Millie Bobby Brown, Sofia Carson join UNICEF in the World’s Largest Lesson Live, Encouraging Teens to Reimagine the World Post COVID-19

NEW YORK, 10 June 2020 - Today World’s Largest Lesson, in partnership with UNICEF and with the support of UNESCO, announces World’s Largest Lesson Live. This 35-minute educational show will premiere on YouTube on the 16th June 2020 11am EST, 4pm BST.  It brings together experts and young people in conversation to reflect on the past few months and discuss how they would like to reimagine what a post coronavirus world will look like. 

Hosted by NBC News and MSNBC anchor Savannah Sellers, the conversations will explore the themes of education, health, and the future—addressing some of the key issues at the forefront of young people’s minds around the world. World’s Largest Lesson Live aims to show that although we may be physically distanced from one another, young peoples’ voices, opinions and actions can make a difference. The three conversations will be as follows:

Education. With over a billion young people facing disruption to their education over the past few months, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohammed and UNICEF USA Supporter, actress and singer Sofia Carson and Adrian Hrabos, a Nord Anglia Education student from Prague, will reflect on the challenges young people have overcome. They will discuss how school closures have made the world re-think the value of education and how this is an opportunity to reimagine it for the future.  

Health. With the global pandemic disrupting so many lives Savannah Sellers asks Dr Maria Van Kerkhove from the World Health Organisation how young people can look after their mental health. They are joined by Shashank Dollin a student and Scout from India to consider how Healthcare in the future might look. 

The Future. Finally, Executive Director of UNICEF, Henrietta Fore and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Millie Bobby Brown and Yael Cuprinoff, a student from Argentina, will discuss what they hope the world will take forward from the pandemic. Positioning the pandemic as an opportunity as a “re-set” instead of a “re-start” Henrietta Fore and Millie Bobby Brown will discuss the energy of young people in participating in building a better future. 

World’s Largest Lesson Live closes with a message from Dr Tedros Adhanom (Director General  WHO) thanking young people for the contribution they have made to prevent the spread of the COVID19 pandemic  and an uplifting performance from the Brooklyn Youth Chorus singing the popular song “You Will Be Found,” made famous by the Broadway Hit Dear Evan Hansen.

“Children are the hidden victims of COVID-19,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “The pandemic has left millions of children out of school, disrupted their access to health services, pushed their families further into poverty, and affected their physical and emotional well-being. With so many young lives upended, it is crucial that we meet children’s increasing needs and give them a voice as we respond to the pandemic, help families recover from it, and reimagine the world without it.”

To tune in to the lesson on the 16th follow this link  https://yt.be/WorldsLargestLessonYou will be able to watch the lesson back and download resources after the lesson to extend the conversation at home and in class groups both from World’s Largest Lesson website and YouTube’s Learn@Home website, an online learning destination with resources and content for families. 

NOTES TO EDITORS 

About the Sustainable Development Goals  

In September 2015, 193 UN Member States adopted the Agenda 2030 including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a successor to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Agenda 2030 seeks to guide countries to end extreme poverty and hunger, fight inequality and injustice and fix climate change. In most countries including Nigeria, the MDGs were only partially achieved and with a new agenda for 2030 came wider scope. There are 17 SDGs compared to 8 MDGs in order to create a universal and inclusive agenda that brings together interconnected issues affecting both people and planet. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/ 

About the World’s Largest Lesson 

Since 2015 The World’s Largest Lesson has been committed to introducing children and young people everywhere to the Global Goals, a historic 17-point plan agreed by world leaders of the United Nations to end poverty, tackle inequality and fight climate change. In 2019 World’s Largest Lesson reached 17 million children in over 130 countries.

World’s Largest Lesson is delivered in partnership with UNICEF, with the support of UNESCO, along with many other NGOs, private sector organisations and foundations.  

http://worldslargestlesson.globalgoals.org 

Other key supporters for the World’s Largest Lesson Live include youth and education organisations: World Scouting Movement, AIESEC and Nord Anglia Education.