UNESCO principles

1.4 The UNESCO principals

The Sustainable Development Goals framed by the United Nations in 2015 are provided guidelines for peace and prosperity for the people and the planet. Recognizing that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change, the concept of “Education for Sustainable Development” (ESD) was developed by the UNESCO. The UNESCO itself was brought into being after the second world war to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture in order to [..] human rights and fundamental freedoms [..] without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the charter of the United Nations. Since then, strategies have been developed to grant access to sustainable education to everyone. These strategies have now been linked strongly to the SDGs.(UNESCO, 2005). The principles of the ESD are addressing SDG 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages), SDG 4 (Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all) and SDG 17 (Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development). (United Nations, „Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development “). The purpose is to create the conditions and provide the fundamental rights for all children and young people to take charge of their lives and develop as individuals, as members of their community and as global citizens. The focus lies on global collaboration, non-discrimination, solidarity, equality of opportunity and treatment, and universal access to education, health and well-being. The aim is, to accelerate the personal and societal transformation that is necessary to change course.
The core values of these principles focus on the autonomy and active involvement of children to become free, independent and responsible citizens. Moreover, the celebration of cultural pluralism and global diversity of knowledge are addressed. The principles claim a holistic approach of the educational set-up and want to address health, well-being and education from a global perspective, where activities and collaborations over the world should be carried out together. Moreover, the goal is to set the focus on linkages in between different sectors addressed to foster a synergy in between addressed topics and at the same time using diverse knowledge sources and approaches. (“The UNESCO Chair Global Health and Education,” 2022)