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The Challenges represent the highest level of the Decade Action Framework. They articulate the most immediate priorities for the Decade. They aim to unite Decade partners in collective action, thus ensuring that the whole of the Decade is greater than the sum of its parts and shaping the overall contribution of the Decade to the 2030 Agenda. brings us this video on challenge 1: Understand and map land and sea-based sources of pollutants and contaminants and their potential impacts on human health and ocean ecosystems and develop solutions to remove or mitigate them.

Spending on science worldwide increased (+19%) between 2014 and 2018, as did the number of scientists (+13.7%). This trend has been further boosted by the COVID crisis, according to ’s new Science Report, . But these figures hide significant disparities: just two countries, the United States and China, account for nearly two-thirds of this increase (63%) while four out of five countries lag far behind, investing less than 1% of their GDP in scientific research. The scientific landscape remains largely a landscape of power.

and the have partnered to enable the cultural and creative industries in cities as part of their recovery and development during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learning is key to finding solutions and creating a more sustainable world. We must change the way we live and care for our planet. Join UNESCO’s campaign calling on the world to invest in education for sustainable development and ensure that it is embedded in learning systems globally. For the survival of our planet, we need to .

and partners released findings about LGBTQI students in Europe. 54% of LGBTQI people have experienced bullying in school at least once based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or variations of sex characteristics, according to a survey of more than 17,000 children and young people aged 13 to 24. The survey also showed that 83% of students had at least sometimes heard negative comments towards LGBTQI students, and 67% had been the target of negative comments at least once.

UNESCO's Director-General has welcomed the decision by the United States and many other countries to call for the lifting of patent protection on COVID-19 vaccines. This growing momentum comes in response to the  to open up science and boost scientific cooperation. The idea behind is to allow scientific information, data and outputs to be more widely accessible (Open Access) and more reliably harnessed (Open Data) with the active engagement of all the stakeholders (Open to Society).

Investigative journalist and media executive Maria Ressa of the Philippines has been named as the 2021 laureate of the /Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, by an international jury of media professionals. The Award Ceremony will take place in Windhoek, Namibia, on the occasion of the , and be streamed  online. In her thirty-year career, Ressa has been a target of attacks, arrests and has been involved in many international initiatives to promote press freedom.

Discover the 8​ as they join our efforts to build a better, more inclusive and more sustainable world.

There are now 169 sites participating in the Global Geoparks Network in 44 countries. UNESCO Global Geoparks are single, unified geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development. Their bottom-up approach of combining conservation with sustainable development while involving local communities is becoming increasingly popular. .

This year’s World Press Freedom Day serves as a call to affirm the importance of cherishing information as a public good. Strengthening journalism though the production, distribution, and reception of content to advance transparency and empowerment while leaving no one behind is of urgent relevance. The leading minds of the world of journalism, media and technology as well as experts, policy makers, and activists, will come together to affirm information as a public good in the (29 April – 3 May), hosted by UNESCO and the Government of Namibia.

UNESCO’s Executive Board has approved the designation of eight new UNESCO Global Geoparks, which brings the number of sites participating in the Global Geoparks Network to 169 in 44 countries. UNESCO Global Geoparks are single, unified geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development. The newly designated UNESCO Global Geoparks are in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy and Poland.

UNESCO’s Futures of Education initiative aims to reimagine how knowledge and learning can shape the future of humanity and the planet.

World Art Day (15 April) reinforces the links between art and society, encourages greater diversity of expression and highlights artist contributions to sustainable development.

Together with 6 youth representatives, Dr Jane Goodall, DBE is patron of the 50th Anniversary of the UNESCO-MAB programme. UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme was created in 1971 with a vision: promote a sustainable connection between people and nature.

Following UNESCO’s Forum on Biodiversity on 24 March, the Organization has called for the mobilization of governments, citizens and civil society, including the private sector, in favour of biodiversity through the a multi-partner fund currently being set up. The aim of the mobilization is to counter the ongoing collapse affecting all living species. The United Nations is expected to invite Member States to implement a protection target of 30% of land and marine areas by 2030, at the COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to be held next October in Kunming (China).

The , published by on behalf of , shows that the inability to recognize the value of water is the main cause of water waste and misuse.