More than ever, the Central Asian region needs professional journalism and reliable information to adapt its response to the pandemic, organize itself, learn from other countries’ experiences and counter the increase of rumors and disinformation.
In particular, UNESCO promotes Open Education Resources (OERs), networks of fact-checkers, media and information literacy (MIL) resources to counter the spread of disinformation, the use of digital technologies such as webinar's and artificial intelligence in response to the crisis, as well as highlighting the importance of documentary heritage in past efforts to fight pandemics.
In response to the ongoing pandemic, UNESCO completed the translation of the series of the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for journalists on the coverage of pandemics and vaccination, available online. The courses were produced in collaboration with the WHO, UNESCO, and UNDP. The presentation will be launched in March 2022 based on the UNESCO Chair of Journalism and Communication Project MediaSDG journalism education and training platform.