Events

As an emergency response to COVID-19, UNESCO Almaty aims to support children and adolescents from the most vulnerable groups through the series of online art workshops lead by youth artists and members of Kazakhstan National Federation of UNESCO Clubs in order to improve children’s mental health and emotional state for a better well-being and successful recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. This initiative corresponds with the UNESCO’s global campaign #ResiliArt #ArtConnects dedicated to the World Arts Day (15 April).

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and adolescents goes far beyond any health risks. For millions of children and their families, this is a time of anxiety and uncertainty. Moreover, for those children who were vulnerable before this crisis, the pandemic seems certain to heighten the risks they already faced. They include children from the poorest families, children with disabilities and health risks, those from ethnic minorities and refugee and migrant children.

Due to the home-based quarantine and schools closed in Central Asia, millions of children and adolescences are lost the opportunity to be engaged in non-formal education and art classes to develop their cognitive and creative skills, which are important in tomorrow’s future. Children with disabilities and health risks (e.g. oncological diseases) cannot receive any art-therapy at home due to strict quarantine regulations and therefore, they were left without any art assistance, which is important for their better recovery.

The pressures on families are immense; parents have become frontline responders to the COVID-19 pandemic. They also need comprehensive support to safeguard their children’s health, wellbeing and development.

UNESCO Almaty proposes to encourage children and adolescents from the specialized institutions, children with disabilities and special health conditions, refugee and migrant children, children from ethnic minorities, rural children and adolescents, who is the most vulnerable to join free online art workshops to:
 

• enjoy the benefits that creative art brings to emotional and physical well-being,
• use art as a means for self-healing and self-discovery and to embrace the creative aspects of self-expression, self-awareness and problem-solving,
• use art as a means of relaxation and to unwind,
• improve creative and artistic skills,
• improve communication skills through the visual arts.

Thus, this initiative will offer a safe space for holistic therapy for children and adolescents while providing an enjoyable, safe, and effective approach.

The potential platform for this activity is Jitsi Meet , which is a global platform for an open-source video conferencing and can be accessed by children from different parts of the region.

Links for the workshops will be send to relevant NGOs, centers, specialized institutions in Central Asia and interested participants according to the schedule of the workshops.

Please fill the application form

URL:

http://en.unesco.kz/application-call-for-children-and-adolescents-on-free-online-art-courses-artconnects