1. On the morning of May 26 (Paris time), the government of the Republic of Korea held a video conference to launch the “Group of Friends for Solidarity and Inclusion with Global Citizenship Education (GCED)” with the aim of discussing ways to deal with such inhumane acts as hate and discrimination provoked by COVID-19 and promoting international cooperation.

o The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has led the creation of the Group of Friends, with the Permanent Delegation of the ROK to UNESCO playing a leading role, in order to lead discussions on ways to address hate and discrimination, which are the key issues in the international community, by making use of the ROK’s soft power that has been enhanced due to its exemplary response to COVID-19.

- The inaugural members of the Group are the ROK, its chair, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Austria, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the Republic of Colombia, the Italian Republic, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Republic of Kenya, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Serbia, and the Republic of Senegal.

- The Group of Friends will be operated as an open group where other UNESCO member states can participate freely even after the launch.

o The “Group of Friends for Solidarity and Inclusion with Global Citizenship Education” launched at UNESCO is expected to create synergistic effects in the UN’s efforts for international cooperation on COVID-19 response, along with the “Group of Friends of Solidarity for Global Health Security (May 12)” launched at the UN at the initiative of the ROK government to tackle COVID-19 and the “Support Group for Global Infectious Disease Response (May 20)” within the WHO.

2. Following today’s discussions, the Group of Friends adopted the Joint Statement, in which they expressed the international community’s resolve to oppose hate and discrimination in the spirit of solidarity and inclusion and to strengthen global cooperation in the post-COVID-19 era through activities aimed at promoting Global Citizenship Education.

o The Group of Friends criticized that acts of discrimination and hate provoked by COVID-19 undermine international collaboration necessary to overcome the crisis by creating a wall of mutual distrust.

o The Group of Friends stressed the need for the international community’s collaboration and concrete actions to construct the “defenses of peace” in the minds of men and women, as stated in the UNESCO Constitution.

o The Group of Friends expected Global Citizenship Education based on the principle of human dignity to play an important role in spreading the value of solidarity and inclusion in the international community.

3. In her congratulatory remarks, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha said that discrimination, stigmatization, and xenophobia resulting from COVID-19-related prejudice are not only detrimental to the fundamental tenets of human rights, but also undermine the disease control efforts, and emphasized the importance of Global Citizenship Education as a means to respond to them. She also voiced hope that the Group of Friends would become an action-oriented platform where rich discussions translate into concrete proposals for UNESCO.

o In her congratulatory remarks, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay expressed appreciation to Minister Kang and the Permanent Delegation of the ROK to UNESCO for forming the Group of Friends. She actively welcomed the ROK-led creation of the Group of Friends for Solidarity and Inclusion amid the growing importance of solidarity, and said that the Secretariat will closely cooperate on the Group’s activities.

4. The members of the Group of Friends assessed that the creation of the Group aimed at preventing hate and discrimination and promoting solidarity and inclusion was timely amid the COVID-19 crisis, and expressed appreciation to the ROK for playing a leading role in forming the Group. They also expected the launch of the Group to lead to more concrete actions and further spread the spirit of solidarity and inclusion in the global community.