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Wednesday 18 October 2023

National Youth Forum on Climate Change By Unicef Angola

 



“This event will serve as a precursor to Angola’s participation in the Conference of the Parties (COP 28), elevating the Voice of Angolan Youth on this topic of national and global relevance”, highlighted Ana Paula de Carvalho, Minister of the Environment during the National Forum of Youth on Climate Change.

The event brings together several young people from environmental associations, experts and academics to discuss the impact of climate change and the role of young people in this process.

Thursday 12 October 2023

COMING VERY SOON| Celebrating the 3rd anniversary of Africa Educates Her Campaign (Accelerating the SDGs)| DO NOT MISS OUT!

 

 

Africa Educates Her Campaign - Angola



Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome everyone to our hybrid learning platform.

We will soon be celebrating our 3rd anniversary of the Africa Educates Her campaign, a rallying call to African Union Member States, education stakeholders and youth to take positive actions to ensure that girls and young women return to school during and post Covid-19 pandemic.

Stay tuned and don't miss this event.

For now, let's remember how we celebrated our first two birthdays!






 Commemorating the Second Anniversary of Africa Educates Her Campaign, Angola

Ladies Without Plastic - Advancing Climate Justice Through the SDGs


Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to the 3rd edition of this extremely important educational documentary.

In this edition we are providing non-formal training in rural communities to advance climate justice through the SDGs.


Good afternoon!

Good afternoon!

How are you?

We're fine thank you!

How many of you have heard about climate change?

hmmm

Have you ever heard about climate change?

No.

And the environment?

Not either.

Never heard of the environment?

No, never.


Today we are going to talk about the importance you can have in protecting the environment. We will also talk about environmental pollution.

Did you know that plastic pollutes the environment?

We didn't know.

Seriously?

Hello! I am Sofonie Dala, we are here in rural communities to include people from this social group to participate in environmental protection ideas.

We will talk about the role these rural girls can play to protect the environment and we will also talk about the importance of reusable menstrual pads in the life of women and girls.

How many of you here already menstruate?

Both of us.

Take this. Have you ever heard about these types of sanitary napkins?

Yup.

What is this called?

Hmm absorbent.

These are reusable menstrual pads.

Do you use this type?

No no.

Girls what kind of menstrual pad do you use?

We use the plastic menstrual pad.

Did you know that plastic menstrual pads pollute the environment?

We didn't know.

Yes, plastic menstrual pads pollute the environment. We girls must be very careful with these products. Especially you little girls who haven't started menstruating yet. When you start menstruating, look for these washable and reusable pads.

Pay attention, reusable pads are better than plastic menstrual pads.

Plastic menstrual pads take many years to decompose, generate greenhouse gases and cause global warming.

Many girls miss school because they don't have the money to buy plastic menstrual pads which are very expensive.

That's why we should use reusable menstrual pads to protect the environment. In addition, they are also more economical and sustainable. They can last for 4 years and you won't have to spend money monthly to buy menstrual pads.

Let's all wear reusable menstrual pads to protect the environment.

What I have here is organic cotton, we bought this to be producing washable and reusable towels and distributing them free of charge to girls in rural communities. 


Taking pledge

Girls giving good testimonies of what they learned today.


Hello!

My name isTeresa, I'm 15 years old and I want to protect my menstrual health.

Before I was using plastic pads, now I will be using reusable menstrual pads, because I now know that plastic pads pollute the environment.


With these softer, reusable and washable pads, thousands of girls like Teresa will be able to stay in school and create a future for themsleves.


Ladies without plastic, I'm going to get rid of the plastic pads.



We advocate for behavioral change to reduce earth vulnerability to climate change and global warming from disposable sanitary pads, at the same time mobilizing women and girls to switch back to the use of reusable sanitary pads.

Our mission is to empower women who face extreme poverty to become self-sufficient and entrepreneurial by teaching them how to make the pads themselves and enabling them to turn their acquired skill into a business.


Children singing in chorus: Let's use reusable products.
Fight against climate change, let's all protect the environment!

No young girl should miss school because of her period! 


Every month, 1.8 billion people across the world menstruate. Millions of girls and women are by period poverty not only in developing countries but also in developed countries and millions of girls and women cannot attend school or work due to lack of menstrual products or clean sanitary facilities.



Congratulations! We are Celebrating the Second Anniversary of Africa Educates Her Campaign  - Angola (sdgs 4;5;13)


 PART 1


Good morning ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome everyone to our Africa Educates Her Campaign Angola 2nd Anniversary Party!

This is the big campaign that represents a critical strategy in advancing the education of girls and women in Africa during the time of Covid-19 pandemic.


The main objective was to:


1. Empower rural girls and women with skills to combat climate change;

2. Gathering information about participation of vulnerable groups in climate discussion and decision-making;

3. Documenting the access of vulnerable communities to environmental justice;

4. Helping affected communities find relevant environmental information and counter misinformation;

5. Introduce the "Ladies without plastic project" - reusable menstrual pads to rural communities.

 2022 Theme: Advancing climate justice

Our smartphones are hurting the environment


The second anniversary of the campaign was conceived and implemented in rural communities of Angola to gather information about participation of vulnerable groups in climate discussion and decision-making; and to document the access of vulnerable communities to environmental justice. We continue to visit rural communities and vulnerable people to deliver our non-formal training that cover and promote the SDGs and also accelerate the AU / Agenda 2060.



Multiplus training and activities were carried out on this great day.
This small group of vulnerable people in this region, lives in complete innocence behind the digital world we find ourselves in today.


These girls come from very vulnerable families. They have never had contact with a digital phone. On this day they learned about the negative impact smartphones have on the environment. It was shocking to learn that the biggest impact of most electronic devices is in the supply chain: mining for resources, producing the parts and assembling them. 82% of the emissions of a smartphone come from its production, so the more often we get a new one, the higher the impact.

 

"Ladies without plastic" - reusable menstrual pads


Translation: Hello, we are Joana and Fernanda, we are 12 years old. We haven't started menstruating yet, but when we start menstruating, we're going to use these reusable pads to protect the environment.



We provide interactive training in how to make safe, washable and reusable sanitary pads, so people always have access to safe menstrual protection, can help protect the environment. 

We started producing sanitary reusable pads to keep girls in school in support of the government's efforts to end the challenge facing girls failing to attend school due to menstruation.


These girls for the first time got to know washable - reusable menstrual pads and learned about green and sustainable menstruation.

The history of the Africa Educates Her campaign:
1. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education across the world and Angola has not been spared. By the 6th of April 2020, 53 African Union Member States had shut down all institutions of learning as a measure to curb the spread of the Coronavirus, affecting an estimated 250 million students across the continent.
2. In July 2020 AU/CIEFFA alumini were informed about the approval of the Campaign.
The other good news that happened on this festive date, the AU/CIEFFA selected a theme song for the campaign with the title: “I am an African girl”, written by Afrie, a young artist from Uganda. The song was officially released to the world.
6. The ambassador Sofonie Dala once again organized a mega event to celebrate the second anniversary of the campaign in rural communities of Angola on September 14, 2022, with the theme Advancing climate justice.




1 anniversary



Congratulations. Happy first anniversary to our Africa Educates Her Campaign with Sofonie Dala - Angola


 Changing the lives of rural girls for the better

Tuesday 10 October 2023

World Space Week 4-10 October

 

World Space Week

By resolution 54/68 of 6 December 1999, the General Assembly proclaimed World Space Week, to celebrate the contributions of space science and technology to the betterment of the human condition.

World Space Week is the largest annual space event in the world. the weeks helps build up the workforce of tomorrow by inspiring students; demonstrates visible public support for the space programme; educates the public about space activities; and fosters international cooperation in space outreach and education.

Each year a theme is selected by the World Space Week Association Board of Directors in close coordination with the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs. The theme provides broad guidance to World Space Week participants on the content of their programmes. The theme is selected to increase the impact of World Space Week on all humanity further, by using a uniform theme globally.



Space and Entrepreneurship

The theme for World Space Week 2023, “Space and Entrepreneurship”, recognizes the growing significance of the commercial space industry in space, and the increasing opportunities for space entrepreneurship and new benefits of space developed by space entrepreneurs. With miniaturization and decreasing launch costs, it is now possible for a small business to build and launch a small satellite, and for entrepreneurs to create valuable new data products for governments and industry.

World Space Week 2023 will inspire students worldwide to study STEM and business, and offer space companies the opportunity to recruit the workforce needed for the expanding commercial space industry. It will also serve as a forum for important discussions on the transition of Low Earth Orbit to a more entrepreneurial ecosystem.


Background

On 4 October 1957, the launch into outer space of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, opened the way for space exploration. A decade later, on 10 October 1967, the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies entered into force.

Space science and technology and their applications are increasingly being used to support a wide range of United Nations activities. At least 25 United Nations entities and the World Bank Group routinely use space applications. They make important and sometimes essential contributions to the work of the United Nations, including in the implementation of recommendations of major world conferences and those of the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III), as well as support towards sustainable development.

As a consequence, coordination, cooperation and synergy are essential for those activities to be effectively carried out by the United Nations system. The annual sessions of the Inter-Agency Meeting on Outer Space Activities are the main means of achieving that synergy. The effectiveness of the Meeting has been further enhanced by the holding, since 2004, of an open informal session immediately after the end of the Meeting, as a means of engaging Member States, in a direct and informal setting, in important space-related developments in the United Nations system. The agenda of the Inter-Agency Meeting is reviewed at each session and adapted to current operational needs.



UN and Space

From the very beginning of the Space Age, the United Nations recognized that outer space added a new dimension to humanity's existence. The United Nations family strives continuously to utilize the unique benefits of outer space for the betterment of all humankind.

Recognizing the common interest of humankind in outer space and seeking to answer questions on how outer space can help benefit the people's of Earth, the General Assembly adopted its first resolution related to outer space, resolution 1348 (XIII) entitled "Question of the Peaceful Use of Outer Space".

On 10 October 1967, the "Magna Carta of Space", also known as the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies entered into force.

Today, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is the United Nations office responsible for promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. UNOOSA serves as the secretariat for the General Assembly's only committee dealing exclusively with international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space: the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space(COPUOS).

UNOOSA is also responsible for implementing the Secretary-General's responsibilities under international space law and maintaining the United Nations Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space.



Thursday 5 October 2023

Happy World Teachers’ Day| The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage

 



The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage


World Teachers’ Day is held annually on 5 October to celebrate all teachers around the globe. It commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, which sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers, and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions. 

It is a day to celebrate how teachers are transforming education but also to reflect on the support they need to fully deploy their talent and vocation, and to rethink the way ahead for the profession globally.  


The Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel was adopted in 1997 to complement the 1966 Recommendation by covering teaching personnel in higher education. World Teachers’ Day has been celebrated since 1994.


World Teachers’ Day is co-convened in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNICEF and Education International (EI).


"We call upon countries to ensure that teaching is transformed everywhere into a more attractive and valorised profession where teachers are valued, trusted, and adequately supported to meet the needs of every learner. Bold actions must be taken, if we are to reverse the current decline and successfully increase teacher numbers."

 

2023 celebrations

Being a teacher provides the unique opportunity to make a transformative and lasting impact on the lives of others, contributing to shaping sustainable futures and offering personal fulfilment. However, the world faces an unprecedented global teacher shortage exacerbated by a decline in their working conditions and status.


With the theme "The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage", the 2023 celebrations will aim to put the importance of stopping the decline in the number of teachers and then starting to increase that number at the top of the global agenda. Through various activities, they will advocate for a dignified and valued teaching profession, analyse their challenges, and showcase inspiring practices to attract, retain and motivate teachers and educators. It will also examine the ways in which education systems, societies, communities, and families recognise, appreciate, and actively support teachers.


 
SDG 4

Goal 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. This goal supports the reduction of disparities and inequities in education, both in terms of access and quality.




Congratulations!

Celebration of the successful completion of Africa Educates Her Campaign with Sofonie Dala - Season 3

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight's entertainment!

This night at this place, we have a great deal to celebrate. And I want to begin by saying, simply, to every one of you - thank you.


Access of girls to education in rural areas

Girls in rural areas of Africa are excluded from education not because of cultural resistance or unwillingness, but because of poverty - the main barrier to girls' education.


Our today's activity  was carried out in a rural community. We decided to give our support to girls who are not studying due to extreme poverty and also because of the barriers that Covid-19 has caused.

We carry out activities such as conducting a lesson, singing, reciting poetry and distributing school and biosafety materials.


"If a poor girl cannot come to the education, then education must go to her."


Our case study today are the sisters Teresa and Tininha, they participated in our interview at the end of last year. According to them, they stopped studying in 2018 because of serious financial problems facing the family. Fortunately, we also had the opportunity to speak with their mother who certified that she has no financial means to pay for her daughters' studies. They live in a rural area, in the slate house in very poor conditions where they never had electricity or clean water. With the advent of Covid-19, their lives became even more difficult.

Thank God, we had a basic class with them, we distributed some school and biosafety materials such as notebooks, pencils and surgical masks. They thanked and were very happy. 

Click here to see their first interview:

Webisode 8. Interview with Fernanda (Tininha)

Webisode 9. Interview with Teresa 

Webisode 6. Interview with Luisa  - the mother


Women in rural communities, in particular, have been left behind

In times of crisis or conflict, education is on the frontline. Everyone is affected but specially girls' and women. COVID-19 threatens the right of over 10 million African girls to education - these girls might never come back to school if we do not take action!

For over a decade, education for girls has been identified as one of the best solutions to reversing the relentless trend of poverty and disease devastating large portions of sub-Saharan Africa.


Entry poetry by Teresa, followed by a basic class with the children

Hello, my name is Teresa, I am 13 years old, I stopped studying when I was in seventh grade in 2018 due to financial problems. All these kids who are here with me don't study either.

However, I would like to recite a poem about Covid-19:

There are diseases that are worse than diseases

There are diseases that are more than disease

That make things more urgent and more difficult

I fear coronavirus and zeal for my life

Our faith is the vaccine

The pandemic that now dominates the world haunts me

I didn't want this plague

Protect yourself and protect us

There is no evil that lasts forever

Have resilience because everything passes!

After reciting the poem, Teresa decided to leave an appeal to all sponsors and investors:

Coronavirus is one of the reasons that these children do not study. I hope that a sponsor will appear to finance the school for all the girls.

After all we had a basic class in which the children learned to speak English.

The class was so fruitful that at the end of the program, the children shouted in chorus "We want to study, we want to study"!

"We want to study, we want to study"!

"We want to study, we want to study"!


Post-Campaign Report

Our campaign, named "Africa Educates Her Angola - Season 3'', started on December 18, 2020, collecting over 40 video interviews of girls and young ladies with different academic levels, from pre-school to university degrees. Some participants never attended school and others dropped out of school for various reasons, such as teenage pregnancy, poverty, child marriage and the emergence of the covid-19 pandemic.

From season 1 launched in August 2020 to to season 3 ended in January 2021, over hundred students including teachers were interviewed.

All participants were from different provinces of Angola. The data showed that COVID-19 pandemic lockdown affected the academic performance of most participants (99%) with varying degrees.

20% of the girls we interviewed are no longer students, they dropped out of school many years ago due to poverty, teen pregnancy and child marriage. Today they regret bitterly for dropping out of school for futile reasons.

35% of the girls we interviewed returned to school in October 2020 once they reopened. But most girls are dissatisfied with the weak conditions that their school created against the covid-19. They complain that there is not enough protection or biosafety materials. In addition, some teachers and students do not follow the preventive measures against covid-19.

Many students commented that they forgot almost everything they studied before the pandemic, and this affected their exams. According to them, the exams were very difficult.

45% of the girls we interviewed have been out of school since March 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and inability to pay school fees. Many of them spend their entire day at home busy with housework, some spend their days on the streets playing and dancing with friends.

However, they all dream of returning to school one day.

It is important to remember that schools in Angola reopened in early October, the Angolan government postponed the resumption of lessons in primary education (1st to 5th grade), the largest chunk of the education system. The postponement in the Primary Education owed to the increase in Covid-19 positive cases in the country.

The main goal of the campaign is to ensure all girls have access to a quality and safe education by dismantling the barriers imposed by Covid-19, poverty, teenage pregnancy and child marriage. In addition, we also want to partner with communities in support of girls ’education.

The campaign works to integrate girls who have dropped out of school back into the education system.


Brief covid-19 considerations and special song by Engracia

Hello, my name is Engracia, I will talk about the damage that the coronavirus caused in my country Angola.

Since the coronavirus emerged, a lot has happened in my country, such as increased hunger and poverty and also because of this same disease, many parents lost their jobs, many children stopped going to school, we lost our school year.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic many parents, mothers and children are locked up at home. For example, I am also a student and spent a lot of time at home without studying!

However, I would like to sing a special song for you!

School school school is beautiful, see you tomorrow comrade teacher, if God wants tomorrow we will come again!

When the quarantine passes I want to enjoy, 

I will love I will love until I say enough

And if the world ends it may even end,

 But I will live with you in the heavenly city

School, school school that teaches us to read and write, I want to go

I want to go to school, school, school even with this pandemic

Time will repair everything that it caused and  will fix it

Time will show me everything that wins, it will fix

School school, school I want to go to school to learn to read and write

I want to be someone in life, I want to go to school my God help us

I want to go to school, school to learn

I want to go to school to learn

I want to go to school, school, school

I miss my classmates.

“While this campaign is coming to an end, our movement is not.” We campaign and advocate at the international, regional and national level to put pressure on governments and the international community to deliver the right of everyone to a free, quality, public education.

I want to express to each of you my deep gratitude for contributing to the success of this outstanding campaign.

Together we have transformed African consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become, and have taken this continent a major step forward in the never-ending struggle for educational justice, economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice.



Gallery




























Sofonie Dala 


Interviews - the Complete Collection

Ladies and gentlemen, here Ladies a glimpse of how the post-COVID-19 education looks like for students in Angola.

1.Webisode 41:Celebrating the successful completion of the Season3

2. Penultimate Webisode 40 with Audia

3. Webisode 39 with Lorena

4. Webisode 38 Lucrecia

5. Webisode 37 with Clara

6. Webisode 36 with Gracieth

7. Webisode 35 with Rosaria

8. Webisode 34 with Julia

9. Webisode 33 Esperanca

10. Webisode 32 with Domingas

11. Webisode 31 with Victoria

12. Webisode 30 with Alice

13. Webisode 29 with Luisa

14. Webisode 28 with Catarina

15. Webisode 27. Visitor

16. Webisode 26. Interview with Felicia 

17. Webisode 25. Interview with Belma 

18. Webisode 24. Interview with Estefania 

19. Webisode 23. Interview with Luenda 

20. Webisode 22. Interview with Nicha 

21. Webisode 21. Interview with Filo 

22. Webisode 20. Interview with Meury 

23. Webisode 19. Interview with Teresa 

24. Webisode 18. Interview with Isabel 

25. Webisode 17. Interview with Esperança João  

26. Webisode 16. Interview with Iracelma + Augusta 

27. Webisode 15. Interview with Laurinda 

28. Webisode 14. Interview with Marcelina 

29. Webisode 13. Interview with Inacia 

30. Webisode 12. Interview with Tania 

31. Webisode 11. Interview with Filismina 

32. Webisode 10. Interview with Angelina 

33. Webisode 9. Interview with Teresa 

34. Webisode 8. Interview with Fernanda (Tininha)

35. Webisode 7. Interview with: Maria Gomes

36. Webisode 6. Interview with Luisa 

37. Webisode 5. Interview with Arieth 

38. Webisode 4. Interview with Filomena

39.  Webisode 3. Interview with: Edvania

40. Webisode 2. Interview with Engacia

41. Webisode 1. Launching Season 3: Speech of Sofonie Dala + interview with Laurinda

Overview of Africa Educates Her Campaign Angola. Interview with Sofonie Dala. Bonus

⏬ Celebrating the successful completion of the Season 2

Celebrating the successful completion of the Season 1


Many many thanks, we hope to see you soon!

We launched this campaign to ensure that every girl is able to learn while schools are closed and return to the classroom when schools safely reopen. Everyone can play a role in supporting girls education - whether you are a teacher, parent, student, journalist, policymaker, or simply a concerned citizen.

Don't miss this opportunity to bring girls back to school. Tell us your story!

Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus would you like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the poverty among women?

FIND SOMEONE TO SPONSOR TODAY

Your sponsorship will help the most vulnerable girls and women to take the first step out of poverty.

Click here to watch free full webisodes: https://she-leads.blogspot.com/

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