On 3 April at UNESCO, the Global Master Class against Racism and Discrimination was held, an annual initiative established in 2019 to unite young people in raising awareness on this important issue. This year’s speaker was the Italian-Senegalese TikToker Khaby Lame, the world’s most followed influencer, who shared his experience with an audience of students. The guest of honour was presented by the Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, who called on young people to fight racism and discrimination on social media, all the more so in an era when communication is dominated by algorithms and artificial intelligence.
UNESCO believes in the central role of young people, who have a duty to engage themselves on global issues such as discrimination and racism. The latter remains a significant challenge and societies are only beginning to come to terms with the harsh reality of the historical legacies of inequality. Even today, one out of six people in the world experience discrimination and 60 per cent of these face racist and xenophobic behaviour. UNESCO has therefore developed an Anti-Racism Toolkit, containing good practices to support policy-makers in developing anti-racist legislation.
To watch the recorded Master Class: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCtsEQUiU_A&t=1341s
