THE Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC), which is part of UNESCO, has agreed with Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to jointly promote the development of digital talent in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The two entities signed a letter of intent at an online forum organised by OREALC Santiago and Huawei on June 1, indicating that they have identified a number of potential areas of cooperation such as the development of digital abilities for women and children and digital literacy programmes for teachers.

They will also work together to help provide training in digital abilities in vulnerable populations and organise events such as webinars and workshops to drive awareness about the importance of inclusive digital talent development.

Claudia Uribe Salazar, director of OREALC, said that the joint effort is in line with the goal of UNESCO in seeking to mobilise the civil society and the private sector for the achievement of its strategic goals in terms of education.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialised agency of the United Nations aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, the sciences, and culture.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic UNESCO has been actively working with the ministries of education and has been partnering with the private sector to respond in an effective way to its effects, taking into consideration the diversity of contexts and realities of our region. We are ensuring that fieldwork is responding to the specific needs of local communities and countries, and is being implemented in a participative, collaborative, and consensual way,” she said.

“The letter of intent is the result of a work of various months between UNESCO and Huawei during which both institutions have been sharing visions, experiences and plans for the future of education in Latin America and the Caribbean, and have been prioritising areas of common work such as ICT competencies for teachers,” she continued.

Catherine Chen, director of Huawei Technologies, further indicated that Huawei has invested in digital talent development around the world and has significantly increased such investment in recent years as part of its corporate social responsibility.

“The digital talent has become an essential bedrock of the new digital economy and an important pillar of future prosperity,” she said.

“We are happy to find partners who are working for the same cause of growing the digital talent pool for our future. It is important for the public and private sectors to work together for the cause of inclusive talent development. We would like to help bridge the digital gap, one of the most important challenges we face in this digital era,” she added.