(Illustrative image)According to UNESCO, this year more than 900 million children of all ages and parts of the world were called to go back to school between August and October. However, only half of them will do so due, among other factors, to the closure of schools caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

As highlighted by UNESCO, in this situation girls are one of the most vulnerable groups. For many of them, school is a lifesaver, as attending school reduces the risk of being subjected to forced marriage or domestic violence. That is why UNESCO has launched a new campaign under the name "keeping the girls in the picture" which is part of the project #LearningNeverStops.

The campaign aims to support the safety and education of all young women whose schools remain closed, but also to focus on the 130 million girls who were no longer attending school before the pandemic.
The global campaign aims to ensure that girls' learning is not disrupted during school closures, promoting a safe environment for them when educational institutions reopen and calls for efforts to protect the progress made in their education.
In Vietnam, the campaign is implemented within the framework of the project "We are able (Achieving a better living and education)", which is implemented by UNESCO in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Training and the National Assembly’s Committee for Ethnic Minorities Affairs, with the support of CJ Group of the Republic of Korea. It aims to improve access to education of ethnic minority girls in Ha Giang, Ninh Thuan, and Soc Trang provinces.
UNESCO has launched the communication campaign on social networks by collecting and spreading stories from the community about the importance of education in life. The stories will be shared and posted on the fan page "UNESCO Office in Vietnam" to spread positive things to the community, towards the goal of "keeping girls in the picture".
Interested person can send their stories in Vietnamese within 500 to 800 words, along with an illustrated photo to the email address: hanoi@unesco.org until September 5, 2021./.