be tempting to conclude that common security frameworks such as the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are becoming irrelevant to address security concerns. However, this event will highlight the opposite – that it is in times of such conflict and high tension that common security approaches and other mechanisms for diplomacy and nuclear risk-reduction are vital and should be strengthened, not abandoned. Common Security refers to building security between nations through international law, diplomacy and conflict resolution. It is based on the notion that national security cannot be achieved or sustained by threatening or reducing the security of other nations, but only by ensuring that the security of all nations is advanced.For more background see For Our Shared Future: Common Security 2022 Report, Olof Palme International Centre. Also of relevance is the recent resolution of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Forging a Path to Peace and Common Security.

Co-sponsors: Basel Peace Office, Détente Now, Initiatives pour le désarmement Nucléaire, G100 (Group of 100 Women Leaders) Defence and Security Wing, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, World Future Council, Youth Fusion

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Children’s Rights-NY, please visit childrightsny.org.

Common security, nuclear risks and the OSCE in the wake of the Ukraine conflict

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yqRRAyjZR8KLbjkYmMi7Xw

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is impacting significantly on the European security framework. The European Union has facilitated a sweeping package of economic sanctions against Russia, unlike anything undertaken by the EU in any previous conflict. The invasion has elevated the risks of nuclear war, and stimulated Sweden and Finland to abandon their historical neutral status and apply to join NATO – a nuclear alliance.In light of Russia’s violation of the UN Charter and security arrangements such as the Budapest Memorandum and Minsk agreements, it would be tempting to conclude that common security frameworks such as the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are becoming irrelevant to address security concerns. However, this event will highlight the opposite – that it is in times of such conflict and high tension that common security approaches and other mechanisms for diplomacy and nuclear risk-reduction are vital and should be strengthened, not abandoned. Common Security refers to building security between nations through international law, diplomacy and conflict resolution. It is based on the notion that national security cannot be achieved or sustained by threatening or reducing the security of other nations, but only by ensuring that the security of all nations is advanced.For more background see For Our Shared Future: Common Security 2022 Report, Olof Palme International Centre. Also of relevance is the recent resolution of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Forging a Path to Peace and Common Security.

Co-sponsors: Basel Peace Office, Détente Now, Initiatives pour le désarmement Nucléaire, G100 (Group of 100 Women Leaders) Defence and Security Wing, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, World Future Council, Youth Fusion

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Children’s Rights-NY, please visit childrightsny.org.

[monthly mtg] NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Agenda for June 16, 2022

Zoom link: https://fordham.zoom.us/j/85797881478

1. Moment of Silence in Honor of the Land we are on and the Native Peoples of this Land

2. Welcome and Review of Agenda

3. Meeting Minutes of April 21, 2022

4. Report of the Executive Committee

5. Guest Speaker: Dan Baron Cohen is a community performance educator and eco-cultural activist of Welsh-Quebecois origin and has lived in Brazil since 1998 and in the Brazilian Amazonian city of Marabá since 2009. He has developed numerous programs with indigenous peoples of the Amazon/Brazil and worked with UNESCO and UNICEF. See below for more.

6. Update on Indigenous Health Subcommittee [Rashmi]

7. Update on the Education Subcommittee [Rick]

8. Other Items and Announcements

Guest speaker bio for Dan Baron Cohen, community educator and eco-cultural activist:

Dan works with Afro-Indigenous Youth in Amazonian region of Para, Brazil. The Rivers of Meeting education project, began by awakening sleeping cultural roots and human rights through Afro-Contemporary percussion, dance and lyrics workshops. Over 12 years, excluded youth were nurtured to become community workshop leaders and coordinators of medicinal plants, street library/cinema projects, dance and audiovisual companies, annual festival and workshop courses in their Community University of the Rivers, to defend the River Tocantins and nurture an eco-village based on eco-pedagogies for sustainable community.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org.

[monthly mtg] NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Agenda for June 16, 2022

Zoom link: https://fordham.zoom.us/j/85797881478

1. Moment of Silence in Honor of the Land we are on and the Native Peoples of this Land

2. Welcome and Review of Agenda

3. Meeting Minutes of April 21, 2022

4. Report of the Executive Committee

5. Guest Speaker: Dan Baron Cohen is a community performance educator and eco-cultural activist of Welsh-Quebecois origin and has lived in Brazil since 1998 and in the Brazilian Amazonian city of Marabá since 2009. He has developed numerous programs with indigenous peoples of the Amazon/Brazil and worked with UNESCO and UNICEF. See below for more.

6. Update on Indigenous Health Subcommittee [Rashmi]

7. Update on the Education Subcommittee [Rick]

8. Other Items and Announcements

Guest speaker bio for Dan Baron Cohen, community educator and eco-cultural activist:

Dan works with Afro-Indigenous Youth in Amazonian region of Para, Brazil. The Rivers of Meeting education project, began by awakening sleeping cultural roots and human rights through Afro-Contemporary percussion, dance and lyrics workshops. Over 12 years, excluded youth were nurtured to become community workshop leaders and coordinators of medicinal plants, street library/cinema projects, dance and audiovisual companies, annual festival and workshop courses in their Community University of the Rivers, to defend the River Tocantins and nurture an eco-village based on eco-pedagogies for sustainable community.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

This year’s observance of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) at 1:30pm (NYC time) on June 15 coincides with the fourth review of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Ministerial Conference on Ageing in Rome, Italy. While there will be an in-person WEAAD observance, we are pleased to invite everyone to participate virtually.

Details and registration here: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

In preparation for the event, this month the NGO Committee on Ageing-NY participated in the review and appraisal cycle of MIPAA in Rome. A new preamble paragraph has been added to recall the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, and the convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, among other treaties and covenants. The fact remains that older persons remain invisible and unprotected. The pandemic’s excessive toll on older persons has documented that human rights of older persons are not being protected. We must continue to advocate for a legally binding document to protect the human rights of all older persons.

Please note: The UN International Day of Older Persons (UNIDOP) will be held once again in person at the UN (and live webcast). The exact observance date is pending due to space availability at the UN. The NGO Committee on Ageing-NY is collaborating on the theme with its counterparts in Geneva and Vienna on addressing older women and issues of climate change, pandemic and other issues, but from the perspective of the resilience and contributions of older women. Robin Fenley is chairing this year’s observance.

Note: The new chair of the Vienna Committee on Ageing is Shantu Watt and in Geneva, the new chair is Kelly Fitzgerald.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Ageing-NY is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

This year’s observance of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) at 1:30pm (NYC time) on June 15 coincides with the fourth review of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Ministerial Conference on Ageing in Rome, Italy. While there will be an in-person WEAAD observance, we are pleased to invite everyone to participate virtually.

Details and registration here: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

In preparation for the event, this month the NGO Committee on Ageing-NY participated in the review and appraisal cycle of MIPAA in Rome. A new preamble paragraph has been added to recall the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, and the convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, among other treaties and covenants. The fact remains that older persons remain invisible and unprotected. The pandemic’s excessive toll on older persons has documented that human rights of older persons are not being protected. We must continue to advocate for a legally binding document to protect the human rights of all older persons.

Please note: The UN International Day of Older Persons (UNIDOP) will be held once again in person at the UN (and live webcast). The exact observance date is pending due to space availability at the UN. The NGO Committee on Ageing-NY is collaborating on the theme with its counterparts in Geneva and Vienna on addressing older women and issues of climate change, pandemic and other issues, but from the perspective of the resilience and contributions of older women. Robin Fenley is chairing this year’s observance.

Note: The new chair of the Vienna Committee on Ageing is Shantu Watt and in Geneva, the new chair is Kelly Fitzgerald.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Ageing-NY is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org.

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