Paris, 4 May 2022 – As families across Yemen gather to mark Eid al-Fitr this year, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urge the immediate release of two of their staff members who have been detained since early November last year in Sana'a. Despite repeated assurances, as early as last November, by the Ansar Allah movement (also called the Houthis) that the two staff members would be immediately released, their whereabouts remain unknown, and UNESCO and the UN Human Rights Office are deeply concerned about their well-being. In this context, the UN Human Rights Office and UNESCO urge the Ansar Allah movement to ensure the well-being of the two concerned staff members and to release them without any further delay. Under international law, UN staff are accorded privileges and immunities, which are essential to the proper discharge of their official functions.

New York, 19 April 2022: In the lead up to the Transforming Education Summit, young people discussed the foresight of learning during the ECOSOC Youth Forum SDG4 Breakout session under the theme “Youth Engagement in Transforming Education" UNESCO and United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth, in cooperation with OHCHR, UNCTAD, UNFPA, UNHCR, UN Women, and GPE, brought together young champions from around the world to put forward solutions and recommendations to transform education. The session was the first youth public consultations on the renewed vision for the transformation of education to be adopted at the Education Summit later this year.  Reiterating the importance of building on youth-led solutions to increase access and equity in education, and to accelerate the progress on SDG 4, participants called for urgent systematic changes in education in view of current global challenges.  Moderated by Ulises Brengi, youth advisor for the Transforming Education Summit, this SDG4 panel spotlighted the necessity for youth involvement and the relevance of local youth-led actions for the strengthening of formal and informal education systems.