The UNESCO 2024 Learning City award has been given to the city of Benguerir for its “outstanding” achievements in lifelong learning, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced.
Benguerir, who became a UNESCO learning city in 2020, is among the 10 countries who received the UN award on Monday during the opening of the Sixth International Conference on Learning Cities in Jubail, in Saudi Arabia, for “their outstanding achievements in promoting lifelong learning,” UNESCO said in a press release.
“Benguerir has made significant strides since becoming a UNESCO learning city in 2020,” said the UN body, who considers the Moroccan city as “a model of inclusive and innovative lifelong learning.”
“Supported by a 164% increase in the lifelong learning budget for 2024, the city emphasizes strong multistakeholder coordination and a results-oriented strategy,” UNESCO said, quoting among the main initiatives the “2nd Chance School” for reintegrating school dropouts, a literacy programme for women, community learning spaces such as digital libraries, and tailored support for marginalized groups, including children with autism and non-verbal children.
In addition to Benguerir, nine other cities received the award. These are Bouaké (Côte d’Ivoire), Cork (Ireland), Cuenca (Ecuador), Doha (Qatar), Eunpyeong-gu (Republic of Korea), Glasgow (UK), Querétaro (Mexico), Wuhan (China) and Yanbu Industrial City (Saudi Arabia).
The UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC) comprises 356 cities in 79 countries, home to 390 million people.
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