The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) launched a new global education mascot last week, on September 13, Tuesday. Named Uni, the mascot will serve as an ambassador for learning and symbolizes every child’s right to access quality education.
Through this launch, UNICEF aims to emphasize the importance of quality education and also wishes to draw attention to the global learning crisis. Uni, a blue-colored backpack, represents UNICEF’s iconic blue backpacks that were given to 1.3 million children last year alone.
Nearly 70 percent of children from low and middle-income backgrounds and countries are unable to read and understand a simply written story, and hence, Uni aims to highlight the current state of education while also inspiring urgent transformation.
The United Nations also organized the ‘Transforming Education Summit’ on September 16, 17, and 19 in New York. The summit underlined the global crisis that is being faced in the education sector, especially in terms of inclusion, equity, quality, and relevance. Even though this crisis may not seem as evident or urgent, it is taking a toll on the future of today’s youth globally.
In addition to the mascot’s launch, UNICEF also created a life-sized version of the mascot, which was designed in-house by the agency, with comforting foam and bright blue felt, Uni is embodied by a full-body six-foot blue backpack, and it is hoped that the mascot will help inspire a much-needed reform system for schools all over the world.
Paloma Escudero, UNICEF’s Global Director of Communication and Advocacy said, “Uni embodies our aspiration that every child has the right to go to school and learn. Every child has a right to not only be in school, but to also learn in school, and acquire basic skills that make up the foundation for higher learning and higher income levels.”
