APO Group (www.APO-opa.com), the leading pan-African communications and business consultancy, today announced it has joined the UNESCO Global Education Coalition for COVID-19 Response (https://bit.ly/2MVDtn1).

Watch the video message from APO Group Founder and chairman Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard: https://bit.ly/30I4m63

Some 1.2 billion students and young people across the planet are affected by school and university closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In response, UNESCO launched the Global Covid-19 Education Coalition (https://bit.ly/2MVDtn1), with the private sector, multilateral organization and civil society in order to facilitate synergies and leverage partners’ capacities to help countries deploy remote learning systems so as to minimize educational disruptions and maintain social contact with learners.

Under the motto of the Global Covid-19 Education Coalition- “Learning Never Stops”- UNESCO has developed a social media pack around this important initiative.

As a private sector partners, APO Group will be donating resources and expertise, increasing the visibility of the Global Education Coalition launched by UNESCO.

In this framework, on April 9, 2020, APO Group launched the APO Group Coronavirus Initiative for Africa (https://bit.ly/3bjnLvV), donating pro-bono resources and expertise to support African governments, institutions and official organizations in the fight against COVID-19.

“We believe that education, and especially girls' education, is a critical investment in the future. When girls go to school, every development goal set by the international community becomes achievable”, said APO Group Founder and Chairman Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard (www.Pompigne-Mognard.com). “Today, we are proud to team up with UNESCO and with some of the largest companies in the world to make sure that children everywhere can continue their education, with special care to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities”.

« Over 250 million students are still affected by school closures in Africa. The longer they last, the greater the risk of educational exclusion. We cannot let this happen. Education represents the future, it is the most powerful development driver for societies. We need to join forces to bridge huge connectivity gaps, increase resilience and ensure that education serves all the continent’s children and youth. I am confident that by joining UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition, the APO Group will contribute to raising visibility for inclusive quality education and support transformative approaches,” said Ms. Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education.