KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 14

The Nepal Office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and Save the Children announced a joint partnership aimed at strengthening educational programs aligned with climate justice and campaigning actions, in an event held in Kathmandu, on Wednesday.

As part of this partnership, both organizations will explore innovative programs, utilizing art, culture, community mobilization, and media, to ensure meaningful engagement with marginalized populations, including women, girls, and the LGBTQI+ community, reaffirming their commitment to diversity, gender equality, and inclusion.

As the initial step in this collaboration, UNESCO is providing financial and material assistance to Save the Children's Jajarkot earthquake response program, focusing on post-earthquake education, learning, and continuity.

Heather Campbell, Country Director of Save the Children – Nepal & Bhutan Country Office, stated, 'The partnership between UNESCO and Save the Children will ensure that we reach the most marginalized, especially children and girls. Through our combined expertise, we aim to design cutting-edge programs that address the inequalities witnessed in education, awareness, and access to vital life-saving services. Furthermore, revisiting programs through an inter-sectional lens, which is climate, youth and child informed.'

Michael Croft, the UNESCO Representative, noted, 'The partnership with Save the Children brings together two significant yet different organizational skill sets to support sustainable development in Nepal. Aligning the scope and diversity of Save the Children's impressive actions across Nepal with UNESCO's deep institutional expertise and global frameworks enhances our collective agency, enabling the development of new and innovative programming in our respective areas of action.'

As per the partnership agreement, both organizations commit to working in tandem to undertake transformative actions on climate change education and inclusive learning. They will promote media and information literacy, digital citizenship, amplify the voices of children and youth, and strengthen teaching competencies for quality based education.