By RismadarVoice Media
December 12, 2025
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has renewed its partnership with the University of Lagos (UNILAG) under its University Twinning and Networking Cooperation (UNITWIN) Programme on Media and Information Literacy, Intercultural Dialogue – extending the agreement until December 31, 2029.
The renewal was communicated in a letter dated December 5, 2025, addressed to UNILAG Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, and signed by UNESCO’s Director of the Future of Learning and Innovation Division, Sobhi Tawil.
UNITWIN, UNESCO’s flagship programme for inter-university cooperation and knowledge sharing, connects universities globally, particularly in developing countries to tackle educational, scientific, cultural, and communication challenges through research, training, and joint projects.
According to the letter, the programme, created in 2011, will remain coordinated by Prof. José Manuel Pérez Tornero of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, with Prof. Olunifesi Suraj Adenkule of UNILAG serving as co-coordinator.
UNESCO stated that the renewed mandate aims to strengthen its Communication, Information agenda through research, teaching, training, community engagement, strategic communication.
Partner institutions are urged to actively involve their teams in UNESCO initiatives and collaborations, expand inter-university cooperation, enhance knowledge sharing and dissemination.
The Organization requested that research outputs from the UNITWIN Chair be published as Open Access, in line with the 2021 Recommendation on Open Science, and that teaching and learning materials be released as Open Educational Resources (OER) following the 2019 OER Recommendation.
UNESCO also advised the network to align programmes with updated UNITWIN and UNESCO Chairs’ guidelines, improve its website to reflect recent activities and UNESCO priorities, use the updated official logo, enhance global participation in Media and Information Literacy programmes.
Members are encouraged to join the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Linked In Group and participate in UNESCO-led initiatives, including public policy discussions, ethical debates, and standard-setting processes.
Any intention to renew the network beyond 2029 will require a formal application submitted via UNESCO’s designated online platform by June 30, 2029.
