UNESCO looks to award innovative uses of ICTs to reach disadvantaged groups

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is now accepting applications for the King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Education Prize. The theme for the 11^th edition of the annual prize is the use of ICTs in education for disadvantaged groups.

Two organizations or individuals will be awarded for demonstrating innovative practices that use ICTs to increase access to education for disadvantaged groups such as refugees; internally displaced persons; socioeconomically disadvantaged communities; disabled learners; cultural, ethnic or religious minorities; and vulnerable women and girls. This year’s prize will contribute both to the conversation and the push to ensure equality in education, the guiding principle behind the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) that seeks to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education” for all. ICTs can be used to reach historically under-served groups to meet the Goal 4 by 2030.

The winners will be selected by the Director-General of UNESCO based on the recommendations of the five-person international jury. The deadline for submission is September 30^th, 2016. The prize will be awarded at a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on February 21, 2017.

The online submission form for eligible applicants is available at https://teamsnet.unesco.org/Pages/register.aspx and for nominators (Governments and NGOs in official relations with UNESCO that already have an account) at https://teams.unesco.org/sites/committees/ict-ed-prize/SitePages/Home.aspx.

For more information, contact the Secretariat for the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICTs in Education at:

Unit for ICT in Education
Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems
Education Sector
UNESCO
7 place Fontenoy
Paris 07 SP 75352
France
ictprize(at)unesco.org