Global Media and Information Literacy Week, commemorated annually, is a major occasion for stakeholders to review and celebrate the progress achieved towards “Media and Information Literacy for All”. Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2021 is hosted by South Africa.
This year marks 10 years since the seeds of Global Media and Information Literacy Week were planted in 2011 in Fez, Morocco. This was long before the exponential rise in disinformation, political polarisation, increasing influence of digital platforms and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the current ecosystem of complex and sometimes contradictory messages and meanings, it is hard to conceive of the public good being advanced, if the public is disempowered in the face of opportunities and threats. Each individual needs to be equipped with media and information literacy competencies to understand the stakes, and to contribute to and benefit from information and communication opportunities.
The five sub-themes for the 2021 Global Media and Information Literacy Week are:
1) Positioning media and information literacy in the post-pandemic world,
2) Enhancing co-operation among stakeholders to sustain media and information literacy development,
3) Promoting the second edition of UNESCO’s Media and Information Literacy Curriculum for Educators and Learners,
4) Increasing funding opportunities, and
5) Advancing media and information literacy research and knowledge.
These sub-themes inform the activities and sessions for the Week, as well as the Feature Conference and Youth Forum. Together they aim to ensure tangible advances in the role of media and information literacy to uphold the vision of information as a public good, as the world slowly begins to move towards a new post-COVID normal.
As members of the UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Alliance, The Youth Café is calling partners all over the world to promote Global Media and Information Literacy Week by organizing and registering events/activities online or offline. Together with its Feature Events, Global Media and Information Literacy Week links up local events around the world to promote Media and Information Literacy connections across disciplines, professions and borders.
The highlights of this year’s Global MIL Week will include the traditional feature events, namely the Feature Conference and Youth Agenda Forum, which will take place online and gather policy makers, experts, practitioners, researchers, international organizations, NGOs, and private sector organizations from around the globe.
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